An Unexpected Christmas

Bethany Joy Lenz (Emily) may be the best actress Hallmark has ever seen. Tyler Hynes (Jamie) is arguably the most popular leading man in Hallmark history. And Paul Campbell — already beloved as a Hallmark leading man — has also become one of the network’s most talented writers.

Put them all together and you get the 2021 Hallmark Christmas favorite: An Unexpected Christmas.

When Variety released its 2025 list, “The 25 Best Hallmark Christmas Movies, Ranked,” the Hallmark world exploded with debate… and their #1 pick was none other than An Unexpected Christmas! 

In this episode, we cover:

• Behind-the-scenes movie fun facts
 • Our favorite moments
 • Scenes we’d rewrite
 • The best supporting characters
 • “Are We Sure?” — our ultimate Hallmark logic check
 • Whether Emily and Jamie would actually last as a couple
 • The multiple kisses… and the letter grades they earned
 • Who (or what) truly won the movie
 • Our personal — and unbiased — final rating

For the love of Hallmark!

Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/foreverhallmarkchristmas

Email: ForeverHallmarkChristmas@gmail.com

*** Not affiliated with Hallmark Media. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Hello everyone. Welcome to Forever Hallmark Christmas Podcast. We are a movie review podcast where we talk about one thing and one thing only, that is, Hallmark Christmas movies. My name is Renee, and I'm joined by my friend and co-host Rich. How are you, buddy?

SPEAKER_01 0:25

I'm doing good, Renee. We got a big one today. We're going to try and make the Hinese proud with uh a little an unexpected Christmas. And uh yeah, it's uh I think this is gonna be a fun one. Yeah, I think so too. I enjoyed it. So before we get started today, I want to talk a little bit, uh, remind everybody where you can follow us on on Instagram. It's Forever Hallmark Christmas. And Renee, I when we first started this, and I think our first podcast dropped on Valentine's Day, we said we said if we ever got 100 followers on Instagram, we'd be pretty proud and feel like we made it. And then we uh we got our 100 follower, and it happened to be Marilou Henner. We thought uh, you know, hey, we we've made the big time here. We just hit 300 followers, Renee. And I think we're on episode 15 or 16 right now. Um, and I never I didn't think we'd ever have more than 100. So uh pretty cool if you aren't aren't following us on Instagram. I mean, join the party. It's and I started looking who's following us. I I never really paid much attention, but Renee, we've got actors like Barbara Niven and Jen Lilly and Marilou Henner, of course, who who was number 100. We we've got writers like like Jana King, we actually did one of her movies, uh Topher Payne, who wrote The Christmas Baby last season, Ken Cooperus, who writes Mistletoe Murders, uh, a whole bunch of producers for some reason. Uh directors like Jeff Beasley, we got other podcasters like Deck the Hallmark guys, uh Hallmark Cafe, our friends uh Gary and Amy over at Poor the Wine, it's rom com time. We're gonna maybe do something with them in June, kind of a little collaboration podcast. So pretty amazing that uh that we got all these folks following us, and I and I'm pretty proud of what we've done so far. But yeah, if you're not following us on Instagram, give us a follow like everybody else. It's it's how you can find out what movies we have coming up and uh what we think about different movies. We put some top 25 lists on there. We did a uh we ranked all the Tyler Hines movies uh recently, uh Christmas movies. So give us a follow on Instagram. It's a it's a fun place to go check out what's going on in the world of uh Forever Hallmark Christmas.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

I'm amazed at how nice and generous everyone has been. That's really the true Hallmark Christmas spirit, which I love to see that.

SPEAKER_01 2:31

I think that's what you know, Hallmark fans are that way, nice and generous. Uh, Hallmark actors are that way when you hear they are the most approachable set of actors that anybody has ever seen going to these experiences and cruises, and and and and everybody raves about you know anybody affiliated with Hallmark, just how approachable they are, how down-to-earth they are. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:52

I love that. All right, Unexpected Christmas, take it over. Yep, this week it was Unexpected Christmas. It's a movie from 2021 starring Bethany Joy Lance, who's one of my favorites. She plays Emily, she's been in several Hallmark movies, including Built More Christmas, Savoring Paris. Co-star is Tyler Hines as Jamie. He's a fan favorite. He was in a recently reviewed movie by us. It's Christmas Eve, uh Falling for You and Mistletoe Christmas, among several other movies. Uh, we have supporting casts of Allison. I think her name is I'm gonna say that W is a V, like a Vanzura, but it could be Wanzura as Becca. I'm not sure on her pronunciation. I'm sorry if I'm mispronouncing that. And Linda Boyd as Diane. Uh Linda is uh she's a Hallmark regular. I've been a fan of hers for a while. Uh from Chesapeake Shores. As I've mentioned, I still need to finish watching that series. Uh, this movie was directed by Michael Robinson. Other Hallmark movies, uh Shoes at Christmas, Christmas at Dollywood. I've seen that one. Romance in Style, and Chesapeake Shores. Directed some episodes. I don't think all of them, but uh some for sure. And I have here that it's written by Paul Campbell and story by Gregory McGoon. Uh Campbell wrote the Three Wisem series and Christmas at Castle Heart, so he's definitely uh a strong writer for Hallmark.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

