The story strongly implies that the family's Christmas village set has magical powers that intervene in the lives of the story's main characters. One thread of the story is the developing romance between Allison Sweeney's Summer and Luke MacFarland's character. Another thread is the family struggles that center around Marlo Thomas' Vivian.

I am more than happy to imagine how Chloe can use the village's magic to find romance for her mother whom everyone says over and over is controlling. As controlling characters go, I found Summer to be not nearly as bad as many in this type of movie. I resent that the movie implies that there is something wrong with a woman who is financially responsible and works hard to accomplish the tasks before her through her organizational skills. Summer has rules for Chloe and holds to them, but in a reasonable way balancing carrot and stick in her parenting.

Vivian seems to think that overdue bills will be taken care of by the Universe in its own good time. Even Summer's sister recognizes her mother's challenges. She and Summer have a running joke about whether a discussion about mom is a "five alarm" discussion. Yet she seems to take mom's side when these differences create conflict within the family. This entire premise in the movie turned me off to what could have been fun.

Sweeney and MacFarland have chemistry. The dialogue in the movie is good, although not as sparkling as some movies. The acting is good.

This was not one of Hallmark's better efforts. One issue is the complete lack of chemistry between Alison Sweeney and Luke Macfarlane. First time I have seen Macfarlane not connect with his leading lady. As someone who has always admired Marlo Thomas and enjoyed her performances over the year, I was disappointed that her role was so quirky and off center. I do not know what is happening over at Hallmark, but the quality of the Countdown to Christmas movies this year have been a disappointment. This film was so slowly paced and at no time did I feel the main characters were a match. I just kept hoping the story would develop, but it never did.