The Nine Lives of Christmas

Kimberley Sustad's first Hallmark starring role. Brandon Routh fresh off a career that includes playing Superman. Firefighters. Cats. A terrific Nancey Silvers script. And one of the most delightfully unlikeable characters Hallmark has ever given us.

That's the recipe for the 2014 fan favorite The Nine Lives of Christmas. And Hallmark fans clearly agree—when Entertainment Weekly ranked the best all-time Hallmark Christmas movies back in 2025, Nine Lives landed at #2, second only to A Biltmore 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 Marilee and Zach 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_01 0:09

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_00 0:24

I'm doing good, Renee. Living the Hallmark Dream. It's June. Uh Hallmark just announced the Christmas in July 2026 programming. So uh I'm I'm I'm a really excited guy and uh yeah, ready to talk a little uh little Hallmark today.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

Yeah, I'm very excited. I haven't looked at all the releases for this July, but uh I will get to that this week for sure.

SPEAKER_00 0:46

Yeah, I got four four four four new movies. Uh so yeah, we'll have something to uh review for sure in July.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

Yeah. Yeah, I guess we can I guess we can just pick those, can't we? That should be fun. Yeah. Yep. Okay. Uh this week, our movie for this week, I picked uh from 2014, The Nine Lives of Christmas, is starring uh Kimberly Sustad, uh as Marilee White. Pretty much to me, she's Hallmark royalty. Uh she was in Three Wise Men and a Baby, Merry Christmas, Ted Cooper, which I've seen, Christmas by Starlight, and so many more. If you watch any Hallmark at all, you know exactly who she is once you see her. You absolutely do.

SPEAKER_00 1:24

My wife's favorite actress, hands down.

SPEAKER_01 1:26

Yeah, I'm aware of that. I I I really enjoyed her in this movie. Um and Brandon Ruth, he plays Zachary Stone. Uh, you probably know him from playing Superman. He was also in a killer Christmas vacation, which I've seen. And uh I also I remember first seeing him in Scott Pilgrim vs. the world, which is kind of a funny movie. Not quite hallmark material at all. But uh he's got several other acting credits. Um there's a nice supporting cast here, uh Gregory Harrison as Chief Sam. He was in the Logan Runs series in the 70s. I had no idea. Uh those are some those I didn't watch those Logan's Runs. I think there was a movie as well, wasn't there? Or was it only a series?

SPEAKER_00 2:05

Uh that's all that's going back to when I was a really young kid. So I'm not yeah, I don't know about that one.

SPEAKER_01 2:10

Yeah, I only found the series, so that's interesting. And he was in a Christmas romance as well. Uh Stephanie Bennett. Bennett or Bennett? I might have misspelled that. I think her name is Stephanie Bennett as Jacqueline. She's in uh Perfect Christmas Carol. I think I've seen that one, and a few other credits if you look her up. Uh Chelsea Hobbs as Blair, she was in Forever Christmas, a few other credits. Her name was really familiar to me, but I couldn't quite place from where else I've seen her. And there was a few other supporting actors, and the other one I'll mention was uh Carrie Feehan as Kyle. He was in uh Romance Wedding, uh The Christmas Cottage, the Five Year Christmas Party. I've I'm certain I've seen the Five Year Christmas Party. I think I remember liking that one. Uh this movie is directed by uh Mark Jean or Jean. I'm gonna say Jean. Mark Jean. Uh prolific for sure. Wrote Holiday Hotline, The Christmas Ornament, A Kism at Christmas, I've seen. Flip that romance, and a bunch of mystery stuff as well. So a lot of stuff. And this was written by uh Nancy Silvers. Uh I I put on here that it was written by also Sheila Roberts, but it said when I looked it up a different way, it said Nancy Silvers. So Sheila wrote uh Christmas on Candy Lane and the nine oh and this movie, Nine Kittens of Christmas. And uh Nancy wrote Murder She Baked, I've seen. A chocolate chip cookie mystery. Uh some Chesapeake Shore episodes, and a few other things. Uh she's she's been around quite a bit. I I think without knowing, I liked some of her work without knowing who she really was. Our FHC log line for this is a commitment phobic firefighter, a kind veterinary student, and one smug little Christmas cat team up to prove that sometimes love does not knock. It scratches at the door until you let it in. Uh, this movie has an IMDB rating of 7.2. Uh, I should note that like 6.4 is an average score for 6.4, 6.6, and an average score for a Hallmark movie. So this is a pretty good score for a Hallmark movie.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