Pretty amazing guy. I mean, obviously he's one of their leading men as well, and seeing some of the scripts he's pumped out is pretty amazing that uh he's a he's a dual threat guy for sure.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

Yeah. So our FHC log line for this is a speech writer makes a deal with his ex-girlfriend to pretend they are a couple to save his family. It's Chris to save his family's Christmas. It's not long before both the ruse and their feelings catch up with them. Uh this movie had an IMDB rating of 6.9, which is pretty good for Hallmark movies. That there, that's a high rating, I would say. And uh it's time now for the extremely popular Fun Facts with Rich.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

Yeah, people love the Fun Facts uh segment that we started doing, I don't know, maybe about seven or eight episodes ago. So, and we have a whole bunch on this one as well. Uh, this movie, as so many Hallmark Christmas are, filmed in Vancouver. Uh, it was filmed in September, and it was about 90 degrees out. So those guys were definitely sweating under their Christmas clothes. But uh again, British Columbia, a very popular filming spot for any Hallmark Christmas movie. Uh Bethany Joy Lens, we mentioned her, BJL. Uh, not only did she act in the movie uh as our lead uh Emily, but she also performs the song Snow, which starts playing right after their kiss at the train station and continues playing through the closing credits. So Bethany Joylens, uh, in addition to being a fantastic actress, a pretty darn good singer as well. Andrew Walker, he if you could miss this one really easily, he has a very quick cameo during this movie, and it's during the first bar scene. He walks in, he tells the receptionist Walker, a party of two, and he walks by Tyler Hines as he's about to sit down. So uh quick cameo by Andrew Walker there. Uh, this movie took about three years to develop. I mean, a lot of people might think, you know, they write a Hallmark movie within a couple weeks, and the next thing you know, it's in production and it hits the screen a couple of months later. No, no, no. Three years to develop on this one. Uh, we mentioned that it was written by Paul Campbell, uh, the script was, and pretty interesting. Tyler Hines had never met Paul Campbell before reading the script for this movie. And they met for the very first time after the movie was actually finished shooting. Uh, so I found that interesting because just the following year they started the three wise men trilogy together uh and obviously become really good friends. And the rumor is that Paul Campbell, when he was writing the script, originally thought that he himself might play the role of Jamie. But when it came down to it, I don't know if it was Hallmark or the producers, whoever, they thought they needed someone a little bit younger in that role of Jamie at the time. Paul Campbell was 42 and Tyler Hines was 35. And as we know, Tyler Hines ended up uh in the role, but Paul Campbell kind of saw himself as a role of Jamie uh as he was writing it. The scene at the train station at the end of the movie, the big final kiss there, that that wasn't a train station at all. It was actually the Mennonite Heritage Museum uh in a town called Abbotsford outside of Vancouver. And we've talked a lot about movies that make the top 25 lists of all time, whether it be Entertainment Weekly or other publications. The big one that came out in November of 2025 was Variety. They came up out with their top 25 Hallmark Christmas movies of all time. Uh, a lot of people were talking about I heard podcasts dedicated to breaking down that entire variety list and what they liked and what they didn't like. The number one Christmas movie of all time, according to variety, is an unexpected Christmas. So, yep.

SPEAKER_00 7:46

And those are our fun facts. Over to you. And that was really um I'm impressed that it was like the number one Christmas for them of all time for them. Um one thing I I you know when I was watching this, I heard them, you know, because uh Jackie joined her. Christy played a tiny cameo in it in a video call, and they said, you know, oh, she won three Olympic gold medals. And I was trying to remember, did she really win three? I thought she won more, honestly, because she was so talented. So that was my little fit research. I'm like, for sure, Rachel pick up on this, but I looked up a fun fact, and yeah, she did win three Olympic medals. That was a true statement. And that I should have known it would have been correct, but I don't know why I fact-checked that for some reason. Anyways, going on. Uh, let's dive right in. What are your overall overall thoughts on this movie?

