Hallmark Christmas films vary in quality. Some good ones (a reaction not always expected),some mediocre at best and even very bad ones and plenty that fall somewhere in between. The concept for 'Christmas List' sounded nice, though hardly innovative. Am not always a fan of Alicia Witt, a Hallmark regular. Sometimes she is charming and has characters easy to like, at other times her acting to me is too affected and it makes me struggle to root for her or the film.

'Christmas List' was a more than watchable festive effort of theirs. Actually thought that despite its flaws that it was quite good and it is for me easily one of Witt's better performances (though it is also not perfect as has been said by others) in a festive Hallmark film and one of her better festive Christmas films overall. As well as one of Hallmark's better festive efforts that year in a hit and miss batch, something that is not unusual for Hallmark.

Is 'Christmas List' perfect? No it isn't, none of Hallmark's Christmas films are. The music is too often intrusive and could have been more subtle, a common problem for Hallmark. Absolutely detested the boyfriend character Brett, like others here, it's not because he is a well worn Hallmark stereotypical type of character (he is) because of how over the top unlikeable he is and the film makes no attempt to make him interesting or dimensional. Hallmark have rarely done well with their jerk boyfriend characters and this was one of the worst cases.

Not all the dialogue is natural, some awkwardness early on. Do agree that some of the more childlike parts of Witt's character are overdone.

Most of Witt's performance though is charming and amiable, in one of her most expressive performances, and on the most part she isn't annoying. Gabriel Hogan is a likeable leading man as well as witty, he and Witt have a genuine and natural chemistry together and their banter has both tension and playfulness. Susan Hogan steals her screen time. Although the characters are on the underdeveloped side, the performances are better than average and the chemistry never disconnected.

The film looks attractive, especially the scenery. The photography is not drab or gaudy. On the most part, the script has less of the corn, cheese, overdone sentiment and awkwardness that can be heard in other Hallmark efforts. Yeah, some of the dialogue still isn't great and can get contrived, but it flows well, is heart-warming and it doesn't get sugary. The story is very flawed, but it has a lot of charm and heart and some parts are quite poignant. The ending is foreseeable and a bit too tidy, but is very sweet nonetheless. The pace doesn't feel too rushed or too dull.

Overall, a worthwhile film. 7/10

The movie had one thing going for it, the leading lady. She was delightful, funny and cute. The romance was just not as good, and it almost ruined the movie, but overall, it was entertaining, funny and cute.

Oh to be young and still believing in that old Doris Day song written in 1956 "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)", that must be what the adult Isobel Gray (Alicia Witt) was thinking when she decided to find the perfect Christmas village to spend Christmas with her business minded jet setting boyfriend Brett Bishop (Peter Benson) and complete her bucket list Christmas List that she wrote 25 years earlier when she was just a little girl just like in the classic 1950's Doris Day song Que Sera, Sera.

Of course Isobel's business minded boyfriend Brett tells her to head up to the cottage by herself that she has rented and he will join her as soon as he wraps up a few loose ends with his ongoing business deals. So while Isobel waits patiently for her boyfriend to make the trek to the cottage she pulls out her 25 year old Christmas List and decides to head out and find the perfect real Christmas tree that she can then decorate the way she wants to decorate her real tree without any interference from her overbearing mother Ellen Gray (Wanda Cannon) who raised Isobel without a father in her life. It is while she is picking out her Christmas tree that her life changes forever when she bumps into the handsome and very charming local man named Jamie Houghton (Gabriel Hogan) who invites Isobel to spend some quality time with him and his family which Isobel finds to be a wonderful experience.

Isobel tells Jamie that she envies him having such a wonderful immediate family to share his life with and it awakens Isobel to think how limiting her own life would be if she decided to get serious with her current boyfriend Brett. The film's music score was not overbearing, and the use of the word "Christmas" was used sparingly which was a relief to Mrs. Shullivan and I as sometimes other Christmas themed films repeat the word "Christmas" ad nauseum and we become disenfranchised with these types of Christmas themed films.

This is a nice little holiday romance story and the on screen chemistry between actors Alicia Witt and Gabriel Hogan worked well for both their personal lives and Mrs. Shullivan and I were left with a feeling of resolve that Isobel and Jamie found a way to make this Christmas a very special time of year.

I give this romantic Christmas themed film a decent 6 out of 10 IMDB rating.