Yeah, 6.4 between the be out of 478 Christmas movies since 2000. Uh 6.4 is both the average and the median. Yeah, and I know Renee, you mentioned to me that you know a couple people had asked about, and you're right, uh, about putting these IMDB ratings in context and what they're all about. Uh two-thirds of all the Hallmark movies kind of fall somewhere between 6.1 and 6.9. Uh, like we say, 6.4 is the average. When you start talking 7.0 and above, you're talking really good Hallmark movies. When you start getting to the fives, probably not as popular. Um what makes a really, really good Hallmark Christmas movie? Well, if you want to make the top 25 all-time Christmas movies in Hallmark, it's basically 7.2 and above. There's exactly 25. And we did an Instagram post back on March 17th, 2026. If you want to see, you can go back and look those top 25 movies. But six point six point four is the average.

SPEAKER_01 5:01

Yeah, that I did not know that until we talked about it this week because uh my friend mentioned it to me this week. Like, you know, I don't understand your scoring system and some other stuff.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

Yeah, they're they're not, they're not, it's not our scores, but it's IMDb. It's kind of a user-generated uh IMDB has their own algorithms as to how they weight them, but it's thousands of people that uh go in, put a one through ten score, and not just for Hallmark movies, but all movies. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

Hopefully this clears it up for you, my friend who listens and doesn't give me a hard time about it when I see her. So uh let's get into it. Let's hear some fun facts.

SPEAKER_00 5:35

Absolutely. So this movie filmed in Langley, British Columbia. Uh the Ambrose, the cat, was played by a kitty named Trace, and Trace has appeared in several movies and commercials. And they used about 15 kittens during the production of the movie, and the casting crew ended up adopting every single one of them. So very cool. Yeah. When this movie aired on November 8th, 2014, at the time, it was Hallmark's most uh viewed film of the year at 3.4 million viewers. Uh we just talked about the rating, 7.2 uh out of 478 Christmas movies since 2000. This is tied for 17th. So pretty high regards. Nine other movies uh also exactly to 7.2, including Holiday Spectacular from 2022 and The Grand Ole Opry Christmas from 2025. If you're wondering how it ranked back in 2014, it was number three, right behind uh a movie called The Christmas Secret with our girl uh Bethany Joy Lynch. Fantastic movie. So uh really highly ranked that year as well. Pretty curious, back in 2001, Hallmark writer Julie Sherman Wolfe. She is royalty when it comes to Hallmark writers. You if you know Hallmark, you know her. She said, besides her own movies that she wrote, this was her all-time favorite Hallmark movie. Wow. So yeah, pretty, pretty, uh, pretty well regarded by Julie Sherman Wolf there. And my last point here, obviously, um Ren Routh uh played Superman, and uh there must have been some people that had a whole heck of a lot of time because people went in and looked for little subtle hints in this movie that basically said he was Superman, and they came up with like 10 uh things that they throw into the script. Um, but I'll read him I'll read a couple real fast. When he rushes to save uh the shopping carts in the shopping center, he's running in slow motion. That was one of them. In the supermarket, when Marilee tells him, You're a hero, no, you're a double hero.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

That as well.

SPEAKER_00 7:29

When he's uh when him and Marilee are talking at the restaurant, uh, when he's there with Blair and her friends, he says, I'm not at all what I seem. And the last one, of course, we know Supermanite, uh Superman has his kryptonite, and uh Mistletoe seems to be uh Zach's uh kryptonite in this movie.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

That's pretty clever.

SPEAKER_00 7:46

Yeah, just a few fun facts. Like I say, there's there's some some Superman slash Hallmark fans that had a lot of time to go back and find a bunch of these.

SPEAKER_01 7:53

That's cool. Yeah. So what are your overall thoughts on this movie?