SPEAKER_01 8:34

Okay, right up front, I gotta admit, I have seen this one before uh multiple times. It's one that I re-watch almost every year if it's on, because I think it's uh uh a fantastic movie. We haven't talked a lot about our our hallmark history watching the earliest I can remember really watching consistently was was 2013. It was movies like Snowbride and Let It Snow that year that I'd watch with my wife. Um did I can't pretend to say that I watched every single Christmas movie and every single year. I think 2023 was the first year you and I made an agreement that we were going to watch all 41 or 42 or whatever. But that kind of picked and choose what I wanted to watch. But the movies that I was really attracted to back then were just the really good, solid rom-com movies. Um, obviously, I wasn't as much into the time travel stuff or something with a ton of Christmas magic. As I mentioned, I've come full circle on that. I really now do enjoy those kinds of movies. But back then I wanted to see a really well-written rom com, really well acted. And that's exactly what this movie is. It is just a straight rom-com. If you were to tell me this was a movie on Netflix, I wouldn't bat an eye. I think it's just that solid. Uh, great chemistry between our leads. We'll talk what we liked about it here in a in a minute. But yeah, I just think it's it's just a great, great, straightforward rom-com movie. And I think I heard Amy Acker, we we covered Crashing Through the Snow last week, and she said in an interview, you don't get rom-coms in movie theaters anymore. It's just it's it's a thing of the past, and the one place you can come to Hallmark is for really good rom-coms. And I think this is just an example of a really, really good, straightforward rom-com movie.

SPEAKER_00 10:18

Yeah, I agree with you when I was watching this. We said, you know, this could be on, you know, this could have just been on any network or in the in the theater. I, you know, obviously rom-coms aren't as popular in the theaters, but so this is this is just a regular good movie. You know, it's a great Hallmark movie, but it's a regular, solidly good movie. I thought this movie was really funny. Um, I felt it was had some honestly powerful emotional scenes. Well acted. This was just a delight. And I unexpectedly picked a really good movie. See what I did there? Unexpectedly.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

I got I got you unexpected there, yes. You you uh you did pick a very good.

SPEAKER_00 10:55

Had you had you seen this one before? I had not. So wow. I had not. So what I just kind of did, I wasn't sure what I didn't want to go into like one of our expected, you know, uh, my sequels that I'm gonna get to eventually.

unknown 11:07

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 11:07

I just kind of googled. I said, hey, you know, what's kind of something along these lines of the last one we watched before this? And it gave me up a list and I said, Oh, the unexpected, unexpected Christmas. I said, That sounds cool. I like Bethany a lot. And so I was like, okay. I just so I had knew nothing about this movie when I picked it, and I kind of like that. I like not knowing anything and just coming in fresh on these movies, which is kind of fun for me.

SPEAKER_01 11:29

So, what are some of the things uh you really like? I I had to cut down this list for today. I think I started, I think I had about 10, 15 things originally on here. I cut it down to about six because there was so much to like about this movie. Um, and a couple of these were candidates for my favorite moments of the movie, but I'll throw them into the things I really liked as well because it was really hard for me to uh to pick one moment, which I did eventually. But uh I I love the part Jamie takes a sleeping pill and he won't wake up and Emily throws water in his face. I I I laugh out loud every time I see that scene. Um, I love the scene at the fountain where she's so excited and she's kind of skipping around the fountain, and then they have a hug and a little tender dance. So well done. Um visually beautifully shot. I love the relationship uh between Becca and Jamie, Jamie's sister. I think they just have a great brother-sister relationship that really shines. Um, I also like the relationship between Diane and Tom. They seem like they have a really good marriage. Um, so I like the relationships uh in this movie. Jamie's talked with his grandma. I know we always love a good grandma or grandpa in a movie, and he's obviously lost his grandpa, but he's still really close to his grandma, and his grandma's a super wise woman, and I love that talk that they have together. Uh Becca's a she shed going back there. She has her wine back there. She goes in, you know, light up and she tells it to light up, and all of a sudden the lights pop on. Uh, I think that's just a great spot for a Hallmark movie. And obviously, Jamie and Becca have some great conversations back there. And Renee, I don't know how you know the last thing you and I ever want to do is upset the Heinese for any reason. I think that's number one thing, because we'll hear about it. I have a feeling probably the majority of Heinese aren't going to be with me on this one, but I think some will be. I like baby faced clean-shaven Tyler. I I really do. Obviously, bearded Tyler, he's the he's the coolest of all dudes riding the motorcycle, toothpick in his mouth with the with the beard. But I really like seeing baby faced clean-shaven Tyler. We loved him in It's Christmas Eve, and I I love seeing it in this movie. So, but a whole bunch to like about this movie.

