The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (2008)

Why so much hype?

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Excellent but underrated film

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

One of my top all time favorites from Hallmark!! It's full of humor, family love and romance!

Our family has watched about 50+ Christmas movies. This one is one of the favorites (even if it doesn't have that touch of fantasy). We watch it every year and just enjoy it. Why? It is genuinely funny. It is also one of those movies where you can rejoice when the girl wakes up and realizes the guy she is about to marry is not right for her.Richard: "Jen I would never read your mail" Jen: "Oh but you would steal it"Henry Winkler is great. There is nothing in this movie that I would change. The red bulb in the white light strand. The wreath falling off the door. If you haven't seen it. You're in for a treat.

Wow, major raves for this one. I must admit that for me, this was just another predictable Hallmark movie with a young, attractive cast.The film from 2009 stars Brooke Burns, Henry Winkler, Warren Christie, and Woody Jeffries.Burns is Jennifer Cullen, a single mom feeling overwhelmed by the holidays. She will be meeting her boyfriend's (Woody Jeffies) parents and serving them dinner, which she finds frightening.When her uncle Ralph (Winkler), a former cop, arrives, he wants a young man, Morgan (Warren Christie) to stay at the house also. Jennifer flips out. This is all she needed.Morgan proves plenty useful, hanging her Christmas lights, helping with the meal, and breaking into a store to retrieve her son's gift.We all know what happens. Not exactly a spoiler. Sweet movie, nice for the holidays. Warren Christie, who is actually Irish, is quite the hunk and has been a recurring actor on many TV series, and a regular on Alphas.

Christmas-themed romantic comedies seem to be all the rage right now. You can watch about a hundred of these movies every December and the plots are generally the same: attractive single father (or mother) with steady, stable (boring) boyfriend (girlfriend) and cute kid(s) meets seemingly inappropriate man(woman) who works their way into their heart as well as instills the "true" meaning of Christmas. There are a few variations (sometimes Santa gets involved, sometimes there is some kind of magical element). The variation I like the least involves the children doing the matchmaking (Ugh! What child of any age has ANY interest in his or her parent's love life?) What does "The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year" offer? Nothing new EXCEPT sharp writing, actual comedy, and Henry Winkler. Yes! Winkler really makes this movie with his funny, warm portrayal of our heroine's interfering uncle Ralph from Brooklyn. This is the first comedy I've seen him in in a long time, and he really does shine in these kinds of pictures.However, Brooke Burns and Warren Christie are also very fun to watch as the mismatched couple. I liked that they didn't make Burns a Scrooge who hates Christmas. She is simply a busy woman who loves her son and wants Christmas to be special. And in her desire to do so, has lost sight of what Christmas should be. And kudos to Connor Christopher Levins who gives a boy with some mature habits (his penchant for organization) some very real childlike desires (his wish to believe in Santa even when logic dictates he shouldn't).The plot moves along very briskly and the movie seems to end all too soon. Would that we could all be neighbors to such warm, funny and attractive people! There's even a good message about how we need to stopping stressing about Christmas.My favorites quote (from Uncle Ralph): "When it comes to life, she's dumber than a bag of barber hair!"