Rom coms, or romantic comedies, are what made me a hopeless romantic. I know that they are corny or predictable, but that is what makes them good. Romantic movies live in a world where anyone can be loved or wanted. A world where someone will pull you into a kiss to make you stop talking. It is a world where problems get solved in two hours.
Christmas Hallmark Movies are the best kind of rom com. Ever since I was little, I would watch Hallmark as often as Frosty the Snowman, during the holiday season. My Grandma and I would spend hours watching Hallmark’s Christmas movies. Although the pandemic made it impossible for me to be able to watch them with her, I still have been watching them.
Before I get started, I do want to say that Hallmark needs to do more to make diverse movies that are more than two white, heterosexual characters. They have gotten better, over the years, with more actors of color and this year had the first gay couple as leads. However, that is not enough. Everyone should be able to live vicariously through a corny rom com because they see themselves represented on screen.
Warning: Christmas Spoilers are ahead, although minor. So, you may want to watch the movie before you finish reading.
#3: A Very Merry Mix Up
It starts with Alice dating Will, who is so obnoxious. He does not like Christmas and ignores her while she discusses a clock antique in her store. To make matters worse, he keeps asking about the mechanics of her store: blueprints, if someone had called her recently, etc. We later find out that he plans on selling her own store from under her. He brags to a friend that she’ll do anything he tells her.
They go to dinner; he proposes and tells her that he is planning to have her meet his family. It would be a trip out of state. He then realizes that he has to work and sends her ahead of him to meet his family for the first time.
She meets Matt who accidentally spills her coffee over her clothes and her phone, destroying both. This means that the address that he put on her phone was gone. After she places a call on Matt’s phone, she finds out that Will “Billy” Mitchum is his brother. He drives her to his parents while they talk about their relationship.
The two of them bond, as she also does with the family. They spend an entire night making cookies and the chemistry is so cute. The clock that he lost at the airport was in honor of his grandfather and grandmother relationship. Matt’s grandfather fell in love at first sight and Matt did the same with Alice. That is Hallmark romance at it’s finest.
Eventually, she finds out that there are two families who have a Will Mitchum in the same town. She just found the wrong one. Her bond with them did not compare to when she met her actual future in-laws. Will’s parents barely like each other, or her. She realizes that she loves Matt and breaks it off with Will.
#2: A Majestic Christmas
One of the reasons that I love this movie is how the love interests meet. Nell, the architect, donates money to Santa outside her work everyday. One day, her bracelet falls in and she goes to retrieve it. Connor thinks she is stealing from Santa and yells at her. Santa clears it up, but Nell warns him that he shouldn’t jump to conclusions. He tries to apologize but she leaves before he can.
It turns out that Connor is Nell’s newest client. This will be her first job in control, destroying the theater that she grew up in. It breaks her heart. She wants to be able to save the history of buildings and her boss likes tearing them down.
Nell decides to try to convince him to enjoy Christmas and everything the town has to offer. I grew up in California; I would die to experience the holiday to this level. Throughout her mission, they start growing closer. The only thing holding them from dating from the beginning is the difference in opinions on preservation.
She convinces him to build snowmen, come to the tree lighting and help out with the Christmas pageant. Nell drafts two designs: one Connor wanted where nothing from the original property was kept and her dream one where the beauty and history of the theater was preserved. He ends up falling for her and the dream design, eventually.
When she leaves her architectural firm, he assumes she is leaving him. She gets upset at him jumping to conclusions, again. They make up. When she invites him to Christmas dinner, he tells her that he already invited his parents to visit. So, Nell invites his parents to the dinner as well.
It ends with Nell and Connor starring in the pageant where they both find themselves under mistletoe. They kiss and the entire audience stands, applauding. It’s dramatic, but who wouldn’t like to be cheered at finding love?
#1: Another Christmas Kiss
This is my favorite one (cue trumpets). It has a strong working lead, Jenna, who never thinks that she is good enough to be loved. Her love interest, Cooper, who starts as a player, but changes when he meets Jenna.
There is a mix-up with a photo shoot, which leads Jenna to model as it is too late to find anyone else. When she is finished, she goes back into the elevator, up to her floor. That is where Cooper sees her dressed as ‘sexy santa’. The elevator breaks after Jenna pushes the buttons. He looks up in the elevator and notices the mistletoe.
He quickly kisses her. They pull back, look at each other and kiss again. The two continue to kiss until the elevator doors open to the lobby where his girlfriend catches them pulling apart. The girlfriend, Brittany, gets mad at Jenna. It happens all the time when someone catches their partner cheating and lashes out at the other person.
Jenna’s best friend, Sebastian, lives next door to her. That is my goal; I will have to convince one of my friends to do it! I also may be too chaotic for them, but they’ll have to deal with it. He acts like a fake boyfriend to throw Cooper off, but quickly realizes that Cooper has real feelings for Jenna.
Throughout the entire movie, his sister constantly says that he will never be good enough for Jenna. It makes me so sad as he continues to try to be good enough. It parallels with Jenna as she believes that she is not worth being loved. This movie is my favorite because the two characters are just filled with trauma and anxiety; neither one thinks they deserve love.
Final Thoughts:
Is there a method to standing under mistletoe or will someone just appear if I hang one up?