SPEAKER_00 13:39

I thought I totally agree with you. I thought, man, he looks this is like his best, one of his better looks. Even I liked it even better than his bearded look. Maybe he was at that right age, that right weight, or whatever he was. Yeah, I thought he looked really, really good for him. I was I was blown away, actually. And I was like, yeah, the ladies got some ladies gotta love that clean-shaven look of his because he's an attractive guy. So I I like you, I had tons of stuff. But I want to say the one of the things I really liked is when Emily was trying to sneak out of the house and pretty much the entire family one by one kept coming down and preventing her from leaving. I thought that was so funny. Oh, that just cracked me up. And the time where where the mom said, you know, oh, especially if they're talking about having, you know, maybe talking about having babies, and the spit take from Jamie there was so funny. It genuinely made me laugh out loud, and I was just cracking up when he did that. And uh not too far after that, they walk over to the kitchen and he's got a coffee cup in his hand, and he starts talking to her, and she slaps the coffee cup out of his hand. I don't know if that was planned or not, because he looked kind of genuinely surprised. I just that just cracked me up. Um, you know, like you, I like the the serious talks. Becca and Jamie's talk in the theater was not just about him, which it usually is, it was also about her and her life. Absolutely. I thought that was a nice uh inclusion or expansion on a supporting character. Uh their talk in the restaurant was heartfelt talk, and you can see she's in pain over him, and he must feel something as well. I'm not sure I wasn't sure what he was feeling at that point. Because he seemed kind of closed off. I didn't know like why did he leave? And for a bit, we didn't know who left who or what happened. It took a bit to reveal that, which I kind of liked, but was frustrated by at the same time. I don't know how you felt about that. But uh, what are some of your rewrites?

SPEAKER_01 15:41

You know, I I I didn't have a heck of a lot, but there's there's one thing that I thought, but it's a big one. Um, and it's at the end of the movie. I I don't think I would have had the governor cancel the speech in Fulton. I think I would have had the governor show up, do the speech, and the family shows up as Jamie's looking for Emily, trying to find her. You know, he's made his big decision. You know, I'm not gonna let this woman go. And he should show up while the governor's doing the speech, and she's just killing the speech that he wrote. Um he he delivered, he came through. The speech is so good, it's gonna win her the election. The crowd is going crazy. Jamie's looking for Emily. He he he knows she's there, but he can't find her, and he's looking all over as everyone's going nuts over the speech, and then maybe she like sneaks up behind him and says, Hey, nice speech, buddy. And uh, and then you know, they kind of have their moment and then have their kiss right there, um, you know, amongst all these strangers in the crowd that are all concentrated on the speech while they're kind of having uh, you know, a really tender moment with a kiss right there. And then maybe the family can come up and find them after they've had their moment together. I think that's what I didn't like when the governor didn't show up, I felt, oh my god, he's kind of like failed again, you know, by not getting the governor to do what what Emily really wanted and everything. So I think I would have made that change. I would have had the governor show up, he wins, he got, he he came through, and then instead of having their kiss in the train station there, they they would have had their kiss right there as the governor was doing her speech. That's that's the one rewrite I think I would have done.

SPEAKER_00 17:21

Yeah, he was stressing me out when he said, I forgot to mention this. One of the things I really liked is when she's like, Oh, you can get the governor here, and he's shaking his head no, but he goes, Yeah, no problem. She loves me, but he's shaking his head no the entire time. So I thought that was really funny. Like his his body like could not could not keep up with the line. I was like, Why is he doing that? It made me stress for him, but I thought that was really funny.

SPEAKER_01 17:49

He was I mean, yeah, he was stressed. I mean, the fact that you know it's Christmas Eve and you still hadn't finished the script. It's like, oh come on, Jamie, you can do it.

SPEAKER_00 17:55

I know that was that was intense for him. Um I had one well, I had a couple rewrites, but uh the reason Jamie gave for breaking up with Emily, well, I get it. Like he didn't seem like a guy who lacks confidence, but they're he's being portrayed as a person who lacks confidence. It just made him look so insecure. I would prefer a reason that doesn't make him look so insecure. I mean, I do recall he was like about his writing and his speech for the governor, he was kind of insecure about that. So maybe his character does have insecurities. And later on you find out he's you know he's known for not really talking about his feelings. I don't know, I just wanted to see something a little bit I thought it made him you know, if he's so insecure, why would why would she want to even stay with him, right? But I I I thought that one was something I could rewrite. And for the m first half of the movie, I had no idea how Emily felt about the breakup. Right? Not until she says, you know, like you know, that she um was missed him and you know, had was hurt by this. Okay, and oh that's when she's talking to her best friend and quickly brings her up to speed and states how she feels about being there after the breakup. You know, I was like, that was like kind of a you know, it it finally made the movie. I had that written in early on. I was like, this is something I'd rewrite. It made it in much later than I would have liked. But I guess you know, pacing is uh in you know, it's okay. It made me wait for the result because I was wondering, like, well, why did she, you know, first why did they break up and then how did she feel about it? But those were my kind of my rewrites just from my own personal. I mean, the movie, the movie's great, so they did a good job. That's just my own personal rewrite. And this leads us to what is your favorite moment?

