There's nothing particularly originally, but the number of puns is well above average. Just as the grapes are blended, there's a variety of holiday (Christmas and Hanukah) traditions and different international cultures celebrated - none of which conflict, they focus on what is common eg food and miracles. It's a small cast and there is only the main couple - one other person is widowed and another is 'not her type/spoken for'. The age range is quite limited, but there is some festive fun with the 50ish father. The science behind the vineyard is a bit different, and provides an uplifting attitude to life.
2 Reviews
A Multicultural Friends Christmas
anicho01-944-81253916 January 2024
Warning: Spoilers
Single wine journalist Heather meets super single wine owner Rudolph. They share each other's cultural backgrounds while helping each other achieve their career goals. He stars in her show and she advertises his winery.
Although this has the Hallmark look and feel, this was on Peacock and Freevee and it deviates in a couple ways.
First, old school Hallmark demanded the heroine abandon her career for the love interest she met a week ago. Luckily, the script points out the absolute folly of that and suggests long-term dating. Of course, when she starts to leave, Rudy acts as if she is permanently moving overseas and that telephones, video calls, texting and airplanes don't exist.
Second, old school holiday films romanticized the curmudgeonly small town business owner who refused to advertise or attract new clients. Again, the script points out that a business owner who hates improvement might just hate their business.
Finally, although Hallmark has greatly improved how they handle multiple religions and cultures, A Vineyard Christmas is way more subtle. Rudolph talks about his German background while Heather shares her Filipino and Irish traditions. They did a great job portraying Hanukkah without pretending the characters had never heard of it.
Only a few parts didn't work. When the female lead called the male lead too hot to work at a winery, I disagreed. While Victor Zenck is attractive, in this film he looks like the standard blandly cute love interest, so the comment fell flat. Also, the actor playing her dad, is the hottest over 50 dad in holiday films, so I hope they give him his own holiday film.
Overall, both leads have great chemistry. I loved the winter shots and the adorable matching pajamas. This was a great addition to the holiday cannon.
Although this has the Hallmark look and feel, this was on Peacock and Freevee and it deviates in a couple ways.
First, old school Hallmark demanded the heroine abandon her career for the love interest she met a week ago. Luckily, the script points out the absolute folly of that and suggests long-term dating. Of course, when she starts to leave, Rudy acts as if she is permanently moving overseas and that telephones, video calls, texting and airplanes don't exist.
Second, old school holiday films romanticized the curmudgeonly small town business owner who refused to advertise or attract new clients. Again, the script points out that a business owner who hates improvement might just hate their business.
Finally, although Hallmark has greatly improved how they handle multiple religions and cultures, A Vineyard Christmas is way more subtle. Rudolph talks about his German background while Heather shares her Filipino and Irish traditions. They did a great job portraying Hanukkah without pretending the characters had never heard of it.
Only a few parts didn't work. When the female lead called the male lead too hot to work at a winery, I disagreed. While Victor Zenck is attractive, in this film he looks like the standard blandly cute love interest, so the comment fell flat. Also, the actor playing her dad, is the hottest over 50 dad in holiday films, so I hope they give him his own holiday film.
Overall, both leads have great chemistry. I loved the winter shots and the adorable matching pajamas. This was a great addition to the holiday cannon.
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