SPEAKER_00 7:58

So I I saw this one back in 2014. Again, uh my Hallmark history goes way back watching these movies with my wife, not watching every single Christmas movie every single year, but I did see this one, and I've probably seen it maybe once or twice in the 12 years since. So I have seen this one, and I always really liked it. I think it's super enjoyable, um, super cute. I mean, look, Renee, you've got cat, you've got firefighters, you've got Superman, and you got a very young Kimberly Sustad in her very first leading role with Hallmark. Wow. Um, yeah, there's a there's a whole lot to like. I mean, she was only 27 years old at the time. So um, yeah, a whole lot to like. It's it's just um it's just very well written. It's uh like I mentioned last week, you know, uh Unexpected Christmas, just a really good rom-com. I think that's what this is as well. Nothing tricky about it. Really good rom-com. I really enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

Yeah, I I enjoyed it too. I thought it was really nice. Um, I thought it was slightly, not in a bad way, slower-paced movie, but I was in it. I enjoyed it. It was cute. And it wasn't rushing, it just seemed because it was like 45 minutes or longer before the focus started going to them. Both of them as like kind of maybe liking each other. That took more than half the movie for them to even get that way. Um, you know, before uh I'll I'm cutting ahead a little bit before one of my favorite scenes is when when Blair gets dumped. But uh, and I thought Ambrose the cat was so lovey dovey and cute. Um, it was a very funny little cat. And uh, I'd rewatch this with my coffee on a Sunday morning anytime. It's good. I really enjoyed it. It's a nice it's a fun movie for sure. So tell me some of the things you really liked.

SPEAKER_00 9:39

So I I really like the supermarket scene uh with our meat cute. I thought that was really uh some great dialogue uh when she has that big giant tub of ice cream. Uh he's looking at her shopping cart, you know, he's uh you're having a party. Um so great, great little meat cute there. Uh I loved seeing, like I mentioned, a very young Kimberly Sustad, 27 years old. Uh we rarely get Hallmark actresses in their 20s anymore. So uh great to see her uh in her first leading role. The scene in the restaurant, I love the way that the restaurant was decorated, but I like Zach's line, I should get back to my date and her pretentious friends. It kind of made him very human right there that he knew that, you know, these people that Blair was hanging out with weren't really his people. I love that, and you're gonna really appreciate this, Renee, that that Mary Lee's favorite place to eat is an all-night taco food truck.

SPEAKER_01 10:22

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

Yeah, good job, Mary Lee, on that one. I I first was gonna put this as an are we sure? But when Zach let Mary Lee take his coat home, I'm going, I'm watching them, I'm going, wait a minute, she's wearing his his coat walking up to the stairs. How does he not see that? But I uh the more I thought about it, I think he planned it that way so he had a reason to see her again. Um, exact same thing.

SPEAKER_01 10:44

That's okay.

SPEAKER_00 10:44

And if you're if you're a Seinfeld fan, you remember kind of the George Leave Behind uh kind of uh way of getting to see a woman again, kind of reminded me of that a little bit. I forgot about it. I like the Queenie Ambrose cat romance, very cute. And the last one, Pierre, people might think I'm crazy, but I liked the character of Blair. And let's be honest, she is the most unlikable character that we've covered in 18 movie reviews. She did so good at being just unlikable. It was awesome. I love it when Hallmark has a real antagonist. We don't get that very often, and we definitely got it here because she is really unlikable. So, yeah, a lot to like about this movie, but those are some of them.

SPEAKER_01 11:23

And I'm sure she's a lovely person, but she just did such a good job at being unlikable in this movie. It was really funny. What about you? What are some things you really liked? I put I had quite a few things. Um one of the things I liked, well, Blair getting dumped was nice. That was one of my favorite scenes. Uh, I like when Ambrose like when she says uh the did a vicious swipe at her. I thought that was funny. Uh I did I love the talk after the tacos. You know, it's a good first date that is not technically a date. You know, and they shared, they connected, they had a really nice moment, just sort of talking about life and sort of how they see things. That was a moment I really liked. I liked Marilee lying at the restaurant about seeing a fireman to her friend or to her sister, and you know, and when she saw Zach in the restaurant, she could have stayed strong and tell Jacqueline she's not interested in meeting this other person that she was trying to get hooked up with or something like that. But no, she she lied, and that's obviously a nice little rom-com trope, like where you get a you start lying about something, and then you gotta what can go wrong from there. I thought that was really funny. Uh, I like the tough landlord lady, she made me laugh too. She wasn't awful, but she was just so funny. I liked her crankiness. You know me, I like a cranky old lady in in hallmark movies.

