toddsgraham Review of Project Christmas Wish

Project Christmas Wish (2020 TV Movie)

I need to build me one of those gingerbread houses...

[8/10 · 25 December 2020]

I liked this Hallmark Christmas movie. It was a pleasant surprise, as I didn't know what to expect going into this one. The story revolves around Lucy (played by Amanda Schull), who has been granting wishes for her community for years, and who 'believes in the power of a wish'. This year's Project Christmas Wish of the season is from a little girl named Max who simply wants Christmas to 'be like it used to be' for her and her father Lucas (our other protagonist in this story, played by Travis Van Winkle). As Lucy goes about granting Max's Christmas wish(es), she and Lucas begin to develop a connection, a relationship, which gets Lucy thinking about her wishes in life. As another reviewer here has pointed out, the storyline in this one is like another of this year's Hallmark premieres, The Angel Tree. Likewise, this movie had a sweet and warm feel to it. Moreover, the story is an engaging one and pulls on all the right strings from Max's touching wish to Lucy's heartwarming nature. I found myself pulled in from the start. The script also has some pretty good dialogue between Lucy and Lucas, though it never goes too deep, which I thought worked well here. There is also some appealing banter between the two early in the film, which I enjoyed. I even had a couple of chuckles to boot. What makes all this work, of course, is the acting, which was, overall, brilliant. Schull had a very convincing performance, which I found easy to connect with from the start. Van Winkle too had a great performance. I did not know what to expect, as the last time I saw him on screen was in the Friday the 13th reboot 10 years ago. As others here have pointed out, the chemistry between the two was great; it was quite convincing on screen, I felt. The supporting cast was strong. For example, Averie Peters makes her debut in this one with a lovely performance as Max (a very cute speech at the end, e.g.). Finally, the scenery, props, and sets were charming and festive. The movie too had a nice Christmas atmosphere to it with the usual Christmas activities. This included the building of a very large gingerbread house for Max, while we got to listen to a song from Love Actually (the one Bill Nighy sang as Billy Mack, the former rock star trying to make a comeback in his old age). All in all, it was a wonderful way to end Hallmark's Movies & Mysteries 2020 Christmas season. I highly recommend it.