Cherished Memories: A Gift to Remember 2 premiered on Hallmark Channel's Countdown to Christmas on November 24th and stars Ali Leibert (Darcy) and Peter Porte (Aiden).
RATING (out of 5): 🎄🎄
General Movie Details: It's been a year since Darcy ran over Aiden with her bike which gave him a case of amnesia in A Gift to Remember (2017). Aiden is all recovered and living two doors down from Darcy. Darcy is now the manager at Chaucers book store and we've returned just in time for Christmas. It's their first real Christmas together and they are both trying to come up with the perfect gift for one another. We are introduced to Marcus, a young boy who is spending Christmas with his aunt (Mrs. Henley) while his parents are both deployed over the holiday. In an attempt to pack more into the movie than is necessary, there is also the fact that Darcy and Aiden need to work fast to save the Liberty Recreation Center from being sold.
Giant Toy Soldiers Alert: There were giant toy soldiers, although not Nutcrackers, around the room at the Liberty Recreation Center party.
Obligatory moment of snark/personal rant: I really liked the 2017 feature, A Gift to Remember. This sequel didn't live up to the first in my mind. There were too many plot lines going on and it lacked the warmth of the original. There is a snowmaze at the park that they visit which is very cool and would be a cool addition to a winter wonderland. Aiden plans to design, cut and paint his village buildings in the approximately 1 week before Christmas Eve. My husband and I called foul loudly on that project. I mean if he were planning to only do one building I might find the project more reasonable but about a half dozen buildings is a no go in my mind. Let's talk about the fact that it is supposed to be December in Philadelphia. Darcy either is impervious to the cold or wants to come down with pneumonia for New Year's because when she gets dressed up for both the Rec Center party and the Christmas Eve party at Chaucers she is without a coat for both! If she were wearing a long sleeve wool dress, I might buy the lack of outerwear but she's wearing really short sleeved satiny dresses on both occasions. The one sentiment that I do appreciate from Mrs. Henley is that friends are the family you choose. It's a worthy sentiment to keep in mind as we look forward to Thanksgiving and the coming holiday.
Hallmark Movie Connection: Besides their prior pairing in A Gift to Remember (2017)... Ali was previously seen in a supporting role in Anything for Love (2016) which starred Erika Christensen and Paul Greene. Peter was previously in Love, Once and Always (2018) with Amanda Schull.
I really liked these characters and the original story but I'm just not sure that this script warranted revisiting them this year. The original movie was based on a book by Melissa Hill and if you are needing anther dose of the characters maybe the source material is worth a read. Please let me know your thoughts about this sequel.
No comments:
Post a Comment