Tonight's Movie: Snowed-Inn Christmas (2017)

I've enjoyed some really good Hallmark Christmas films this year, most recently the brand-new CHRISTMAS BY STARLIGHT (2020).

My latest Christmas movie, SNOWED-INN CHRISTMAS (2017), isn't technically a Hallmark film, as it originally aired on Lifetime. However, it features two of Hallmark's regular stars, Bethany Joy Lenz and Andrew Walker, and director Gary Yates also has a number of Hallmark credits.

Lenz and Walker play Jenna and Kevin, two writers with very different styles and personalities who each work for an online travel website headquartered in New York City.

The website is struggling financially, and the duo's editor Simone (Tasha Smith) assigns them both to cover a Colorado ski resort at Christmas.  The writer whose piece gets the most "clicks" will remain employed.

As fate would have it, bad weather forces Jenna and Kevin's plane to land in Indiana...near the town of Santa Claus, Indiana, to be exact. They need overnight accommodations, but it initially seems that locally there's "no room at the inn" until a lovely older lady in the airport, Carol (Belinda Montgomery), overhears their dilemma; it just so happens Carol and her husband Chris (John B. Lowe) own the Winters Inn. And what do you know, rooms are available!

Jenna and Kevin settle in for what turns out to be a prolonged stay, so the focus of their writing shifts to the town of Santa Claus. They enjoy getting to know one another as they research their pieces; Jenna is working through a breakup with the man (Jefferson Brown) she'd expected to marry, while Kevin has been avoiding his loving family due to pain over his father's death.

And it just so happens Kevin's family lives close enough to Santa Claus that he and Jenna can make the drive to see them.

Meanwhile back at the inn, there are some strange goings-on with Carol and Chris, who make odd references to things that happened a century or more ago and who seem strangely ageless...

This was quite a delightful, magical 86 minutes, and I'm clearly not the one who thinks so, as the movie is currently rated at 7.2 on IMDb, with a substantial number of votes.

The plot may sound hokey, but everything in the film is balanced just right and it all really works, including the sensitive-yet-funny performances of the two bantering lead actors, the tiny bits of "magic" woven through the story, and a fun supporting performance by Smith, whose editor starts out appearing intimidating and manipulative but ends up being quite amusing.

I also liked that Kevin's sister Meagan (Stephanie Moroz) has an interracial marriage to Eric (Aaron Radwanski), and absolutely nothing is said about it. It's just normal, exactly like multiple families I've known over the years; it's good to see that reality casually reflected on TV.

The only negative to this film was it had a tiny bit more of an "edge" than Hallmark films; Jenna has had a live-in relationship with her ex, and there are a couple of very minor crass bits. I'm sure many viewers wouldn't consider those aspects "edgy," but they're just enough different from the typical Hallmark film so as to be noticeable.

The movie was filmed by Paul Suderman. Coincidentally it was filmed in the same area of Canada -- Winnipeg, Manitoba -- as CHRISTMAS BY STARLIGHT.

A trailer is available. The movie can be purchased on DVD and is in regular rotation on Lifetime during "Christmas movie season."

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