The Christmas Contract (2018 TV Movie) User Reviews

A plot we all know with a special touch from real life friends.

[MIssM19 · 8/10 · 23 November 2018]

Jolie (Hilarie Burton) is going home for the holidays and she finds out that her ex-boyfriend, who she has a long history with, is taking home his new girlfriend. So her best friend Naomi (Danneel Ackles) suggest taking her brother Jack (Robert Buckley) with her back to Louisiana to pretend they have a relationship.

I love One Tree Hill so I was looking forward to this. 5 people from the cast coming together for a Lifetime movie was everything (one was a surprise to me, even if he was only a couple of minutes).

The movie was good. The secondary characters were amazing. The chemistry was off the charts (of course, they are friends off screen). The plot was nothing special: we have seen this thousands of times. But Hilarie and Robert (Tyler, Danneel and Antwon) made it special for me.

My only complain was the loud music during certain scenes and the lack of scenes with Danneel and Antwon. I'm pretty sure any Hallmark/Lifetime fan will enjoy it. But One Tree Hills fans will love it.

(now give us a Joy and James movie please!)

A sweet story with heart beneath the surface plot

[JaynaB · 8/10 · 12 December 2019]

This is a familiar setup for a holiday story: newly single woman takes home a ringer because her ex will be there with someone new. Warm-hearted family embraces the new man and swaps holiday traditions.

That's where the plot diverges from the usual: there's no heart-rending over deceiving loved ones, and the developing love interest is warm, believable, and well-paced. There's enough going on with the other characters and outside events that Our Heroine seems like a fully rounded woman, not simply a cut-out with a cute hairstyle and a vestigial career.

Our Heroine is positively luminous. She sizzles in this role, like a young Cybil Shepherd or Kathleen Turner, without once doing or saying an overtly sexy thing.

Of course there's the obligatory misunderstanding at the 3/4 mark, that you can see coming from way back. But the way it's resolved doesn't involve either of them doing anything cringe-worthy, and does evolve beautifully out of preceding events.

And I'd REALLY like to experience a Louisiana Christmas.

Poor sound quality

[duttona-630-176053 · 8/10 · 6 December 2020]

Love this movie. Such a sweet story... but somewhat spoilt by the awful sound quality. The speech is fine, it's just the too loud background noise of what I presume are supposed to be crickets! Still well worth watching though!

No sparks, no magic.

[rightisright · 6/10 · 8 December 2018]

This movie finds Hilarie Burton down south again, like Christmas on the Bayou. Unlike that movie, this one kind of mopes along limpidly. Cheryl Ladd and Bruce Boxleitner try their best, but don't add much. The music and cricket sounds frequently drowns out the dialogue.

Someone forgot to write a plot

[LukeCustomer2 · 6/10 · 22 December 2018]

For a movie about a writer getting inspiration for a book, this movie really failed the basic challenge of having something happen. The basic story is a familiar one, great girl is single for the holidays but is in need of a "boyfriend" for the family. So she gets a fake one. In this case her best friends brother. A writer who is also looking to write a story during the trip. To avoid weirdness they put it all into a contract and she agrees to build him a website for his services. Off to the family mansion the go but that is where this movie spins its heels. The lead actors have an easy chemistry and you can see how comfortable they are with each other but showing the audience what exactly would make these two fall in love... just isn't there. Also, there are problems with the supporting characters. The "ex" just doesn't come across as someone pine worthy so it is hard to really get invested in the main character's dealings with him. Also the family takes up just too much time. I see that they hired some big actors for the roles (the spectacularly botoxed Cheryl and Jordan Ladd) but I don't care about the family. I am here for the romance - a romance they didn't really write.

A great family Christmas movie.

[royjcouvillion · 10/10 · 25 November 2018]

We're not professional movie critics. We don't watch much television and, as far as I know, this is the first time I've ever watched anything on Lifetime. However, we do have a special perspective to share about The Christmas Contract.

This was a movie about family and Christmas...and they nailed it.

My wife and I watched the movie with our daughters and their families. We all watched each scene in breathless anticipation. With every chair and sofa spot occupied, the little ones were spread out on the floor with blankets and pillows. We paused, replayed and paused again to point out specific details; even the 6-year olds were focused and engaged.

