“In the Meantime, Stop and Smell the Poinsettias.” “Poinsettias Have No Fragrance.”
When I got into the Signed, Sealed, Delivered franchise this spring, I quickly saw a problem. The first post series movie they made had a Christmas theme. I really didn’t want to wait until December to revisit these characters. Recently, I realized that Christmas in July was the perfect excuse to watch and review Signed, Sealed, Delivered for Christmas.
The Denver post office has been busy handling letters to Santa, and the team in the Dead Letter department have been getting into the spirit by helping makes sure wishes written to Santa have been coming true. They think they are all caught up and able to enjoy the annual Postal Ball when they get one last letter, mailed that day, addressed to God.
While Oliver, Rita, and Norman (Eric Mabius, Yah-Kay Crystal Lowe, and Geoff Gustafson) all willingly jump into tracking the letter writer and seeing if they can help, Shane (Kristin Booth) is much more reluctant. How will helping this little girl whose mother is in the hospital help our team?
If I had jumped in here, I might not be sold on the franchise. There was enough plot here for a TV episode, but it was stretched to a full movie. You can tell by how long it takes for the team to even get the letter. And I do feel like some of the sub-plots felt a bit more like side quests.
HOWEVER….
This is definitely a time when knowing the background on the characters was a huge plus. The slow parts? They were filled with character development, advancing threads that had been introduced in the series. I laughed at many of these scenes, and I was smiling for most of the movie. The sub-plots also did a lot to develop the characters.
Speaking of which, the romances are still moving at glacial speed, but I’m okay with that since I’m having fun watching them dance around each other.
As any fan would expect, this movie is filled with emotion. Just like with the series, I found myself chocking up upon occasion.
Yes, it was a bit odd watching a Christmas movie in the middle of summer heat, but I soon got into the spirit of things. If you were watching this during Christmas, it would certainly make the season feel even more magical.
Speaking of which, the movie does indulge in a couple of Christmas movie tropes that anyone even marginally familiar with the genre (Hallmark Christmas movies or not) will recognize. But that’s not really an issue for me since they were handled well.
In addition to the returning foursome, Rob Estes and Marion Ross lend their talents to the film. The acting is good and allowed me to get lost in the story.
If you are a fan of the franchise, I definitely recommend you watch Signed, Sealed, Delivered for Christmas. Whether you watch it now or wait until December, you’ll enjoy checking in with these characters.
This movie is part of the Signed, Sealed, Delivered Movies 1-4 Collection.
I'll have to check into this series.
ReplyDeleteThis series is a fun one though this premise might be the most unlikely of all the Hallmark movie premises. Somehow I don't see the people at my post office going to the same level of above and beyond as they do in the series!
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