One might be thinking what is this person thinking giving a Hallmark film a high rating and writing favourably about it. In all honesty, many of my ratings for Hallmark films range between mediocre and slightly above average and to me their Christmas film output is very hit and miss. Expectations were slightly higher than usual for 'Journey Back to Christmas', as Hallmark regular Candace Cameron Bure is watchable and more in a good deal of their work and it had one of their best ever concepts.
A concept that was executed in a way that is relatively rare for Hallmark, it actually met and made the most of its potential and exceeded expectations. To me, 'Journey Back to Christmas' is one of their best of their Christmas output (and we are talking about by far, not by a little) and in the best group of their work overall as well. As far as Bure's Hallmark films go, 'Journey Back to Christmas' is up there among her best and contains one of her better performances as well.
'Journey Back to Christmas' less than modest budget does show at times, especially in moments of not so smooth editing.
Have often found the music for Hallmark films over-used and in need of a toning down tonally too. There are pleasant moments here and there is some authentic atmosphere, but part of me did think it still could have been used less in placement and been more understated.
Bure on the other hand gives a performance of real heart and charm in one of her better performances as one of her more likeable characters. Hallmark do not always score when it comes to having female lead characters that are likeable, but they score here. She has a pleasing and hard to dislike chemistry with Oliver Hudson, equally appealing, and for me their romantic pairing was more rootable than most Hallmark romantic pairings. Tom Skerritt steals his scenes though the whole cast are never less than better than average in roles easier to invest in than most Hallmark Christmas films.
There are some lovely locations here and some pleasant moments in the soundtrack. The script is light-hearted without being too frothy and is not as cornball or as soapy as other Hallmark Christmas films. The story deserves a lot of credit for doing something different, a word usually not associated in the same sentence with Hallmark, and is a lot more creative than most Hallmark films. Concept-wise and its execution 'Journey Back to Christmas' is to me in the top 5 of the most creative when it comes to Hallmark Christmas films, and is the most unique. It is not as formulaic and there is less of the Hallmark cliches. The story is also very charming and heart-warming and the time travel element is not wasted, avoiding convolution too.
Concluding, surprisingly very good which was not expected. 8/10
A concept that was executed in a way that is relatively rare for Hallmark, it actually met and made the most of its potential and exceeded expectations. To me, 'Journey Back to Christmas' is one of their best of their Christmas output (and we are talking about by far, not by a little) and in the best group of their work overall as well. As far as Bure's Hallmark films go, 'Journey Back to Christmas' is up there among her best and contains one of her better performances as well.
'Journey Back to Christmas' less than modest budget does show at times, especially in moments of not so smooth editing.
Have often found the music for Hallmark films over-used and in need of a toning down tonally too. There are pleasant moments here and there is some authentic atmosphere, but part of me did think it still could have been used less in placement and been more understated.
Bure on the other hand gives a performance of real heart and charm in one of her better performances as one of her more likeable characters. Hallmark do not always score when it comes to having female lead characters that are likeable, but they score here. She has a pleasing and hard to dislike chemistry with Oliver Hudson, equally appealing, and for me their romantic pairing was more rootable than most Hallmark romantic pairings. Tom Skerritt steals his scenes though the whole cast are never less than better than average in roles easier to invest in than most Hallmark Christmas films.
There are some lovely locations here and some pleasant moments in the soundtrack. The script is light-hearted without being too frothy and is not as cornball or as soapy as other Hallmark Christmas films. The story deserves a lot of credit for doing something different, a word usually not associated in the same sentence with Hallmark, and is a lot more creative than most Hallmark films. Concept-wise and its execution 'Journey Back to Christmas' is to me in the top 5 of the most creative when it comes to Hallmark Christmas films, and is the most unique. It is not as formulaic and there is less of the Hallmark cliches. The story is also very charming and heart-warming and the time travel element is not wasted, avoiding convolution too.
Concluding, surprisingly very good which was not expected. 8/10