Review

Coming Home for Christmas: More Twinkle Than Your Grandma's Christmas Sweater

Let’s be honest—when it comes to Hallmark holidays, the fare usually includes a massive serving of cheesiness sprinkled with predictability. And “Coming Home for Christmas” is no deviation; it’s the deliciously predictable gingerbread cookie of Hallmark holiday movies we all secretly hoard in our pantry.

The movie opens with our heroine, a big-city ad exec (isn't it always?), suddenly remembering she's late for her annual pilgrimage to her quaint hometown, Snowflake Ridge. Her purpose? To save the family Christmas tree farm from being bulldozed by—you guessed it—the town’s Grinch who barely suppresses a cackle when evicting puppy shelters. But fear not! This is a Hallmark movie, after all, and where there’s a will, there’s a totally-not-dreadful handyman who is surprisingly skilled in both carpentry and smoldering looks.

The lead actress—let’s call her Holly, because she is (every Hallmark lead ever)—exhibits the standard jolly facial expressions, including the “I Just Realized I’m Wearing Last Year’s Holiday Scarf” look and the all-important “Oh No, I Tripped and Fell Into the Arms of Mr. Perfect” gaze. Our leading man, predictably rugged and named something impossibly manly like “Blaze Winter,” alternates between chopping wood shirtless and solving minor plot inconveniences with a wink.

The film offers more Christmas clichés than your grandma offers fruitcake, featuring enough twinkle lights to illuminate a small airport and heartfelt ditties sung by a mysterious chamber choir that apparently practices more than the New York Philharmonic.

As with all Hallmark movies, the ending is a heartwarming resolution where everybody hugs out their differences, the snow begins to fall just right, and somehow, a gaggle of baby reindeer saunter by. While “Coming Home for Christmas” won’t win any awards for originality, it dishes out holiday cheer with the satisfying comfort of a second plate of mashed potatoes.

If you come for a groundbreaking narrative twist, you might want to plant your sleigh elsewhere. But if you're looking for a comforting, predictably magical escape, then grab your coziest blanket and settle in because “Coming Home for Christmas” is the reason we keep coming back to Hallmark holiday movies—like family, they’re all a little nuts, but you love them all the same.