Christmas in Rome premiered on Hallmark Channel's Countdown to Christmas on November 30th and stars Lacey Chabert (Angela) and Sam Page (Oliver).
RATING (out of 5): 🎄🎄🎄
General Movie Details: Angela is an American expat living in Rome and working as a tour guide of the city. She is passionate about Rome to a fault and her passion is contagious (and believable). Oliver is an American executive who finds himself in Rome right before Christmas trying to close a deal to buy an Italian ceramic company. As is often the case, this deal could land him a big promotion. The fact is that Oliver is going to need Angela's help if he wants any chance to make this deal happen.
Meet Cute Moment: He's trying to find his bearings on his phone and literally runs into Angela. One thing I found odd was that her initial reaction (in Italy) is to speak English to Oliver. Since he realizes that she is American, he asks her for directions and she helps him by walking him to the restaurant. Angela is asked to join the meeting to help navigate their cultural differences.
Obligatory moment of snark/personal rant: While the timing is quite expedited since he is only in Rome for a few days, the connection is believable since they spent so much of the time together. They are both experiencing and growing over the course of their encounters. I enjoy the way that her tour goes beyond just the typical tourist sites. I'd love to experience tours like that in a foreign city. I'll have to keep an eye out for experiences that go beyond the surface in the future as I travel around, even in my own backyard. The ornaments that we see are beautiful and what a great way to decorate for the holidays and remember those we love and the joy we've shared. I have a bit of an issue with Angela's expectation that Oliver would say no to the work expectation that he'd need to be home for a meeting on 12/26. I think that while he would like to stay, it's not easy to completely change from being a workaholic overnight. I do appreciate that Angela is written to be upfront and honest regarding not wanting a long-distance relationship. I also appreciate that there were no random appearances of exes as a plot device. I did have to laugh at the end of the movie when there is a comment about an issue about traffic on Christmas Eve but Angela finds a way where there is no one on the roads.
Hallmark, I'm Looking At You: It's nice that they used a destination that didn't require the use of fake snow during filming. I think that they might be able to do that more frequently. I can attest that even in the Northeast there are plenty of times when we don't have snow around Christmas but it is still pretty cold. Bundling up in coats, gloves, scarfs and hats will do a lot to set up the premise that it is cold and they can reduce the use of faux snow. Just saying.
Hallmark Movie Connection: Lacey Chabert is one of the featured actors appearing in Hallmark films and series. One of my favorite Christmas movies starring Lacey was Matchmaker Santa (2012) which co-starred Adam Mayfield. Sam was previously seen in The Perfect Christmas Present (2017) with Tara Holt.
I was afraid that I was going to dislike this movie but Lacey didn't steer me wrong. Not only does she appear in many Hallmark vehicles but most of them are very enjoyable. You'll have to let me know your thoughts regarding this film and about the "Lacey" factor.
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