Christmas in Evergreen: Tidings of Joy premiered on Hallmark Channel's Countdown to Christmas on November 29th and stars Maggie Lawson (Katie) and Paul Greene (Ben). There are a number of recognizable actors from the prior two movies in the series that make cameo or supporting role appearances.
RATING (out of 5): 🎄🎄🎄🌟
General Movie Details: Katie is a freelance writer who needs a vacation and is looking for the spark to get her writing her second novel. She had read about the world renowned Christmas festival in Evergreen, VT and is hoping to experience the magic of the place herself. Ben is a former journalist who has made Evergreen his home and serves as one of the town's librarians. This years festival is bound to be extra special since it is the 50th anniversary of the first festival and there have been stories told over the years of a time capsule to be opened this year.
Meet Cute Moment: They are traveling on a train together and are jostled into each other while she is looking for a plug to charge her phone. In chatting they realize that they are traveling to the same destination and Katie gets an insider's view of Evergreen and the Christmas magic.
Obligatory moment of snark/personal rant: The Christmas time capsule/advent calendar is pretty phenomenal but it doesn't look 50 years old and seems like it would be hard to get so many people in town able to make it each morning of the month. I really enjoy and appreciate the cameo appearances by the stars of the prior two movies in the series and allusions to the Christmas traditions highlighted in those plots. It makes it seem like Evergreen is a real community. While mentioning the sense of community created in the movies, I want to commend the writers and producers for the diversity in casting and highlighting women-owned business and leadership in the plot. The director makes good use of the musical montage to keep the story moving by showing the passage of time with the opening of the advent calendar days. The Christmas Eve event has returned but this time it is a community Christmas Eve Festival that is meant to be enjoyed with family. The best is that it appears that in the evening at the end of the festival they proceed to the church. It's also fun that while there is a proposal, it isn't among the main characters. I really enjoyed the ending plot device of the flash forward so that the viewer can get a sense of the conclusion of the story... or is it really a preview of what's to come?
Hallmark, I'm Looking At You: There was a comment in the movie about Eisenhower and the advent calendar, so of course I found myself going down an internet search rabbit hole. And yes we do owe Ike some thanks for the widespread popularity of the advent calendar. My favorite find in my searching is an advent calendar posting to Twitter that highlights images from the Hubble Space Telescope. I recommend checking them out @TheAtlPhoto.
Hallmark Movie Connection: Maggie and Paul previously co-starred in My Favorite Wedding (2017). Maggie previously appeared in Christmas Encore (2017) with Brennan Elliott. Paul was seen in Anything for Love (2016) with Erika Christensen. Additionally, Paul can be seen playing Dr. Carson Shepard in When Calls the Heart.
I admit that based on the treatment of the first three stories of Evergreen, I'd watch any other Evergreen-based stories they tell in the future.
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