WARNING: Spoilers for Finding Christmas
My love for sweet, sappy Christmas TV movies has turned into an annual addiction. And I love Hallmark Channel for continually providing the opportunity for me to satiate this need. Tonight, is a little ditty I absolutely fell for — it’s called Finding Christmas.
Synopsis: Sean, a New York adman, swaps his swanky loft for an aspiring musician’s North Carolina cottage after a proposal gone wrong leads him to find a holiday escape. Sparks fly when he meets single mother Ryan. On the other end of the swap, singer Owen is charmed by Sean’s sassy assistant, Mia. As these singles open up their homes, they also unexpectedly open up their hearts for the romantic possibilities in store this Christmas.
Finding Christmas is such a cute movie even though we know exactly what’s going to happen from second one. I never seem to care about that with these types of flicks, however. It’s all about happy endings and joy to the world and letting the holiday spirit do its job. I like the moral of the story as well. Sometimes you have to mix things up in your life in order to find what you want. And when it does happen, don’t talk yourself out of it. Don’t try and sabotage it. Give into it. Accept love into your life. And go for your dreams. It’s the perfect message for this season.
About the cast
- Tricia Helfer is Ryan, a divorced mom who hasn’t been able to get back in the dating game yet. That may change when a Type A ad exec comes to town. It’s cool to see Helfer play sweet because you know we’re used to her being edgy and badass as Number 6 in Battlestar Galactica and her upcoming mid-season ABC series, Killer Women, which premieres Jan. 7 @ 10/9c. Helfer has also starred in the TNT series Dark Blue and done guest spots on everything from Chuck and Human Target to Two and a Half Men.
- Mark Lutz is Sean, the big city adman who receives a wake-up call when his relationship suddenly goes south. That’s when he heads south to the country in order to put his life into perspective. Loved seeing Lutz in Finding Christmas. He’s probably best known for playing Cordy’s Pylean boyfriend, the Groosalugg, on the hit cult series Angel. He also starred in a companion web series for CBS’ Ghost Whisperer. It was called Ghost Whisperer: The Other Side. He’s also appeared on Friends, E.R., King & Maxwell, Flashpoint and Queer as Folk.
Photo Credit: Hallmark Channel
- JT Hodges is Ryan’s brother, your typical nice guy who just wants to be loved. Hodges makes his acting debut in Finding Christmas and he actually does a great job. Major kudos to him. Owen comes across as a good guy a little out of his element when he heads to the Big Apple to put a little spice in his life. He quickly figures out he made the right decision to swap homes with Sean. Hodges’ day job? He’s a rising star in the country music world. And I’m good with that because I enjoyed the couple of Christmas songs he was able to sing in the movie. And he gives great guitar as well.
- Cristina Rosato is Mia, Sean’s assistant who is in a dead end relationship. Good thing Owen comes to town and gives her a much better romantic option. Rosato is a Montreal native, who recently appeared in a two-part mini-series called Exploding Sun. It aired on Reelz and starred David James Elliott and Julia Ormond. Rosato was in an episode of the popular Canadian series, Republic of Doyle. Some of her other credits include Flashpoint, Lost Girl and she has a recurring role on the upcoming French soap opera, Les Jeunes Loups, which in English means Young Wolves.
Bonus Moment of Goodness: I usually give my Moment of Goodness after something airs. But I don’t think it’s giving away too much to tell you guys right now: JT Hodges does an amazing rendition of “Joy to the World” at an open mic night in the movie. He and Stacey Hersh arranged the song — it had me immediately wanting to hit the rewind button and watch it all over again. Hodges kind of won me over with this simple, wonderful scene.
Finding Christmas premieres tonight at 8/7c on Hallmark Channel. It will most probably repeat throughout this holiday season so check your local listings for airdates.
Finding Christmas Promo
JT Hodges’ Finding Christmas rendition of “Joy to the World” (not the scene from the movie) — you can also download the song on iTunes
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Photo Credit for all following images: Hallmark Channel
  
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Great review. I thought this movie had some very intelligent dialogue and some terrific acting all around. I especially enjoyed Rosato’s luminous Mia and I agree, JT’s rendition of Joy to the World was a special highlight.
So far, I like Let It Snow the best of all the upbeat Christmas movies. And Christmas in Conway was just a staggeringly good movie, period.
With these romantic movies, it’s the chemistry between the leads – not the contrived plots per se – that make or break the movies for me. Tonight’s movie had some credible chemistry; sadly, the Hayley Duff movie from Saturday did not. But all in all, I truly look forward to Hallmark’s premieres and I DVR them all.
Thanks for commenting. And I saw that a Haylie Duff Christmas movie was going to be airing and…I just couldn’t do it. lol
I really liked Finding Christmas. I loved the chemistry between the characters/actors.
If you liked this one, look for Debbie Macomber’s Trading Christmas from last year — same sort of house-swap theme and really nice chemistry among the leads. Also skewed a scoche older, which I liked. It airs overnight tomorrow night on Hallmark Channel — http://hallmarkchannel.com/debbiemacomberstradingchristmas.
Thanks for the recommendation, Heather! 🙂