'Countdown to Christmas' movie review: 'Merry & Bright'
The "love interests try to save a business" plot is so common among Hallmark Channel movies that it's practically a subgenre. And “Merry & Bright” (premiering Nov. 2 as part of the Hallmark Channel's Countdown to Christmas) is the latest entry in that crowded category -- and it's far from the best entry.
In short: Manhattan consultant Gabe (Andrew Walker) is sent help Cate (Jodie Sweetin), the new CEO of the town's candy cane company, save the troubled company.
A pretty tired trope of Hallmark movies is the meddling family member constantly fretting about how the protagonist needs to find the right man. So it's fun to see that hallmark of Hallmark movies turned on its head, resulting in a truly hilarious meet-cute for Cate and Gabe. It's a small thing, but this bit of awareness is legitimately laugh-out-loud worthy and hinted at a film with keen awareness.
Yet after its refreshing subversion of the overtly concerned mother, it's disheartening to watch the movie backslide into well-traveled storylines. The fundamental flaw of "Merry & Bright" is how strictly it sticks to the film's basic premise. Better Hallmark movies with similar, basic "save the company" plots use it as a foundation for more involved stories or complicated characters. But "Merry & Bright" is so straightforward that it doesn't try to be anything more than a "let's save a candy cane company" story. The film hints at Cate's unfilled aspirations and Gabe tiring of his rootless existence - but the movie is happy just playing with those ideas and not exploring them.
"Merry & Bright" is content to pad its run time with a lot of brainstorm ideas and silly b-plots. Ideally the movie would be focused on Cate and Gabe's relationship, but it gets distracted too often with subplots involving Cate's best friend (wondering if her oblivious boyfriend is going to propose) and Cate's mother (Sharon Lawrence) trying to hid a dog from Cate. The former is especially discouraging because it turns Cate into just another Hallmark movie character twisting someone's arm to get engaged. By the way, this plot thread gets a lot of attention in the movie's first half -- then is all but abandoned until the very end of the movie. Meanwhile, Lawrence is an Emmy-nominated actress -- so it's disappointing to see her character reduced to playing a side role with a sitcom-ish side plot. The worst part of these dangling plot threads: neither adds much value to the story at all.
Final verdict: Sweetin's sheer likability shines bright in this holiday offering, however, not enough to blind the audience from the movie's lack of originality or ambition. At times romantic, “Bright” is happy to be a nice little movie cut from a very familiar mold.
Score: 2 turtle doves (out of 5)
"Merry & Bright" is rated TV-G and has a running time of 90 minutes. The movie premieres on The Hallmark Channel on Nov. 2.