This unusual behavior is explained by the fact that we were watching the movie in the same living room where Jolie showed Jack the Christmas tree ornaments. As our youngest granddaughter (whose middle name is Jolie) cried out when Tim, Jolie, and Jack first drove up to the Guidry family home, "That's Nana and Poppy's house!"

Like most people, we had never anticipated anything like this. Our home was taken over by strangers, lots of them. We were simultaneously excited and dreadful; we built this home with meticulous attention to detail, and now someone was rearranging furniture and taking pictures off the walls. We weren't as much concerned about physical damage as we were about how our home was to be portrayed and the quality of the movie in which it was to be featured.

The outcome could not be more pleasant. Monika Mitchell (director) did a fantastic job molding the actors and the settings to represent a credible reality. We could see ourselves in every situation including playing games on the back porch, making breakfast for visitors, and sharing meals with extended family and friends at the dining room table. Seeing Cheryl Ladd and Bruce Boxleitner with their movie family in our home seemed perfectly natural. The actors were all amazingly approachable and engaging. Hilarie Burton is as genuine as you might hope, and as far as I could tell, there was no difference between the character and the person. Our only regret is that, as hosts, we weren't able to visit and get to know all of them properly.

As natives to Lafayette and the surrounding area, we're also wary of fake accents and hokey stereotypes. Nothing was exaggerated. Downtown Lafayette has quiet streets, cafés, a cathedral, and a courthouse. Joel Robideaux is really the mayor and his accent is 100% Lafayette. Acadian Village is a real treat and we encourage all of our visiting friends to check it out. Rocky's accent was a little heavy, but I know lots of guys with the same.

And to address a prior reviewer's comment; yes, the cicadas are really that loud and this isn't "the South", it's Lafayette.

Biased as it may be, our opinion is that the movie is a home run. This is a Christmas event our family will share for years to come and we sincerely hope you will too.

Roy and Vickie Couvillion

P.S. Sincere thanks to the producer, Daniel Lewis, for the opportunity to share our home with the Lifetime audience, and to the crew members and staff for their professionalism, their respect and their camaraderie.

Worth signing this contract

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 29 September 2020]

Throughout my whole Lifetime (Hallmark too) Christmas film completest quest undertaken namely late last year, an interesting quest but very hit and miss, there was never the mentality of expecting a classic or the film in question to be flawless. Something that was never managed with Lifetime's output. There was always the expectation of seeing a film where one can see at least some effort rather than merely cash-in level. One could see that with enough of Lifetime's work.

Effort that could be seen with one of their better 2018 Christmas efforts. As far as their Christmas films go overall too 'The Christmas Contract' fares favourably, and is a contract worth signing if not quite a must sign. Anybody wanting originality and award winning dialogue will feel short-changed, but anybody wanting to see a film that doesn't take itself too seriously while seriously enough to stop it from being campy or something, a film that charms and warms the heart should find some worth in 'The Christmas Contract'.

As with much of Lifetime's output, it is pretty formulaic and predictable with the final quarter especially being very easy to figure out what happens next and in somewhat too neat a way.

Some of the dialogue, namely early on, is laughably corny and quite awkward. Count me in as another person that found the music too intrusive and over-bearing.

However, the production values still manage to be pleasing. It's not too drab or garish in photography, the editing didn't seem rushed or disorganised and the scenery has a real charm to it. Some of the soundtrack has a nostalgic feel to it. The dialogue does improve, the flow relaxes and it was sweet. Despite surprises being very few, the story still mostly engages and scores high on the charm and heart-warming factors.

Lifetime generally do better than Hallmark at having characters worth caring for, and 'The Christmas Contract' has characters that may not be three-dimensional but have likeability in their own way and don't have any negative character traits exaggerated. Hilarie Burton brings a lot of charm and energy to her role, as does Robert Buckley. They look very relaxed together and their chemistry came over to me as genuine. The supporting cast also do well, nobody overacts and nobody looks bored.

