Hallmark films can be a miss or a hit and this one is a rare hit. The chemistry between the leads was great and the films plot was fun. It's been done before but this version was fun.

Similar to last year's 'Five Star Christmas' and 'The Christmas House', 'An Unexpected Christmas' has a natural and witty feel to it, making it one of Hallmark's most entertaining Christmas movies this season. Our two protagonists in this story are Emily (played by Bethany Joy Lenz),a successful ad agency executive sent to her ex's hometown before Christmas, and Jamie (played by Tyler Hynes),the ex-boyfriend in question, a man who feels stalled in his career but who is spending this Christmas with his energetic, and sometimes chaotic, loving family. After an ill-timed run-in with Emily at the train station while picking up his sister, his family mistakenly thinks the two are still a couple. Jamie then convinces Emily, with an 'I'll help you, you help me' arrangement, to pretend they are still a couple to avoid ruining Christmas for his family. Thus, our story begins as we watch these two engage in a week-long deception, participating in the family's holiday traditions and activities together. Pretty soon it becomes clear that the pair are doing more than pretending. The writers do a great job of combining several popular plot devices and themes to advance the narrative of the story: deception (here, it's a pretend relationship),the 'stuck together during the holidays' device, and the classic 'a second chance at love' theme. These are done in a way that I found deeply satisfying. The script too is witty and the writing is heartfelt and compelling. This is displayed thru some engaging dialogue and banter between Jamie and Emily. Indeed, the characters, especially the dynamics between the two, feel genuine. They come off as two people who could have really been together but are now working through their post-breakup awkwardness and feelings. The acting, along with some good direction (by Michael Robison),is what makes this all work on-screen of course. Lenz and Hynes were brilliant. They had fantastic chemistry from start to finish, which pulled me in, engrossed me. They look and feel incredibly comfortable together on-screen, which is an appealing aspect of their performances. Lenz, in particular, is brilliant in this one. She did a wonderful job of portraying Emily's tenderness and vulnerability, and the longing she has for a place in, and the closeness of a loving family. I found it easy to connect and engage with her performance. This, combined with some funny and entertaining back and forth with Hynes, make for some very entertaining viewing. Hynes too did a great job of portraying Jamie's vulnerable side, which was quite convincing on-screen. The supporting cast was fun to watch as well. The big family vibe was front and center in this one, adding to the warm and festive atmosphere of the film. All in all, 'An Unexpected Christmas' is a fun, warm, and heartfelt Christmas movie. It's one of Hallmark's best this year. Highly recommend.

'An Unexpected Christmas' was one of the films of the 2021 Hallmark Christmas block to have the biggest potential. Did like the premise, which was not as formulaic as most of the others and it was an appealing one. It had Bethany Joy Lenz, one of my favourite Hallmark actresses and one of the most consistent in performances and filmography, and Tyler Hynes, also always worth watching even in the misses, in the lead roles. It also had Paul Campbell as script writer.

There were to me a lot of good things about 'An Unexpected Christmas', and luckily the best things were the aspects the film was most seen for and are excellent. It did though have potential, considering what it had going for it, to be one of the best 2021 Hallmark Christmas films and one of their best that year even, but somehow didn't quite make it. Instead, 'An Unexpected Christmas' is somewhere around high middle, its potential for greatness stopped by a couple too many frustrations.

Beginning with the good, there were no issues to be found with Lenz and Hynes who give two of the Christmas block's best performances. Lenz has a very strong, spirited and likeable character and plays her with sparkling comic timing (without going over the top),charm and nuance. Hynes has the more difficult character to play, especially in the latter stages when he became really frustrating (or at least his behaviour did),but he plays him still very well, his usual easy going charm and subtle charisma still evident enough. The two sizzle in their chemistry, in one of the best and most interesting chemistries of the 2021 Hallmark Christmas films. Andrew Walker's cameo was nice.

Personally really liked the script on the whole, there was more comedy than is usually seen with Hallmark and it was full of wit and was genuinely funny. Easily the funniest 2021 Hallmark Christmas film. It does manage to balance that with some genuinely heart-warming and heartfelt moments too later on, and contrary to what some have said the diversity was more than welcome and wasn't too in your face or shoehorned. It was great to see Hallmark over the past couple of years address what they were sometimes criticised for in previous years. Enough of the story is charming, light hearted and engaging. It is slickly and attractively made and the music doesn't intrude or feel too much.

Do however agree with the criticisms that 'An Unepected Christmas' has gotten. Did feel that the supporting characters were over-acted and over-zealous in the early stages of the film and there could have been more development to the supporting characters generally. Also echo the criticisms of Jamie's indecisiveness being taken too far to wild extremes, can understand that he was anxious and insecure (being someone who is both those things myself and to disproportionate degrees too) but the way the other characters are treated as a result felt overdone.

It also made the ending very hard to swallow, the ending was far too convenient and for such a strong and intelligent woman it really downsized her character and made her too naive. Also felt that it came over as tacked on when the film could easily have ended before the final decision was made which would have had a more realistic outcome.

Concluding, a lot of good but could have been better. 6/10.