Tonight's Movie: Miss Christmas (2017)

Brooke D'Orsay stars as MISS CHRISTMAS (2017), which first aired this past holiday season on the Hallmark Channel.

I liked this one a lot thanks to the ebullient D'Orsay. The supporting cast is solid, but D'Orsay's sparkling performance as a kind woman who lives the spirit of Christmas year-round is what made it a winner for me. It's pretty much impossible not to like her. The world could use more people like "Miss Christmas"!

Holly Kuhn, aka Miss Christmas, grew up on a Christmas tree farm and now has a job planning a big annual tree-lighting ceremony in Chicago.

When the tree for the upcoming ceremony is unexpectedly ruined, Holly follows a hunch and goes to Wisconsin (filmed in British Columbia) in response to a letter from a little boy, Joey (Luke Roessler), who sent her a picture of a tree on his family's property.

As it turns out, the rest of Joey's family isn't sure they want to part with the tree for sentimental reasons, but they invite Holly to stay in town while they decide.

Joey's grandfather (Greg Rogers) has recently lost his wife, and Joey's dad (Marc Blucas) is still reeling from a divorce. As Holly gets to know the family, she helps bring the joy of Christmas back to their lives, culminating in a very special tree lighting.

The task of locating the perfect Christmas tree is what some might jokingly call a "first world problem," but while Holly attaches great importance to her job -- which makes countless people happy -- that aspect serves as the springboard for a deeper story in which she connects with a hurting family ready to build new experiences and relationships.

With its consistently positive storytelling and lead character, this might be an example of what the more cynical among us like to refer to as a sappy Hallmark Christmas movie, but it made me happy, and isn't that what it's all about, especially at Christmas? I recommend it for anyone wanting a lift, now or at Christmastime.

MISS CHRISTMAS was directed by Mike Rohl. The supporting cast includes Fiona Vroom, Erin Boyes, Crystal Balint, and Parveen Dosanjh.

Joie Botkin's script was based on a novella by Gigi Garrett.

MISS CHRISTMAS is not yet available on DVD, but based on the pace of recent Hallmark releases, I anticipate it will become available sometime this year.

Update: This film is now available on DVD.