SPEAKER_01 19:43

As I mentioned, this was this was a tough one because I mentioned those couple of that in the the what we like section that I really liked, you know, the the the sleeping in and throwing water on his face, and then the scene at the fountain, those were contenders for me. In the end, my my favorite moment though is when Becca loses her director in the play and she blackmails Emily and Jamie to be part of the performance. I I just thought it was so well written. And first, you know, when Jamie says, No, I ain't doing it, and she pulls out her phone and starts dialing up like mom, like, no, you you are doing this, buddy, or I'm telling on you. And then, you know, Emily starts laughing as well, and she's like, Oh, what are you laughing at? You're you're part of this now, too. Um, I really like that whole scene. The three of them, I think the you know, this movie is about Jamie and Emily, but Becca's right there with them. I think the three of them together in that scene was just they it was just so great. That's like I say, it was a tough choice, but I'm I'm going with that one.

SPEAKER_00 20:31

Yeah, I put that one down as one of the things I liked, but I had so many. It's like I couldn't spend 20 minutes on telling you the things I liked about this movie. Um, you know, my favorite moment, I think, is when Emily called out Jamie. I think it was right after the theater. And, you know, what does he want in life? And her acting and feelings on the display there were really strong. I could see in her face she was pained and she was emotional. She seemed very real. I really enjoyed that moment between them. The their acting together was really, and their chemistry was just really enjoyable for me to watch. And it immediately followed by Becca and Jamie having that talk in the she shed we talked about, and that was another continuing powerful stuff and emotional uh speak. That's totally my jam. I really enjoyed that whole sequence from the movie theater to the she-shed, was my absolute favorite moment. But I did like the very funny moments too. I mean, those were hilarious, like when she threw the water in his face. That was another time I was just cracking up. Who do you have as your best supporting character who deserved more screen time?

SPEAKER_01 21:37

I'm not sure anybody deserved or needed more screen time. I think Paul Campbell did a really good job with his script, kind of spreading out all the supporting characters really well. Uh, I'll go with the with the number three on the casting sheet, and that's Becca. I think, you know, obviously Jamie and you kind of Emily had their storyline, but Becca had her own storyline as well. Uh, I think uh You know, she just played the role great uh obviously we talked about the relationship between her and Jamie, brother sister, Disos great talks. Uh she has her son, she has her own backstory that that they go into. Um hopefully she finds love there at the end of the movie as well. Um, but yeah, I I really liked Becca. She was just a great, great character.

SPEAKER_00 22:22

She was. I mean, she really was. I mean, I consider her just as important as the the leads. Um but I picked, you know, Becca was kind of on my list, but I said, well, I did get in, I did get a a good amount of Becca. So I saw uh, you know, so I didn't really have one, but I kind of forced myself to pick, and I picked Becca's son, because I think we could have expanded on him a little bit more. Uh otherwise, the time was well distributed for the most part. I would have liked to have seen, you know, like maybe Becca go on her date, or Becca meet or I can't remember the name of the lady she met, but have her meet the sun, you know, something along those lines that would have been kind of interesting. I just want to see a little bit more of him, but this is really kind of a a stretch. Everything was really, you know, everyone had really good screen time.

SPEAKER_01 23:11

I love it when the sun comes up to Jamie and he is he dressed as a Chris the late Christmas tree or whatever, and he's all I look terrible, I look horrible. Jamie's trying not to laugh. He's all no, you look great, buddy.

SPEAKER_00 23:20

It's uh but yeah, yeah, we could that whole movie theater scene was just funny, funny, funny.

SPEAKER_01 23:27

We could we could use a lot more of the kit though for sure.

SPEAKER_00 23:30

Yeah. So um, are we sure?

SPEAKER_01 23:33

It's time for are we sure? What do you got? Yeah, we have to put suspension of disbelief uh aside for a second and call out a few that are just way too obvious. And my first one is are we sure a dude in his mid-30s would be afraid to tell his family that he broke up with his girlfriend? I mean, it was 10 weeks ago and he still hasn't told him. Come on, dude, you're like 35. Well, good.

SPEAKER_00 23:52

Let your family know they'll give you. But the grandfather had passed away.

SPEAKER_01 23:55

Yeah, yeah. So he but you know but they were together at that time because she mentioned that she was at the funeral. So they had to have still been together then. Obviously, they would have had to put on this ruse way back then. So yeah, I mean, uh, come on. I think uh I think a bit he's a big boy, he could have told us his family that they'd uh that they were no longer together.

SPEAKER_00 24:14

I think that plays like into how insecure he is.

SPEAKER_01 24:17

My other my are we sure that Jackie Joyner Kercy would have been the best option for celebrity here? Because she's from St. Louis. This is kind of an Illinois Chicago movie. Wouldn't they want like a Chicago sports legend? Because Chicago and St. Louis have this kind of you know, uh little battle between the two cities, a little rivalry there. I think I would have gone with a Chicago legend instead of but somebody from St. Louis, uh, if I'm the governor, right? Uh you want uh you know, you want you want a Chicago legend up there, but uh Yeah, they should have got Ditka or somebody. I mean Ryan Sandberg rests in peace when he was still alive. He's a Chicago legend. Um yeah, somebody like that though from Chicago. Are we sure that that Tom needs this massive remote control to work the inflatables? Um because as you know, Renee, we have a lot of inflatables on our lung. I have it set up on this little tiny portable timer the size of a credit card. So I I think the thing was it was this huge, like uh like almost like a turntable. I don't know what it was, but uh yeah, I don't think we need something that big just for to turn on the inflatables.

