Entertainment gossip and news from Newsweek's network of contributors
The Hallmark Channel has been the prime place for holiday movies since it launched in 2001. Following the success of their 2009 "Countdown to Christmas" series, Hallmark continues to draw viewers each year with new made-for-TV films.
Between cheesy romances and modern spins on classic Hollywood Christmas films, there is plenty for fans to watch.
However, with the standard Hallmark films, the company has also released movies with interesting storylines. We've rounded up five of Hallmark's flicks that take viewers on wild journeys.
A Very Merry Mix-Up
Hallmark's 2013 film A Very Merry Mix-Up has a questionable plot. Alice (Alicia Witt) runs her family's antique store and is engaged to a businessman named Will Mitchum (Scott Gibson). However, when she goes to visit her fiancé's parents for the holidays, she ends up with a broken phone and lost luggage, causing her to struggle to find Will's family. She runs into Will's brother Matt and stays with his family.
As it turns out, Alice went back home with the wrong Mitchum family, and Matt is not related to her fiancé. This hasn't stopped her from falling for him, and she finds herself at a crossroads in love.
A Boyfriend for Christmas
A Boyfriend for Christmas is one of Hallmark's older Christmas films from 2004, but the story arc is just as strange. Starring Kelli Williams and Patrick Muldoon, the film focuses on Holly (Williams), who wished to find a boyfriend 20 years ago at age 13 and suddenly finds an attractive attorney named Ryan on her doorstep. As the movie's description notes, "Will Kris Kringle himself fulfill his promise to Holly all these years later?"
Santa Switch
This Hallmark movie focuses on Santa Claus (Donovan Scott), rather than a sweeping love story. Santa decides he needs a vacation, leaving his responsibilities to a struggling man named Dan (Ethan Erickson). Similar to A Christmas Carol, Santa's assistant Eddie (Sean Astin) has to help Dan prepare and learn the true meaning of Christmas.
A Heavenly Christmas
2016's A Heavenly Christmas stars Sex and the City's Kristin Davis as Eve, who becomes a Christmas angel after her sudden death. She is then tasked by another angel, Pearl (Shirley MacLaine), with helping a musician, Max (Eric McCormack), through his life's problems. If successful, she will return to Earth and continue her relationship with Max, as Pearl reveals she was actually just in a coma.
The Santa Stakeout
Putting a unique spin on the Hallmark holiday romance trope, two police detectives (Tamera Mowry-Housely and Paul Campbell) pose as newlyweds to attempt to solve a string of robberies — which have been taking place at Christmas parties. As expected, the boundaries between a fake relationship and a real one begin to cross.
English (US) ·