Actor(s) You Know:
My Boyfriend Paul Campbell, Tyler Hynes, Andrew Walker (all three from a million Hallmark movies), Lochlyn Munro (Lucky 7), Margaret Colin (Independence Day)
Plot:
This is the last entry in the Hallmark Wise Men trilogy about the Brenner brothers: Stephan (Campbell), Taylor (Hynes), and Luke (Walker). Stephan is overthinking wedding decisions for his upcoming nuptials, Luke's wife is pregnant with twins, and Taylor has been offered a job in San Francisco. Plus, their mother wants to sell the family home.
Trope(s):
Royalty
Alternate reality
Small town
Fake relationship
Family business getting sold/going bankrupt
Enemies-to-lovers
Best friends-to-lovers
Second chance
Stranded
Meet Cute:
n/a
Rundown:
Dead parents
Montage(s)
Christmas-related name(s)
Animals
Returns to hometown
Is Santa a character?
Secretly or overtly?
Cookie baking
Tree decorating
Somebody hates Christmas
Christmas festival in a small town
A literal competition
Child plays matchmaker
All work, no romance/life
Kiss before the end of the movie
Interrupted kiss
Flashback to childhood
The leads literally run into each other
Gratuitous shirtless scene
Big Secret
Wacky misunderstanding ✔
Just. Talk. To. Each. Other. ✔
Someone pushing the leads together
Real family = chaos / bad families = cold and not chaotic
Learns the meaning of Christmas
Stranded by snowstorm
Hot chocolate
Ice skating
D-list celebrity
Enemy-to-friend storyline
The love interest is an ex
Career change
Lying to each other
Tries to apologize, but keeps getting cut off
Christmas pageant
End with a flash-forward
Did I actually like/root for the heroine? How do the lead(s) annoy me?
I wasn't too bothered by any of the brothers, particularly. I did get annoyed at their various love interests for not understanding pretty basic stuff. When Stephan's father-in-law-to-be Bob shows up uninvited, fiancée Susie takes her dad's side on everything; she's clearly annoyed at how wedding planning is going, which shouldn't be a surprise for her--Stephan's indecisiveness is one of his key character traits. Bob is awful and Susie should apologize to Stephan.
(Also, side note, Bob is played by Lochlyn Munro, who played one of Patrick Dempsey's friends in Lucky 7, which is an AMAZING MOVIE. Anyway, he is only thirteen years older than My Boyfriend Paul Campbell, and I kept being upset by this throughout the movie.)
Meanwhile, Taylor's girlfriend doesn't understand why he doesn't immediately leap at a job offer he's given; she's convinced that he might be hesitant about their relationship when it's clear that the issue involves moving from Seattle to San Francisco. This is a man who lives in his mother's (very nice) basement.
Is it in any way not completely generic?
This is very much not a generic movie--it focuses on family, and it's the third in a trilogy (and yes, we did have issues only vaguely remembering details from the first two movies). Christmas is very much a theme, with trying to make this the Best Christmas Ever Before Everything Changes, but there's a signature zaniness to the series that's absent in the generic Hallmark Christmas movie.
Is the BFF actually the best? Do they need their own movie?
n/a
How is the romantic alternative wrong for the heroine?
n/a
Thoughts/Other Notes:
A cute end to the trilogy. Campbell, Walker, and Hynes are the key to the series and they really are a delight; they do give off brother energy. If you like any of the leads, you'll probably like the movie.
Rating:
🧀🧀🧀
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