Overall, didn't blow me away but very pleasant. 7/10

Surprise...this one is excellent

[docm-32304 · 9/10 · 29 November 2019]

It's easy to get tired of the banal almost formulaic hallmark Christmas movies, but this is definitely one of their best IMO. I loved the chemistry between the 2 leads. Hilarie Burton's eyes literally sparkle when she looks at Robert Buckley, another actor with great charisma. The only 2 negatives that I noticed was, one, although the movie is called, "The Christmas Contract", they never read it before signing and there apparently are no conditions (so why the contract?). Secondly, other than Rocky, there are no Louisiana accents. The mayor in fact sounded like a New Yorker.. But these didn't detract enough from what I would call a very romantic movie and good entertainment.

Refreshingly not too predictable

[readsmuzic · 7/10 · 18 November 2020]

The plot was the same ole thing: recently broken up girl goes home for Christmas, old boyfriend has new girlfriend, so girl brings a "boyfriend" to make ex jealous. However, it is nice that there are not the awkward mishaps with the family, the news of the pretend boyfrind isn't a family crisis.

When the real crisis comes, which WAS totally foreseeable, it was wrapped up in a touching way.

7 stars because the sound editing was awful. The dialog was difficult to hear at times because the music or background ambiance was too loud.

Same old story

[phd_travel · 5/10 · 17 March 2019]

Same old story - 2 people who pretend to be bf and gf end up falling for each other.

Hilarie Burton doesn't have much chemistry with her co stars generally but here it's compensated by a bunch of other co stars that are nice to watch. Cheryl Ladd and her real life Daughter Jordan are fun to watch. Robert Buckley is the writer love interest.

Give Hillarie Burton the Christmas Movie Queen Contract

[gehewe · 10/10 · 2 January 2019]

One of my favorite Christmas movies is Naughty and Nice (2012) starring Hillarie Burton. The opening joke of this movie made reference to Hillarie's character Jolie and the Naughty and Nice list. This one exceeded Naughty and Nice so I guess Christmas Contract is a 10+. We have an All-Star cast with Cheryl Ladd, Brian Boxleitner and remember Jason London from 7th Heaven, all in supporting roles. Not a dull moment in this one. I did not want the movie to end. So well done. Thank you.

They did a great job providing the detail on how Jolie and Jack unexpectedly fall in love. They each admire things about the other. He listens to her and knows her favorite tea. By doing so we are able to share in the emotion of the story. In so many movies they just tell us it is happening. In this movie we experience it. So much detail to the little things. The nickname "Jo-Bear", the fish bowl game. Wonderful touch with the notes on the Christmas tree at the end. The movie takes place in Lafayette, Louisiana and I know Christmas is sometimes warm there, but it looked a little too green to me. Hillarie also starred in Christmas on the Bayou (2013) which was also Louisiana. Look out Alicia and Candace, Hillarie is back.

Watched it for the OTH cast.

[prironka · 7/10 · 25 September 2021]

Absolutely loved Danneel, Hilarie and Antwon. And of course the special guest star: the family business beers! Well, of course Tyler Hilton too.

Background music

[sandytecca · 3/10 · 4 November 2019]

The movie is good! But the background music is so loud in some places I couldn't hear the dialogue.

more than decent

[Kirpianuscus · 25 October 2021]

I suppose, the actors , more than the story, represents the basic ingredient of seduction in the case of this very nice film. Robert Buckley, reminding a sort of Clark Kent, Hilarie Burtun proposing a honest portrait of Jolie are the basic pieces of a charming story about family and love, not sensational but more than decent. A hallmark film, not great but better than much about Christmas in Halmark style.

Cute movie

[dianamarinelli · 7/10 · 23 November 2020]

This movie was overall cute only watch it because I love the cast of one tree hill. I love about this movie no cringe lines and no cliche moments. Overall worth a watch

Not that bad; watchable.

[mountaintop-85433 · 6/10 · 30 November 2020]

I'm grading on the curve here; in the context of this genre (Lifetime-ish/TV holiday romance movies). This wasn't that bad as far as this genre goes. Could have benefited from better acting in the male lead role but I like the Louisiana setting and the women in it are hot.

