I never thought I would say that a Hallmark movie surprised me, but this one did. Twice! Basically this is a story of an over protective mom, played very intelligently by Catherine Bell. She was left a young widow due to her own military husband dying in action. She has refused to open herself up to love with her friend, an extremely eligible and attractive man who is in love with her, due to her tough experience. Now she sees her own daughter, who has a bright future, possibly putting that in jeopardy and opening herself up to pain and heartache by her own budding romance with a soldier about to be deployed. The script is good, and is a good bit more daring and multi layered than most Hallmarks. Bell's character is over protective, but she never goes too far. I was never angry or too frustrated with her. This is partly because the daughter, Betsy, has a good head on her shoulders, and gives her Mom as good as she gets. The actors are great, all the way around. A special shout out goes to the casting of the young soldier. He was super appealing and this movie would not have been so affecting unless you were half in love with him yourself. He was the young man any Mom would hope for in a son, or would want a daughter to marry. And by the way. Pay attention to the title, It's important.
Review of Home for Christmas Day