SPEAKER_00 12:36

That's Mrs. Winnemuker, the uh yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:39

And I like the the cat finding the keys and getting back into the room. I don't know how the cat got back into the room. So I'm not sure about that one either. Yeah. So and and I like you, I put in, I like their meet cute moment at the store. That was a really nice, funny scene. Um, yeah. If you I like the Christmas tree lot scene, I gotta throw that in there. You always love Christmas lots. Yeah, the surprise mistletoe kiss, which was a total surprise when he walked away and it comes back for the mistletoe kiss. We'll talk about that one later. We'll we'll review that one, I'm sure, or rank it. And uh, I also liked it a lot when when she left when she was after she lived with at the upstairs room or whatever it was. I liked her just she decided to leave. She thought she saw him with another woman. She was very mature, she's cutting her losses. She could have called him out, but she took the high road, she's like just packed and left. Yeah, I kind of like that for her.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

And it was a legit misunderstanding. I mean, when you you know, you you bought into the you you bought into that one, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

Yeah, because I thought, well, what you know, I didn't remember that it was the blonde that maybe was doing the interview from the beginning. I can't remember if that was her or not. Because for the calendar shooting, no, no, because we were doing, yeah, no, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:49

Different one because this was the mayor's uh the mayor's wife, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:52

Oh, that's right. It was the mayor's wife. Yep. So, you know, totally legit misunderstanding, not as one where you would normally see it, like, oh come on, you're stretching it. This was a good one. I thought it was a really well, well written misunderstanding. Yep. So now, the place where you really shine, I think, in our homework reviews is what are some things you'd fix in a rewrite?

SPEAKER_00 14:16

You know, uh, I have one. I only have one, and it's not the biggest one, but I think you're really gonna appreciate this one because you already mentioned it in the things you like. The breakup scene when Zach dumps Blair, okay? Absolutely, he had to dump her, but I think it needed to be a little bit more, he needed to be a little tougher. And I would have loved it if he was kind of giving it back to her, like you, you are not a good person. He was he was so nice about the breakup. I thought he was way too nice. I would have literally walked her out to the door, you know, kind of giving it to her the whole time. When as soon as she steps out the door, she's still yapping at him. He just slammed the door on her face. That's what I would have liked to have seen. Uh, I wouldn't have rewritten much about this whole movie, but that is one I think you know, she was such an unlikable person, such a bad person. Um, again, I really liked having an antagonist, but I think he needed to be a little tougher in in giving her the boot.

SPEAKER_01 15:04

I always love hearing in movies where the where the ladies or the guys like, you just missed the best thing of your life, you know. I love that. And of course it's not true, but that was that was funny. Did you have any other rewrites or that was kind of it?

SPEAKER_00 15:18

That was really fun. I actually thought it was it was a pretty well-reared skip. I I I I I really can't think of anything else I'd want to rewrite about it.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

Yeah, I had to stretch a little bit too. I was like, okay, like the only thing I I noticed is like I would have liked to have seen more Christmas spirit, because you know I like Christmas spirits in movies, so there was not really a Christmas spirit theme here going on. It's okay. The movie was good.

SPEAKER_00 15:38

Yeah, we really didn't have any snow or kind of winter weather.

SPEAKER_01 15:41

Right. Yeah. Uh I would have liked to have seen Marilee confront Zach at the party and make a big scene. I think that could have been a funny, but it worked out well. I mean, the story went in that dire in the direction it did. Perfect. It was it was good. Uh two other little things. Number one, this is just for me. I would definitely want to know what kind of tacos they had. I saw the rapper the rapper say taco. I had no clue what kind of tacos they had. As a taco lover, that was very upsetting to me. Uh, and the other thing, I think you and I kind of agree with this. I don't like I love views generally in Hallmark movies so fast. I mean, this is this is like two weeks' time or something like that. It's pretty close. So I think I would have written that into something else, but maybe still powerful, you know, like I'm falling for you or I can see us, you know, something. I didn't like the I love you from both of them, but it's a Hallmark movie, it's okay. But that just that that's my own personal taste. It's it's not okay. It's not okay. Yeah, I know you and I kind of don't like that, generally speaking.

SPEAKER_00 16:45

I'll be talking I'll be talking about that a little later on.

SPEAKER_01 16:48

Look, some of them are like they were high school sweethearts and they come back together. That one I can see like I've always loved you or something.

SPEAKER_00 16:53

Yeah, like in Unexpected Christmas, they were a couple in the past and now they're a couple again. I get that. If you want to do it then, sure. But all right.