OTH

[ehennig-22550 · 10/10 · 25 November 2018]

I love now this is like a OTH reunion. Even could see some of there characters come out in this movie. New favorite Christmas movie that we will watch every year.

Hilarie Burton always gets me!

[Racingphan2 · 6/10 · 2 November 2020]

I read that this movie is full of former One Tree Hill actors. I've never seen that show, so that means nothing to me. But I could watch Hilarie Burton in anything, even this. As a bonus, we get Cheryl Ladd and Bruce Boxleitner. Be warned though, this movie is no where near as good as her classic, Christmas on the Bayou.

Fun Regional Christmas Movie!!

[rygans-1 · 9/10 · 15 October 2019]

Jolie and Jack are interesting characters in their own right and discover common ground by adhering to their contract. The local characters are pleasant and not stereotypical. I love that it was filmed on site, and that the main cast members didn't try to affect bad Cajun accents. BTW, the family home is beautiful and warmly inviting!

Typical

[egulan · 6/10 · 10 October 2020]

It's a typical Christmas cheesy romance, just what you would expect. But who eats gumbo with a seafood allergy??!!

Loud Music

[bookandcandle · 3/10 · 2 November 2020]

The music was too loud in the background, drowning out the speaking. And the sharp notes were annoying. Had to turn it off. Too bad. Could have been a nice movie.

Wonderful..

[mhudders-60143 · 10/10 · 16 March 2019]

It was a wonderful movie with some of the stars from One Tree Hill.. I thought all tge characters would be in it but they weren't which was disappointing.. The One Tree Hill show was so amazing and the stories it told about things in real life.. It would awesome if they brought it back now and starting a tv series with the same couples going through life and changes with children and how they deal with them growing.. This was a great movie though.. Thanks

Cute movie and cast

[mjanssens26 · 7/10 · 25 December 2020]

It's a cute film and it's great to see some known faces in supporting roles. The two leads are nice to look at and the production values are excellent. I agree with other reviewers who have stated that the soundtrack is a tad too loud. The music does interfere with dialogue at certain points but it's usually in establishing/background scenes so it's not too big a deal. Overall, a decent Lifetime or Hallmark-style film

Painful to listen to

[klmulready · 5/10 · 25 November 2018]

Was this really filmed in the south? The sound of the cicadas is so loud I had to turn the movie off. I really wanted to watch the whole thing but couldn't suffer through the sound any longer.

An Acadian Christmas

[Uriah43 · 7/10 · 25 December 2021]

Having recently broken up with her boyfriend back home in Louisiana, a young woman by the name of "Jolie Guidry" (Hilarie Burton) has since moved to New York City to pursue her career as a professional website designer. During this time, she becomes best friends with a female lawyer by the name of "Naomi" (Danneel Ackles) who, as it so happens, has an older brother named "Jack Friedman" (Robert Buckley) that Jolie doesn't much care for since he stood her up on a date several months earlier. Be that as it may, Jolie is looking forward to returning home to Louisiana to stay with her family during Christmas. Her initial excitement fades, however, when she learns that her former boyfriend "Foster Broussard" (Hunter Burke) will be there with a new girlfriend--leaving her as the only person among her family and friends being single and without a date. Naturally, not having anyone else to confide to, she turns to Naomi for advice and is shocked by her suggestion that Jack should accompany her to Louisiana as her new--yet totally fake--boyfriend. Jack, for his part, doesn't particularly like the idea either until Naomi suggests that, in return for his cooperation, Jolie must create a new website which will help his struggling career as a writer. Yet, even then Jack is still reluctant. That changes, however, when his publisher gives him a new assignment to ghost write a romance novel that just happens to take place in Louisiana. So, in order to ensure that both Jack and Jolie fulfill their end of the agreement, Naomi drafts a contract for the two of them to sign. What none of them realize, however, is the emotional commitment necessary for this effort to succeed. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that my initial expectations for this movie weren't that high due to the overall made-for-television format. Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised as the film managed to deliver a nice balance of humor and emotional suspense to carry the day. Likewise, I also enjoyed the chemistry between both of the main actors as well. That being said, I recommend this film for all viewers looking for a good "Christmas movie" and I have rated it accordingly.