SPEAKER_00 25:22

I think the fans want to see in Christmas time your inflatables on your lawn because the oh I had no I had no problems with the inflatables, but they're they're uh but but they are impressive.

SPEAKER_01 25:31

Yeah, I had no problems with the inflatables. I love them, but uh he he had this big, I mean the thing must have been like three feet by three feet, this big remote control that he had, but he used to turn them on and off. So I don't know if we needed something quite that big. So I looked up there is a real Fulton, Illinois, a town of 3600 on the Illinois, Iowa State state border. Are we sure there'd be a direct train to Fulton, Illinois, town of 3600? Not sure about that one.

SPEAKER_00 25:56

You know, when I was watching this, I said, Does Fulton, Illinois exist? Do I need to look this up? I said to myself, no, Rich is gonna tell me about the town, and here we are. I don't know exactly how many people live there and everything, where it's at.

SPEAKER_01 26:10

I called this out right on the Illinois-Iowa border, 3,600 people.

SPEAKER_00 26:13

Yeah, no train, the town of 3,600 people that's nothing.

SPEAKER_01 26:16

Then I already called this one out. I mean, Jam Jamie's a talented speechwriter. Are we sure if the governor's giving a speech uh on Christmas morning that he wouldn't have even really started the speech on Christmas Eve? So uh yeah, that's that's my last RB sure.

SPEAKER_00 26:30

You know, as a kid who wasn't always the best at in school, I can relate to you know finishing the assignment at the very last minute. But uh yeah, that was kind of wild. Um I had uh like are we sure no one would say anything when they went to bed in separate rooms? Did they hide it from everyone? Unless I missed something there that they said, oh, you know, you sleep here, you sleep there. Like I was confused, like, how come no one saying anything unless they just snuck you know, just snuck into the other room? I don't know what happened there. Wait, what would you like? What are you asking? I'm I'm confused. Like they the um Jamie and they they slept in separate rooms, right?

unknown 27:08

Right.

SPEAKER_00 27:08

So how like how come no one said anything about that?

SPEAKER_01 27:11

You think they should they people thought thought they should have been sleeping in the same room? Yeah, they're a couple. It's a Hallmark movie.

SPEAKER_00 27:17

No, I know that, but usually like a couple sleeps in the same room. Right, okay. Even in a Hallmark movie, a couple sleeps in the same room. Rarely really? Oh, yeah. You know what? I'm gonna start adding this to things I check for when and couples go stay somewhere. I would think, you know, even I love Lucy, they stayed in the same room, maybe separate beds, like if they're they're in their childhood beds, they have two twin beds, they keep it wholesome or whatever. Okay. I just thought I just thought, are we sure about that? That's funny. And I said, you know, they couldn't, are we sure they couldn't get a play, a kid to put to play the unicorn in the play? Right. I mean, there was a hilarious scene, it's one of the funniest scenes in the movie, but like their students, they're just getting somebody else to play it. The inflatable unicorn was classy, yeah. And it was a huge outfit too. Like, what kid is that tall? I mean, I don't know. The whole thing was funny. And then I just thought, are we sure Becca would even entertain for a moment this hairbrain idea when they saw themselves at the train station? Like, you know, ex-girlfriend got dumped. She'd be like, get out of here. I don't even want to see you. Right. But obviously, you know, she's a nice person and she had some still uh unresolved feelings. So I get that. Those are my little are we sure's. I'm so I'm surprised you're pushing back on the separate bedrooms thing. I now I'm gonna look at this more closely when I watch a movie just to see if I can get something to push back again.

SPEAKER_01 28:48

In 2025, I think it was the last movie of the year, it was the Hunter King Evan Roderick one, I can't remember the name of it. Uh, where they were they weren't married yet, but they'd bought a house together, and people were like talking about that, like, oh my god, this is Hallmark movie. You know, they actually are living together in the same house and they're not married. That was actually discussion that was coming up. So I think kind of that that old-fashioned Hallmark family values kind of thing still shows a lot. Uh but yeah. Which I appreciate.

SPEAKER_00 29:15

Yeah, I do. I mean, that's that's lovely. All right, I just found it interesting.

SPEAKER_01 29:19

You know, sometimes you know, I apply non-Hallmark like to Hallmark and I I thought the same thing you did actually, and I and I go, but you know what, this is Hallmark, so I get it. So long.