SPEAKER_01 17:00

Having said all that, uh it's time for what is your favorite moment.

SPEAKER_00 17:06

Before I give mine, I actually read an article where Kimberly Sustad gave her favorite moment of the movie. So I said, I said, you know what, I'm gonna go and throw that into our favorite moments. But her favorite moment was at the scene at the very end when she climbed with the fire truck and they do kiss. She said it was her pretty woman moment. If you've seen pretty woman, you kind of get that uh the fire escape, you know, in this, in this, it's kind of climbing up the fire ladder. So she said that was her favorite moment of the movie, which is very cool. Uh, my favorite moment is as you kind of already mentioned it, it's the walk and talk after the tacos. Uh Mary Lee's wearing that fire jacket. He got they got a couple cups of coffee to walk with. They're talking about their lives, their upbringing, how they found their careers. Um, I thought it was very well written. It was heartfelt, and you could start to see the chemistry really brewing uh between the two of them. So, yeah, that was my favorite moment. That was a that was a nice moment.

SPEAKER_01 17:57

My favorite moment is right before it's right before getting onto the fire truck at the end when Zach's telling Marilee all the things he loved about her and her getting teared up, and you know, as as he's talking to her, you can see the emotion on her face. It was such a lovely scene, and this is the truth. I didn't get choked up, but my girl watching it with me, she got choked up to where I looked over at her and I see her crying. I started laughing so hard because I was like, ah, this moment got you. And it was a really nice, powerful moment that didn't get me crying, but it did get uh someone sitting next to me uh to get to start crying about it, which is I thought was hilarious and also very sweet. So that was my favorite moment leading up to the you know getting up on top of the the fire truck and all that. Sure. So who's the best supporting character who deserved more screen time?

unknown 18:47

All right.

SPEAKER_00 18:47

So I'm gonna give an honorable mention to the firehouse guys. I thought they were really cool. You know, they had Zach's back, uh kind of you know, uh helping him out and giving him some good advice. I like the firehouse guys, but I'm going with Lucy, who was her co-worker in the store. Uh, Lucy was really sassy, um, and she always had uh had Marilee's back, but she has maybe the best line of the entire movie. When she tells Zach, quote, your girlfriend is a horrible, superficial nightmare of a human being. That's awesome. And that is not something you hear in Hallmark movies. You never hear anybody talk that way. Let me let me repeat that again. A horrible, superficial nightmare of a human being. Way to go, Lucy. That one line makes she my uh favorite supporting character.

SPEAKER_01 19:32

And she could have gotten fired herself if anybody else heard her saying that. Right. That was funny. Well, I went with your honorable mention. Okay, uh, I really enjoyed the the I put the f all the firemen together. Yeah, I loved all their scenes. All three of the guys had different takes on his love life. The one guy's like, Come on, man, get you know, go play the field, and the and the fire chief. Uh the fire chief, if I had to pick one guy, it's the fire chief that I liked. I enjoyed them all together, but the fire chief was wise. He knew what was up. He he kind of knew that even though this guy said, uh, you know, oh, I don't want to settle down, I don't want to have any of that. That he knew that a man's real purpose, like his, was to find a mate and settle down and live that sort of life. As a typical, I would think a fireman would actually. Most firemen are generally family men. You know, you don't see a lot of single firemen just going out there playing the field. They're they're pretty stable guys, uh, from at least from the ones I've met. I could be wrong. But uh, I really enjoyed all the fireman scenes with them and the fire chief and had that had that interaction, just the two of them talking. I thought it was really good. For sure, I would have loved to have seen more of him. I did we did see plenty, but I could have used more for sure. And uh another one of our really good sections is Are We Sure.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

Yeah, we put uh suspension of disbelief aside, call out a couple uh really obvious ones that uh we might have said, I don't know about that. And my first one is uh her friend Sarah, who she's in vet school with, Sarah says she's 79 in dog years. I go, wait, that that doesn't sound that doesn't sound right. So I'd look it up. The math I got equals 11.3 human years. So I yeah, I think uh I think Sarah's a little bit older than 11. 11.3.

SPEAKER_01 21:10

So you have a funny interesting thing about her is she's had such an interesting look to me. So I I I Googled her. She's actually uh forgive me if I'm wrong, I think she's half Korean and half indigenous Mexican.

unknown 21:26

Right?

