A Tale of Two Christmases
Starring Katherine Barrell, Chandler Massey, Evan Roderick, Beverly Breuer
Directed by Jason Bourque
Emma (Katherine Barrell) is an aspiring architect living in Chicago, but she's from a small town in Vermont. She wants to not just work behind the scenes designing, but be in the thick of it as well like her father has been doing, but her uppity boss just wants her to think of the designs but not help build them. Even though she's determined and driven, she's been missing that special something in her life, and after talking to a roadside Santa about wanting to get what she's always wanted, she realizes she wakes up late on Christmas Eve and almost misses her flight home - or at least that's one Emma's story. The other Emma manages to make it back home where she reunites with her high school best friend Drew (Chandler Massey) who harbors not-so-secret feelings toward her, and as Christmastime approaches she begins to realize what's really important in life. Meanwhile, the other Emma (who missed her flight) remains in Chicago and grows closer to Max (Evan Roderick) who also works at the building Emma works at, but Max is missing that certain Christmas charm that Emma is looking for. Finally faced with a decision, she chooses what she feels will make her truly happy in life.
If only we got to choose the path we wanted to in life by living co-succinctly between the two without knowing it, but such is the magic of movies - you get to witness things that never would happen in real life. For Emma, she gets the best of both worlds: find out what it'd be like to be with the sweet, down-home country boy that she's known for years, and also be with the handsome yet somewhat frigid wealthy city boy who prefers friend parties and ski trips than family. Obviously we all know who she ends up with in the end, but it was fun to see how she interacted during both situations and especially the fact that she doesn't know the other life exists: she doesn't spend her time in one timeline wondering about the other, but is able to live fully in the moment in both worlds. While it maintains the traditional Hallmark trope, it still has its own charm that's easy enough to enjoy for the short under-90-minute runtime.
Katherine Barrell plays your typical Hallmark romantic heroine who is a success by any stretch of the imagination, yet feels like she's missing out on something important. Her life in the big city has clouded her small-town roots, and only by returning home does she realize what she's been missing has been in front of her the entire time - something that the Emma that stays in Chicago also realizes but not in such an overt way. She balances both performances well, especially since she's essentially acting in two movies at once. Chandler Massey plays the typical Hallmark hero who is all about helping the local ski chalet, enjoying hot chocolate with all the fixings, and making not-so-delicious yule logs. Evan Roderick is the typical Hallmark anti-hero who actually isn't as bad as other Hallmark businessman characters, but still comes off as a bit vapid and shallow compared to Massey's compassionate Drew. If the wheel isn't broke, don't fix it, and that's what "A Tale of Two Christmases" is - a perfectly fine wheel that just keeps spinning.
Although the MVP of the film is the guy who works at the "airport" (it actually looks like the lobby of a luxury hotel) who's off-putting eyes reminds me of Sid the Sloth from the "Ice Age" movies.
The Score: C
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