Confession time, sometimes I don't love Kellie Pickler's acting. She seems adorably sweet and she's got one heckuva voice, but sometimes I think her acting is just too much, too forced, too not her strong suit (like the first Graceland movie), but I thought this one was good, maybe because Tyler Hynes was so good.
Aria (Kellie Pickler) is the de-facto leader of Midway, Utah's Christmas celebration committee and frequently hosts the meetings and town events in her family's diner. Unfortunately, Midway's tourism business is down due to some schmancy new resort in a neighboring town. Aria thinks she's found the answer to the town's problems when she submits Midway to be the spotlight town for Sterling Master's (Christopher Russell) Christmas feature. Sterling is the face of a very popular travel TV show, blog, and a series of books, but it turns out his long-suffering best friend, Alex, is actually the writer and brains behind the operation. Alex turns up in Midway under the guise that he's writing a novel and needed some small-town inspiration. Although initially anti-Christmas, he is slowly won over by Aria and her friends as he collects his "Christmas Passport" stamps at the town events.
Patrick Duffy's accent is ridiculous. But endearing.
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| via Hallmark Channel |
The story behind the title - "The Mistletoe Man" - is a storybook version of the perfect man who will stop at nothing to find mistletoe for his true love. Aria has spent her life looking for own version of this. It's lame, but we needed a title for the movie. The reprinting of the story on Sterling's website is also how Aria and her dad (Patrick Duffy) piece together Alex's real identity and Aria is not happy that Alex has been lying. Eventually, she realizes he is her mistletoe man and the rest of the Christmas committee conspires to get Alex to the last passport stamp he was missing... and to Aria.
Aria and Alex have a really great, awkward, crush thing going on... until Sterling shows up. Sterling enjoys the spotlight and the attention Aria pays him and is unaware of Alex's feelings. As she spends time with Sterling, she begins to realize that Sterling the man does not match Sterling the writer. Sterling isn't a bad guy, he's just dimwitted.
Tyler Hynes plays this role to perfection - he's snarky and sarcastic and just the right amount of grumpy for a big city guy feeling "stuck" in a small town. He and Kellie actually play the whole awkward crush thing really well.
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Patrick Duffy's accent is ridiculous. But endearing.
Alex has some great, sassy lines (you really have to see Tyler's super dry delivery)-
Aria: You don't know your neighbors?
Alex: We share walls, not details.
Alex: We share walls, not details.
Sterling: Do you think I'd make a good spy?
Alex: Nope.
Sterling: I really screwed it up for you, didn't I?
Alex: Only as soon as you got here.
Alex: Only as soon as you got here.
After Sterling mixing up Japanese and Korean tea ceremonies -
Alex: I'll put it on my bucket list.
I swooned a little when I realized Alex was holding Aria's hand during the sweater decorating party.
I love how Alex is so dedicated to getting his passport stamps.
One of my favorite scenes is when Alex gets the tea he knows Aria likes and switches the one Sterling ordered for her.
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