SPEAKER_01 21:27

So because I kept looking at her like boy, she almost looks indigenous, but she's obviously Asian. So she has a very interesting uh mix because I thought she was very pretty and and unique looking. So I was just curious to see, you know, which which where she was from. And so that was kind of an interesting, uh no, doesn't add anything to our review, but I I just thought it was interesting.

SPEAKER_00 21:47

Another one I have are we sure that a dating site where you meet up for dessert would be a really good idea? That you know, if you want to meet up over a cup of coffee or a cocktail, I get it. But meeting someone for the first time chowing down on a piece of pie or a big piece of cake, I don't know, it doesn't Doesn't sound very appealing to me. And I looked it up to see if there really was one out there and I couldn't find one. So uh yeah, of course she knew I would look it up, but yeah, never saw a dining dating site where you meet over dessert. Are we sure that her sister wouldn't respect the fact that she has a final exam and that she needs to study for? I mean, she wants to take her away for a day out on this the Sunday before her big exam. She understands how important that is to Marilee. So I'm that's a big are we sure. Are we sure that Blair's dad would really fire Marilee, his best employee when he knows his daughter's a spoiled brat? Um, three years. And also, she's gonna she's gonna become a vet probably in this town. She's gonna be able to suggest where people go to for their pet supplies. Yeah, I don't know about that. And my last uh are we sure is are we sure that Mary Lee would really turn down eating dinner with Superman? Even you know, she just cooked this dinner, sit eat with me, and she turned them down. Like, yeah, I don't know if Marilee would actually do that. But those are my are we?

SPEAKER_01 22:55

Yeah, those are my are we shirts. So the most blatant, are we sure is like could Zach take the fire truck to go see Marilee? That was a huge I was like, what the heck?

SPEAKER_00 23:04

Like he's taking the truck, especially if they only have especially if they only have one, right?

SPEAKER_01 23:08

Because I didn't say multiple, right? It's a very small firehouse, small town, I get it. So I was like, that seems odd. At least I would have liked to have seen another fireman with him in case he had to take off real quick, you know, drive the the fire engine away. But I that was the first one, and I thought, would Zach even date a girl like Blair? She's supposed to be a model, she's she's pretty, but like to put up with that attitude, she'd have to be like she'd have to be Jill Wagner house.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

Yeah, it's it seemed like it was very superficial on both their ends, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

So yeah, yeah, yeah. And another little one is she moved her stuff from her place so fast, like there was no moving truck. It seemed like she had like a bag and her cat. I didn't understand that. I was like, where's all her stuff? How did she get it there so fast? I get I get it, it's not important to the movie. Um, you know, but it's like to me, it's like what the word, how did that happen? And the last one, which is I don't know that guys, the five the fire station guys would talk so openly about their romantic lives and the way that they did. I mean, we're guys, we hang out with guys, we don't talk like to that extent. I don't think, at least I don't, not to that extent for sure. Um, maybe that's just a guy thing for us, but but I get it, it's a hallmark, you know. Guys uh talk more about their feelings in Hallmark than they think in real life. Uh would the lead couple last 12 months?

SPEAKER_00 24:30

Well, I guess I have to say yes because they came out with a sequel to this movie about seven or eight years later. At the time, had I said this, I would have said yes, but it's a soft yes. There are some things that gave me pause. The way that he acted after the mistletoe kiss, how he was so aloof. Um, and then the fact that his entire life he seems like he doesn't want a serious relationship. Uh they still had really good chemistry. They seem to really be bunny. I think I would have given it a yes, but it was it would have been a soft yes. But obviously, now that we know that we have a sequel so many years later, yeah. I guess they definitely made it, but at the time I probably would have said a soft yes.

SPEAKER_01 25:06

Yeah, and we can't bring in that knowledge into our you know, with the couple lead with the leadership. So that's what that's what months.

SPEAKER_00 25:12

That's why I try I'm trying to look at myself back in 2014, what I would have said. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:16

So I I said straight up yes. I mean, he fell in love with her. She's a good match for him. You're right. He did kind of act funny after that first kiss. But after that talk, you know, towards the end there, at the end, uh, I think he can I think he changed his tune. Um plus she can do stuff around the house with him and cook. I mean, that's pretty awesome. You know, a fireman's gonna work some long hours, you know, probably three days on, four days off, or something like that. Um I don't know about that town, but I thought this was kind of a slam dunk. Yeah, they're gonna laugh. And they and their cats got together too, so I mean, we gotta add that in there. Fair enough. All right. This is, I think, where we really shine sometime. Let's rate the kiss from A to F on our mistletoe meter.

