Getting the Dream Christmas
Single mom Willa Fairchild (Autumn Reeser - Love at the Thanksgiving Day Parade) has spent the last two years dividing her time between being a healthcare worker and caring for her son, Scout (Liam Hughes), who had a serious heart condition but thanks to an experimental procedure will be able to experience the full joy of Christmas. It is Willa's kindness and love which comes to the attention of one of her patients, Greg Conrad (Bruce Dawson - Hearts of Christmas), who often tells Scout stories about the magical Christmases he had at Bramble House in Oregon. When Greg passes away Willa is stunned to learn that he placed her in his will with not only a gift equal to her son's medical bills but also arranged a Christmas vacation to Bramble House. When they arrive at Bramble House Willa and Scout find themselves joined by Finn Knightly (David Haydn-Jones - A Cookie Cutter Christmas) who is Scout's favourite illustrator of novels. What they don't know is that Finn is in fact Greg's estranged son who has shown up believing a nurse manipulated his late father into putting her in to his will. Trouble is the more time he spends with Willa and Scout the more he falls for them and knows that eventually he will have to tell the truth of who he is and why he is there.
Normally I would not write that much for a synopsis but "A Bramble House Christmas" is a Hallmark Christmas movie, one shown on "Hallmark Movies & Mysteries" and as such when you have someone hiding their real identity from someone only to end up becoming close you know how things will play out, at least to some extent. As such Finn becoming close to Willa and Scout whilst realising she isn't the money grabber he initially thought is pretty obvious. Also what is obvious is that with this being a Hallmark Christmas movie we have that fantastic Christmas look of amazingly beautiful homes combined with some beautiful Christmas songs. It is almost magical the vibe which you get from "A Bramble House Christmas" thanks to the production and all those little touches be it the look, the music or the dialogue.
But there is more to "A Bramble House Christmas" than the obvious side and we get a couple of extra things. Firstly we have Willa falling in love with Bramble House and trying to learn more about it. But we also have Finn learning about his estranged father through his chats with Willa and Scout and beginning to realise he wasn't the bad guy he and his sister had built up in their minds. I won't go in to it any further than that because I don't want to reveal everything but I will say that all the story threads come together nicely in an expectedly touching way.
Now being a Hallmark Christmas movie "A Bramble House Christmas" does have the usual appealing cast with Autumn Reeser and David Haydn-Jones looking good together but also playing off of each other nicely with the emotional depth side of the story. But as with the best Hallmark Christmas movies the appeal also comes from the supporting characters and as such Andrew Airlie and Teryl Rothery bring as much warmth and fun in their roles.
What this all boils down to is that "A Bramble House Christmas" is one of those Hallmark Christmas movies which whilst to some extent is obvious is also extremely touching as well as a little thought provoking.
Tags: TV Christmas Movies, Christmas Movies
