Starring: Danica McKellar and Dylan Neal
Released: 2020
Summary: A writer has her column canceled before Christmas, so she goes back home to reconnect with her family, but romance blooms after she gets an unexpected visit.
Looks like Dylan Neal is getting a kink in his neck at that angle. Image: Crown Media
Kayleigh King Is A Beloved Columnist
Do people even read newspapers today? It seems most of us get our news online from a variety of sources, but our local, daily rag is often forgotten.
You may recognize famous columnist names like Dave Barry, Andy Rooney, Erma Bombeck, and Cal Thomas, but the list is far more extensive, so it's odd many successful columnists are relatively obscure to the average reader. Do you have a favorite column you love to read?
Kaleigh King works for The Globe, and when Tripp Windom cancels her beloved column, Your Best Self, in an effort to salvage his budget, there is a massive outcry from her fans. The newspaper owner, Mr. Grantham, tasks Tripp to convince Kaleigh to come back or lose his job.
Danica McKellar plays Kaleigh King, a writer who loses her column right before Christmas. Image: Crown Media
(Good luck with a public outcry making a difference--Hallmark Channel fans are STILL waiting for Hallmark to hear us about limiting sitcoms and incorporating more movies in their programming).
Tripp tracks Kayleigh to Pineberry, California--her hometown--where she's helping out at her sister's Golden Butter Bakery. To save face, Kaleigh also pretends to have landed a job at Pineberry Press, which isn't entirely a fabrication since she was asked to submit a piece for the paper.
Kaleigh is stubborn and refuses to return to The Globe.
Tripp Windom Is Stuffy
Christmas was never a big deal in Tripp's house growing up, but Kaleigh's excitement over the season and all the festivities is contagious, and in spite of his stuffiness, Tripp genuinely starts enjoying himself.
Being around Kayleigh reminds Tripp that his career isn't the one he had dreamed of pursuing. He doesn't want to slash budgets and fire people--he wants to get back to writing and reporting, even though it doesn't pay nearly as much.
Tripp finds he has competition when it comes to Kayleigh's attention. Her ex, Dan, is a doctor who is back in town and has a chance to make his practice in Pineberry permanent. The two broke up when Dan decided to move to Haiti to establish field hospitals in hard-hit areas.
Eeny meeny miney moe--with which stud muffin should I go? Image: Crown Media
Kaleigh must choose between Tripp--an older man who still seems like a stuffed-shirt no matter how hard he tries to cut loose, and a man who's pay-grade is about to drop.....or Dan--a younger doctor whose heart really desires to live in a poor, ravaged place like Haiti.
If I were Kaleigh, I'd be holding out for a third option.
Was Kaleigh Justified In Her Anger At Tripp About Her Book?
Kaleigh's passion is to write a book, so with the winds of inspiration blowing at her back in Pineberry, she finally finishes the novel she had begun but never completed.
Even though letting someone read your work is like giving them a VIP pass into your diary and
soul, Kayleigh trusts Tripp to review it as a fellow professional and give her feedback.
Tripp takes it a step further. He shares her book with Mr. Grantham, who agrees to not only publish her novel, but to also syndicate her column in a package deal.
Any writer knows being singled out in the publishing world is like finding a mythical unicorn. No matter how gifted or talented you are, writers are everywhere, and one more book on the market just adds to the white noise. It's very difficult to truly "make it" as an author. The competition is steep. Kaleigh should have been elated at the news and grateful to Tripp for her big break.
Ogre! How dare you help me achieve my dreams! Image: Crown Media
Instead, Kaleigh is infuriated for Tripp sharing her book without asking her first, and she turns down the deal. Tripp is flabbergasted. He truly loved her book and wanted to support her dream by offering her a rare opportunity.
Was Kaleigh justified in her anger and right to cut all ties with Tripp?
I don't think so! I would have been throwing myself into his arms and celebrating. What do you think? You can vote below:
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Let's remember that Kaleigh has no job, and any prospects at the Pineberry Press would likely pay peanuts.
Rate Christmas She Wrote
While Hallmark fans remain charmed by most of our beloved Christmas romance movies, no matter how repetitive they are, Christmas She Wrote isn't the most riveting of scripts. It was written by Andrea Canning and is a little tedious.
The last thing another Hallmark script needs is for the leading character(s) to be a writer. There are literally thousands of occupations in the world, yet Hallmark doesn't invest the time to study other fields to create characters with a skill-set beyond writing. Unless you make it big, or at least up a few rings on the corporate ladder, writing jobs don't typically pay well enough for the characters to even be able to live independently. Hallmark's insistence on fixating on writers because they are portable characters is unrealistic and shows Hallmark has stopped caring about quality control. They know we will keep watching, so they don't attempt to think outside the box often enough.
Every movie needs a conflict, but for Kayleigh to kick Tripp to the curb for giving her the chance of a lifetime with her book, is just lazy and bad script-writing.
The casting isn't great in this movie either. Danica McKellar and Dylan Neal barely muster a spark. You have to wonder if Hallmark actors are getting bored from playing the same roles and allowing it to reflect in their performances.
How many stars would you give Christmas She Wrote? Vote below!
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Image: Crown Media
I was watching a movie that had him in it and thought of this one and wanted to watch it again and couldn't remember the name and here this popped up
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