SPEAKER_00 26:03

The mistletoe meter. Okay, so we have two kisses. The mistletoe scene, uh, I gave a B plus too. Uh it was solid kiss, but it was quick and sudden. I kind of liked it, kind of very passionate. Uh, I wanted a little bit more. Um, yeah, I gave that one a B plus. Uh B.

SPEAKER_01 26:19

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 26:19

B P B plus. And like I said, I think it was just like he just grabbed her boom, like she wasn't expecting it, and there it was. So B plus. The final kiss, the kiss was an A. It was a great kiss. You had great ambiance on top of the fire truck, uh, climbing on up there. Ambrose and Queenie were there hanging out. I loved it, but Renee, I'm not gonna get down to an A- because of the I love you. Writers, listen up. If you want your kiss to get an A grade, don't don't throw me an I love you for you know, a couple that's only known each other for what, four or five weeks. I can't remember exactly how long. I'm gonna knock that grade down if I get an I love you and it shouldn't be there. So it's getting knocked down to an A minus just because of that. The kiss and everything with itself an A, but A minus because of the I love you. I'm sorry, seems a little harsh, but that's the way I roll.

SPEAKER_01 27:06

It amazes me sometimes how we're different. I thought the first the first kiss was really good, but to me that kiss was not the best kiss. I gave it a C plus at best. Oh wow. I I get that it was a passionate kiss, and maybe I should factor that in. But I just looked at the actual kiss itself and I was like, eh. I thought he could have done better, or they both could have done better. So I don't know why I gave I I had I had it at a C and then I bumped it up to a C plus. I I just don't feel I can get it up to a B. So I'm maybe you know, maybe this is one of those I have to maybe we should add like a uh review the kiss section every 10 episodes as well, because uh I gave it Where are you?

SPEAKER_00 27:51

You and I are usually pretty close. Like sometimes we're like an A versus an A minus or a B versus a B plus.

SPEAKER_01 27:56

I mean, okay, we're off on that one. It's okay. I mean it was totally a closed-mouth kiss, which is I get it's homework. They very rarely do an open-mouth kiss, but I don't know, it just didn't seem right. And the last kiss to me was okay, the scene was cute, the kiss was okay, it was a B minus for me, and I think I'm being kind about that. So we're you and I are really off this week on this one. It just didn't, I don't know why. You know, the kiss was slightly again, a closed-mouth kiss, and it was like slightly above the lips of each other when I watched it, and I was like, uh, but it was a good scene, and I didn't even factor in the I love you uh, you know, expression of love there because I I don't count that towards the kiss, but like you know, it makes sense to count it within the scene, so yeah. So for me, overall B minus, and I think I'm being nice about it, honestly. Wow, okay, all right. Controversy. Gotta keep it real, keep it real. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 28:54

So uh who won the movie for you? The the the easiest one of the day for me. Kimberly Sustad won this movie. I mean, it's the first time that Hallmark gave her a leading role, and she knocked it out of the park. She was fantastic, and she's been a Hallmark leading lady ever since. I mean, this is what started it all for uh and she's my wife's favorite actress. She's she was fantastic, she's the MVP of the movie. Uh she was my same.

SPEAKER_01 29:16

I mean, she she was acted so well, and I didn't realize this was her first leading role. She showed a good range of emotions, she was funny in it, you know. She had uh little insecurity sometimes, like, oh, walking up the stairs, like, oh, of course he's gonna invite some other girl for dinner with the dinner that I cooked, or something like that. It's like okay, I thought that was kind of funny. So it was a very well-written character, and uh Ambrose is a close second. That cat was adorable. So, what's our next movie? Hold on, we got we gotta do our rating, my man. Oh my gosh, you know what? I missed my you're right. I'm very sorry about that. Yeah, what is our rating of one to five, five being the best? I'm sorry, I erased my note there.

