6.7 Stars.

Let me tell you about a movie that got lost in a forest of pews It's about a woman named Carly who is alone; her mother recently passed away. Her father has been absent since she was an infant. She is a musician who plays guitar and can sing like an angel. Add to these attributes, she seems like an angel. Carly gets invited by a pastor and his wife to lead their church choir over the holidays and help them prepare for the Christmas musical.

After she arrives, things become unusual and surreal. The writers send us vague hints of a supernatural happenings, or maybe Carly is an actual angel. The peculiarities mount, but the narrative becomes confusing and loses credibility.

There is too much smoke and mirrors throughout, and it feels odd, almost like cognitive dissonance. The camouflaged unveiling of something unique and magical is lost in a clumsy setup. Carly is hired to save an untrained choir from a disastrous performance, but it seems inconsequential, because it's a very small church and nobody seems to care. The choir is a cacophony of mistimed and off key voices, well beyond the hope of reviving in a just a week. It's too cheesy watching the actor pretend to make an awful noise and you can tell they are trying very hard to make it sound as bad as possible.

The lead male, Matthew, is constantly bewildered by Jenny and Carly. Jenny (pastor's daughter) is his best friend, whom he's had a crush on for years, but his sentiment seems unnatural. Furthermore, he's indifferent and too casual. Likewise, his attitude toward Carly is befuddlement. He seems puzzled, maybe curious about her and she reacts similarly toward him. But Carly senses something invisible between Matthew and Jenny and it's not believable and doesn't fit the narrative. Why would the lead male's focus be on a supporting female, with whom he doesn't even seem attracted in the first place? This alone is taboo for Hallmark. He proceeds to unenthusiastically pursue Jenny, which degrades the emotional impact of the film even further. Eventually, he and Carly share mutual attraction, but it manifests much too late. Next, why is the pastor's wife acting so strangely when Carly arrives in town? This is an immediate clue for us to be on alert, but nothing is revealed until much later, so it loses its impact. The choir has a miraculous transformation in a matter of days, which also provides no satisfaction. Not to mention, the congregation is about fifty people and there are roughly ten in the choir. Earlier in the story there is much ado about how crucial it is for Carly to revive the choir and bring purpose, so what's presumed to be monumental is nothing more than meaningless fluff.

Why so harsh with this critique? I'm left disappointed by a shoddy production. There were many brief moments I enjoyed, but they were repeatedly smothered before gaining momentum. If it was the director's and writers' intent to redirect at every turn, they succeeded, but it's too unorthodox to make for tenable entertainment.

Yeah. I wasn't crazy about this one, although tears did come to my eyes near the end which is the ultimate measure of success for Movies and Mysteries, I guess. Mainly, everyone was just so goody-goody and I didn't like the romance. At first, I thought Shenae was going to remain footloose and fancy-free and instrumental in getting Matthew together with Jenny. Well, that took a turn. The guy seemed personality-free and somewhat of a non-entity. How oblivious can you be that you didn't notice the girl with the huge guitar case in the seat right in front of you? And then picking up a guitar pick and not sussing out that maybe it might be hers? And carrying it around for weeks? What did he do? Transfer it from change of clothes to change of clothes every day?

I do like Shanae Grimes, and she was fine in her part. But how do you get a letter from the father who abandoned you and not even open it? As far as I could tell she didn't even open it at the end, so we never know that story. And how is the church going to afford her services in the future since the pastor was paying her out of his pocket? I did like the choir part though and how she brought them together.

This is a terrific Christmas movie and one that I would happily watch again. The 2 leads were sweet together. I love the nuances between them - casual interest, then more curiosity and a natural progression that not all of these Hallmark movies contain. The plot itself actually seems new-ish, an accomplishment in and of itself. Truly had me wondering if there'd be a romantic interest for her at first. Bravo.

The surprise within was done well and kept me guessing almost till it was revealed. Just enough cast members to make it work and they all worked well as an ensemble. The pastor was a shining light ( as he should be) with just the right touch of sincerity and kind truth and humanity.

Chris Cormack is amazingly likeable and perfect in his role and Shenae Grimes-Beech was great as well. Could we please get rid of the wigs, tho? There were times when the hair over- powered her face to the extreme - not everyone should wear bangs. Please. A stylist issue, I know, but ... very distracting for an otherwise great watch.