SPEAKER_00 29:31

So another really famous, not famous, another popular point that we talk about sometimes, or every time. Would the lead couple last 12 months?

SPEAKER_01 29:42

Absolutely, 100%, no doubt about it. I mean we talk chemistry a lot. We had really good chemistry in the movie we covered last week, Crashing Through the Snow, uh, with Amy Acker and Warren Christie. And these two, I mean, the chemistry is so it just feels so natural. Um, he knows he made a mistake letting her go the first time around. She's never forgotten about him, and she's still in love with him, uh, even though he's the one that broke it off. Um, they've they've had their big character arcs. She's ready to settle down. He's ready to say, you know what, I'm actually pretty good at my job. I'm not as insecure as I thought I was. I have no doubt these two they're in it. Those babies are coming one day, and uh maybe they can't even sleep in the same room uh down the road a little bit. Uh, but they're gonna make it, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:35

Yeah, I agree. I said, yeah, they love each other and he's maturing, you know, and so long as he doesn't get insecure, they're golden. Because it's she's in and she's mature, she's she's got she's there, and he just needs to be chill and for sure, nice, lovely life together with sleeping in the same room, hopefully, as you said. Another favorite section. Let's rate the kiss, the mistletoe meter.

SPEAKER_01 31:02

The mistletoe meter. Alright, so we had two kisses here towards the end. Um I I I thought the kiss in the train station.

SPEAKER_00 31:11

There was a mid-movie kiss too, so there's three kisses.

SPEAKER_01 31:14

Uh yeah, I I didn't really count that one because that's they were just I didn't even count that because they didn't really want to kiss. They just kind of had to go through the motions at that time. I didn't even really count that one because yeah, for obvious reasons. If you know the movie, then it's like, okay, they just had to kind of put on a show there. They weren't really interested in kissing at the time. But I'm gonna go to I'm gonna go straight to the end of the movie. So the um the kiss at the translation, very good. I I I I didn't think it was great, but very good. I I gave it an A- and the one it was, it was a actually a really good kiss. The thing I didn't like about it was after they finished their kiss, everybody ran up like, Congratulations, you guys just kissed. And I felt that a little cheesy. It's like, oh. So I gave it an A- at first, because I kind of forgotten there was that second kiss at the bar to end the movie. And that scene was only maybe 15, 20 seconds, but you had Bethany Joy Lenz's own song that she'd sang playing in the background there. The waiter comes up to serve them, sees the two of them, and says, Oh, not these two again, and immediately turns around. Comedy at its finest. Um, and then they had just a fantastic kiss there. Great camera work in the dark. Uh, I I loved that final kiss. So I'm gonna bump the overall kiss sequence up to an A just because, like I said, I wasn't crazy about everyone running up after that first kiss in the train station, but I think they made up for it with the con the comedic timing and everything of that final kiss in the bar. Really tender, really sweet, great, great camera work. Uh so I'm gonna I'm gonna give the overall kiss sequence a straight A, just an A all around.

SPEAKER_00 32:52

I'm a little disappointed in myself because I I missed those little details in the in the very last kiss. So I'm gonna have to go. I'm gonna after this, I'm gonna go rewatch that scene because I I missed the waiter whole scene that you just just I totally missed that for some dumb reason, but I like your description of it, it's really nice.

SPEAKER_01 33:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:11

So I did rate them the the mid-movie kiss because I love mid-movie kisses, but the kiss occurred like I didn't like it at first because it's like the back of his head, you know, and then quickly went into a front shot of their faces. But it was a kiss that you could see the moment the kiss itself was a B plus for me. But that is a moment where after they kiss, you can see her expression, and that's when I go, Oh, she that's when I saw she loves him still, and even he had sort of like a confused, you know. I wasn't sure what his look was because it was he quickly popped out of the scene, but that's when I said, Oh, she still loves him, and he had some thoughts about it too. So that's why I mentioned that kiss because I think it's an important kiss in the movie. The second to last kiss was passionate and had a lot of feeling in it. I gave that one an A-it was really nice. The final kiss was my favorite, the one in because it was kind of short, but it was just so loving. It was just so warm and tender that I just thought, what a beautiful kiss. It wasn't like a steamy kiss like some of our Joel Wagner kisses we've talked about. But uh overall, this whole thing they've got an A for me. Really, really lovely uh kisses in the movie.

SPEAKER_01 34:28

Nice. It was well, it was well done.

SPEAKER_00 34:31

So who won the movie for you?

SPEAKER_01 34:34

All right, I'm gonna I'm gonna go on record right now and say that I think Bethany Joylands is the best actress that Hallmark has ever had. Uh, she kills it in every single movie she's in, and she absolutely killed it in this movie. But I think Tyler Heinz killed it even more. I think this script was written with the male lead in mind as the one that's going to have the big character arc through the entire film. His comedic timing is so good. He was so charming. I'd love to give, I'd love to give it to them both together, but I'm I've already pulled that string a couple times. And Bethany Joy Lance, absolutely incredible, but I think Tyler Hines, his role of Jamie, I think won the movie. I don't know what else to say. I just think he was absolutely incredible. He's become an absolute superstar with with Hallmark. We know the uh the Heinese are out there in full force. Uh, I think he won this movie.