SPEAKER_00 29:59

So I give this one a 4.5. I think had I judged this back in 2014, I might have given it a solid five. Uh a great rom-com. I I think though, 2026. I mean, a lot has changed in Hallmark since 2014 in the last 12 years. I think writers today are giving a lot more uh leeway to add a lot more comedy into their scripts, so I think a little more outside the box. I think it was a great movie. Uh, I still think it would be a very good movie today. I'd love to see what some writers could do with it. Like, you know, we had Unexpected Christmas in 2020, but there was a big regime change at Hallmark in 2020, early 2020. And the writers after that time were given a lot more leeway to start adding a lot more comedy and funny moments into the script. So I'd love to see what this could do in 2026. I still think it'd be a really good movie today. Um I think it's a really good 4.5.

SPEAKER_01 30:50

Yeah, I gave this movie a solid 4.0. Uh to me, when I find myself just I can't go below a 4.0 if I totally enjoyed the movie, right? That's kind of my benchmark. Like 4.0, I liked it. I laughed. The movie was emotional. Solid 4.0. And I don't disagree with your 4.5, but I'm I'm sticking with a 4.0 on mine.

SPEAKER_00 31:11

All right. Okay. Now you're I you know what? Uh I looked and see who's who's tougher when it comes to scoring the movies. I'm quarter point higher than you are on average, so you're you're definitely a little tougher grader uh when it comes to the ratings.

SPEAKER_01 31:24

That's interesting. Yeah. I we should look at the the KISS ratings as well. Cause I I that's interesting to me that I'm actually lower than you because I find you to be harder on stuff than I am.

SPEAKER_00 31:34

Well, I mean, definitely harder on the Will Day Last is a couple, but uh I guess I'm a little, I guess I'm a little easier when it comes to the final score.

SPEAKER_01 31:40

So yeah, I guess when I think like a 4.5, I compare it to what we else we've given 4.5, and it's not in the same, not quite in the same range for me.

unknown 31:49

Right.

SPEAKER_01 31:49

So that that's what I that's how I kind of compare it. You know, I you you sent me a list of our ratings because you keep track of that for me. Thank you, by the way. And so I can I look at that and I was like, okay, it's I've this is kind of where it fits among these movies that we've rated so far. Absolutely. Okay, now this time, proper timing. What is our next movie?

SPEAKER_00 32:09

So, Renee, there's a podcast out there I've been listening a lot to. Uh, I'm pretty obsessed with it called Hallmark Movie Drafts. And basically they they do a they draft the top 10 uh list of actors, writers, and different things. There's usually three people doing the drafting, other podcasters, hallmark influencers, as well as two hosts. And uh a while back they did the best Hallmark kisses of all time, not just Christmas movies, all movies. So we're talking like 1200 movies since 2010. So to make the top 10, you knew you had to be really good. And at the end, the the people drafting their lists as well as the hosts, they all read their personal top 10 lists. And I was, of course, I was looking for Christmas movies, and the ones that consistently came up, uh Catch Me A Few Claws uh from a couple years ago, uh Luke McFarlane, Atalia Ricci had a great mid-movie they call the Stralicus in that one. They talked, uh, I kept hearing Crashing Through the Snow, which we've already talked about. We both gave that an A. Another one that kept coming up, it was 2012. It's a movie called A Bride for Christmas. Andrew Walker and Ariel Kebble. Uh, and Kemberly Sustad is actually the number three in this movie. She's not in the lead role. So we're gonna run her back for a second week in a row, but I want to watch it, of course, because the mistletoe meter has become really popular. People are seeing what we have to say, and I want to see if it's as good as uh it, you know, if it belongs in that elite elite of all the kisses. So A Bride for Christmas 2012, that's the next movie.

SPEAKER_01 33:35

Wow, that's going back there, too. I mean, that's a 14-year-old movie.

SPEAKER_00 33:38

Yep, absolutely. Very, very young Andrew Walker, uh, very young Ariel Kebble, Kimberly Sused at 25 years old. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:44

Yeah, Andrew Walker's one of he's like the top top three for me in Hallmark Mail. He's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 33:49

All right.

SPEAKER_01 33:50

I look forward to seeing A Bride for Christmas, especially uh reviewing this kiss. That's the most important thing. Let's see how good it really is. You and I will be the judge. Thank you everyone for listening. Follow us on Instagram at Forever Hallmark Christmas. Email us at Forever Hallmark Christmas at gmail.com with your thoughts on this movie and our review or any other things you'd like to talk to us about. Thank you for listening for the love of Hallmark. Or the Love of Hallmark.