Starring: Italia Ricci and Chad Michael Murray
Released: 2020
Summary: A woman is a final contestant on a dating show, but she realizes she must face her high school sweetheart after getting selected for the Hometown Date.
Released: 2020
Summary: A woman is a final contestant on a dating show, but she realizes she must face her high school sweetheart after getting selected for the Hometown Date.
My rating: 3/5 Snowflakes ❄❄❄
Love in Winterland is a fun story about a reality dating show. Since reality programming is big business, Hallmark is smart to tap the vein.
Love in Winterland is a fun story about a reality dating show. Since reality programming is big business, Hallmark is smart to tap the vein.
Image: Crown Media
The Interrogation
Ally Wilson (Italia Ricci) participates in Hallmark's version of The Bachelor, but it's just a publicity stunt for the hotel for which she works. Its success lands her a promotion, and she's surprised how many boxes Tanner Dillon (Jack Turner) manages to check from her list of ideal mate qualities. Personally, I'm a sucker for an English accent, even if he does have two first names.
Ally's dad, Tom, isn't convinced. He says Tanner is P.O.P.--Perfect on Paper. Tanner is an entrepreneur (usually meaning without stable employment), a cook, a skier....he is well-rounded and proficient at many things. Any parent would be concerned--how could a man so perfect still be single? There must be something wrong.
At a televised dinner date with her parents, Ally's dad leads the interrogation. He bluntly advises Tanner to pick a career path and stick with it because a Jack-of-all-trades is a master of none. Ally's mom unabashedly brings up the subject of children. Most of us would mortified in Ally's place!
As a joke, Tom says he'd feel better if he could see Tanner's last two years of tax returns. Despite the brutal cross-examination, Tanner stays in the game.
Any Hallmark guy who doesn't get the girl is usually arrogant, jerky, unattractive, or a doofus so the viewer won't be upset when he loses her to the better man. Tanner is different. He's sauve, well-spoken, and passably good-looking, so it's nice to see Hallmark deviate from the formula.
What's the most embarrassing thing your parents said to a person you dated? If you remember, share your experience in the comments (you can use your name or comment anonymously)!
Ally's dad, Tom, isn't convinced. He says Tanner is P.O.P.--Perfect on Paper. Tanner is an entrepreneur (usually meaning without stable employment), a cook, a skier....he is well-rounded and proficient at many things. Any parent would be concerned--how could a man so perfect still be single? There must be something wrong.
At a televised dinner date with her parents, Ally's dad leads the interrogation. He bluntly advises Tanner to pick a career path and stick with it because a Jack-of-all-trades is a master of none. Ally's mom unabashedly brings up the subject of children. Most of us would mortified in Ally's place!
As a joke, Tom says he'd feel better if he could see Tanner's last two years of tax returns. Despite the brutal cross-examination, Tanner stays in the game.
Any Hallmark guy who doesn't get the girl is usually arrogant, jerky, unattractive, or a doofus so the viewer won't be upset when he loses her to the better man. Tanner is different. He's sauve, well-spoken, and passably good-looking, so it's nice to see Hallmark deviate from the formula.
What's the most embarrassing thing your parents said to a person you dated? If you remember, share your experience in the comments (you can use your name or comment anonymously)!
Guilty Pleasures
Ally's dad admits being hooked on the reality show Happily Ever After, much like we are addicted to Hallmark movies. He chides, "Guilty pleasures--everyone needs one."
Do you agree with his statement?
Aside from Hallmark movies, one of my guilty pleasures is "glug glug" night every Friday with my hubby. We might chill a bottle of wine or mix some Sprite with a flavored rum or Schnapps, but that one little drink each week is something I enjoy after putting the kids to bed.
If you have a "guilty pleasure" that is G or PG-rated, feel free to share in the comments.
Blasts From the Past
We meet "Mean Helene" in the movie, and I would hazard a guess we all know someone like her from high school, or maybe even middle school.
What name just popped into your mind?
I have a list! Lori, Ruth, Belinda, and Shammy. Four big bullies from middle school who were older than me and haunted me through ninth grade, until they slipped through the academic cracks into Loser-ville and irrelevancy.
Do mean people from school really change like Helene does? I doubt it. My mom once offered me this sage advice: The *itches from school just grow up to be older *itches.
If you can prove that theory wrong, please share your positive experience to encourage the rest of us that bullies sometimes do mend their ways.
Brett Hollister is another blast from Ally's past. He's her high school sweetheart, and Brett admits there's just something about your first love and your first kiss that you never get over.
Think about your first love. Is there still a special place in your heart for that person?
Hallmark is notorious for reuniting high school sweethearts who find their happily-ever-after. Does that happen in real life? Yes! Sometimes it does. I met my husband on a blind date when I was 17 and he was 19. He took me to my homecoming and senior prom, but we parted ways after nearly a year. Fourteen years later, our paths crossed again, and we were married five months later!
Why isn't someone making a Hallmark movie about us? I jest.
Notice the Belly?
Most of us do not have the Barbie doll figure of Hallmark actresses, but Italia Ricci is none too skinny in this movie.
Turns out, she just had a baby two months prior to filming!
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#Witnerfest #LoveInWinterland #Hallmark #ChadMichaelMurray
#Witnerfest #LoveInWinterland #Hallmark #ChadMichaelMurray
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