SPEAKER_00 35:32

Yeah, you know, you're pretty much saying the exact same things I thought. Uh, you know, then the the Poor the Wine podcast talked about like, you know, who who would we'd like to be like if we were in a Hallmark, who would want our leading person to be? Right. And I of course I said Joe Wagner, and then they asked me, like, oh, isn't Catherine Bell your close second? And after watching this movie, I'm like, no, Bethany's my close second. She might even be my first. I just really, just really loved her in this movie. She was so great. And I did the same thing. I was gonna put, I think last week I pulled the same card, like, you know, the two main characters won together. I didn't want to do that again this week, just like you. Uh so I picked Tyler Hines. He was funny. I liked it when he was clumsy. His comedic timing and facial expressions were just cracking me up. Their chemistry was awesome. I just really enjoyed his acting. Bethany's one of the best, if not the best. And I gotta believe Tyler's right up there. I mean, if not the best, he's you know, top three for sure. He's really funny in this, and and this is what I liked about the movies like they just made me laugh. And uh, you know, it wasn't uh uh Christmas spirit, not as much, but it still just made me laugh. It's a good rom-com. So that he definitely won the movie, hands down. What is your rating? We do a one to five.

SPEAKER_01 36:54

Sometimes I go on a big long rant about this one, and I'm not going to this time. I'm just gonna get straight to it. I think this is the Hallmark movie in terms of your just straightforward rom-coms. This is what all other movies are judged against. I think this is the best of the best when Hallmark puts together a movie like this, just incredibly well acted, great natural chemistry between our leads, a fantastic script. Everything about it is just great, Renee. This is a five. I know I've given out a few fives lately, and but I think in terms of just a great rom com, this there's nothing better. This is this is a five in my book, and I don't know what else to say. Just a fantastic, fantastic movie.

SPEAKER_00 37:37

Yeah, you know, I was I was gonna give it a five. I gave it a 4.75. And I guess it's because I compared it to our fives. And those movies are different. But if I rate it on like a rom-com holiday movie, it is a five. So, you know, I'm gonna stick with my 4.75 just because that's because I, you know, compared to um the kiss a kiss before Christmas, they're such they're complete opposite movies. Correct. And that movie just moved me in a different way. But this one was funny, it had a strong emotional scene. I just loved it. I flat out enjoyed this movie. 4.75, even a five, is is totally, totally fine on this. It was really great. Enjoyed the heck out of it. I'd definitely sit. I'll probably put this in my rotation. I didn't realize that this was on your yearly rotation. I'll probably do the same. So uh, I really enjoyed this movie. It was just a delight. If you haven't seen it, check it out. You'll you're gonna love this one.

SPEAKER_01 38:36

You know, really, I I got my mom for Brother's Day, I got her a subscription to Hallmark Plus for a year because she's seen a few Hallmark movies, um, but she wants to listen to our podcast and be able to uh to watch the movies in advance. That's her. And she asked me what the first movie she should watch was, and I told her in Unexpected Christmas. I just think it would just be a great way to get her off just a great acted movie with great chemistry between our leads and a great overall script. Uh, that was the first movie I told her to watch.

SPEAKER_00 39:01

So I can see why Variety picked this as number one. I mean, it's really I mean, there's I can't I can't really critique it. It was just so fun. So this is uh a time I like. What's your next movie?

SPEAKER_01 39:14

So I started thinking about this one. I want to try and pick a year that uh that we hadn't covered a movie yet, as well as two actors that we haven't covered yet. So I kind of dug through uh my list of movies here. We're gonna go to the year 2020, and we are gonna do a movie with Aaron Cahill and Ryan Pavey called A Timeless Christmas.

SPEAKER_00 39:35

Ooh, I may have seen that one before. I don't recall. I'll have to check my Hallmark uh plus app because I check them off once I see them.

SPEAKER_01 39:45

So yeah, so I'm looking forward to this one, and uh yeah, like I say, uh we we've done some of the same years. I think like 2018, we've covered like already like three or four movies from that year. So I want to try to just do something a little different. Uh a year we haven't done anything, and then like I say, two actors that we haven't covered yet.

SPEAKER_00 39:59

Alrighty. I'm gonna wrap this up because we're going a little long. But follow us on Instagram at Forever Hallmark Christmas. Uh, you can email us at Forever Hallmark Christmas at gmail.com with your thoughts on this movie and our review or any suggestions we'd love to hear from you. Thank you for listening for the love of hallmark.

SPEAKER_01 40:16

Or the love of hallmark.