'Christmas Movie Magic' Review: Holly Deveaux's Lifetime film is all about romance
Contains spoilers for 'Christmas Movie Magic'
There's something about Lifetime's 'Christmas Movie Magic' that makes the heart feel lighter. The smile just stays, and the happy tears just flow. Even the most cynical probably managed to get in a good laugh when they watched Macaulay Culkin's 'Home Alone' and quickly wiped moist eyes when they watched Arnold Schwarzenegger's 'Jingle All the Way'. Holly Deveaux's romance drama is for the cheese and mushy-loving but also gives the aromantics some marshmallows for thought when it comes to love during the holiday season.
What makes 'Christmas Movie Magic' special is that there are no hiccups throughout the movie. It doesn't drag out the love story, neither does it show the relationship cementing itself as one in the last 20 minutes. Deveaux plays Alli Blakeman, an ambitious journalist at the Sentinel, who wants to make it in the news team, but is stuck covering the entertainment beat. She is sent to the fictional town of White Falls, New York to cover the 65th anniversary of the cult Yuletide classic, 'Christmas With You', a movie set in the city and attracts the world to the small town, especially during the season.
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Brad Westdale (Drew Seeley) is the owner of the local theatre that plays the movie every Christmas and a staunch believer in the magic that Christmas movies can kindle in people. Brad helps Alli with her story until a massive twist reveals that Walter Andrews (versions played by Robin Dunne and Patrick Rose) was in fact in love with Brad's grandmother, Margaret who also went by the nickname Daisy (Jill Frappier) and presented the theatre as his monumental token of love.
Naturally, this comes as a blow to the movie magic theory that Brad believes in, but Alli manages to restore the faith of festive movie magic back in his life when she confesses that she's fallen for him. It's a cute love story and one that makes for a good, breezy watch. There's nothing complicated about the plot and the movie also celebrates the Christmas spirit. Credit to director Robert Vaughn who makes sure the 90-minute movie has a light tone and keeps the audience engaged with journalism as one of the key themes. Lifetime's roster of Christmas movies continues to impress and Deveaux's movie just manages to add to the magic.