Holiday for Heroes (2019 Hallmark Movies & Mysteries)

Holiday for Heroes (2019 Hallmark Movies & Mysteries)

Cast: Melissa Claire Egan, Marc Blucas, Latarsha Rose

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Synopsis (via Hallmark)

A woman (Melissa Claire Egan) and a soldier (Marc Blucas) exchange letters for a year before their worlds collide.

Thoughts

Audrey makes coffee/owns a cafe and sends them to her brother, Devin, serving in Afghanistan. The first Sargent takes the coffee from her brother and writes her a letter. His name is Matt, and they correspond while he drinks coffee and fights in the war. They have been writing for a year, and Audrey is planning the Holiday for Heros event to welcome back the men and women who served in the armed forces and are back on leave. One of those soldiers is going to be Matt. He writes Audry a letter to let her know he will be in town, but the message gets lost in transit.

Audrey is so busy running her cafe and giving free coffee to soldiers that she brushes off that she never heard back from Matt. She is thinking of expanding her store and event sets up a date with the town realtor named Luke.

Matt shows up at the cafe and surprises Audrey. She is caught off guard but happy to see him. Then Audrey and her co-worker Jade get calls that their loved ones are stuck and might not make it back in time for Christmas due to an extended deployment. This news ruins the romance that is blossoming between Matt and Audrey.

At the Christmas Tree Lighting, the Lady Mayor neglects to announce the Holiday for Heroes event. When Audrey asks her about it afterward, the Lady Mayor informs her that the event is canceled, and the donation matching for the toy drive is also not happening. (This mayor is RUDE!) Audrey can’t accept not having the event and jumps up on stage to rally the town to help her throw it without the government’s support. Luke offers to sponsor the event, and Matt mistakes this gesture for something more than friendship.

Audrey gets together a planning committee and invites Matt. He agrees to help and says thanks to everyone for sending care packages. They drink hot cocoa and make smores. Matt is enjoying his time in town and even helps coach the town hockey team. He has to make a decision when his lieutenant asks him to consider reenlisting in the Army or move to Virginia to teach.

The lost letter arrives, and Audrey learns that Matt is only in town for three more days. She feels betrayed, and he admits he was afraid to tell her because he is having so much fun with her. Audrey offers to help him with his big decision and offers to make a pros and cons list. (Relax, Audrey.) They drink some delicious looking white wine and then decorate a barn for the Holiday. (It is a family tradition) They slow dance to Christmas music. They promise to be pen pals still no matter what he decides.

Later, Matt agrees to do some dance at the Holiday for Heroes event. Then he proceeds to do the robot. (Marc Blucas has never been more adorable,) Matt talks with his friend and decides that he needs to stay in town and see what is between him and Audrey. He is disheartened when he stops by the cafe and sees some flowers left for Audrey by Luke. Speaking on Luke, Audrey is at a meeting with him about renting the open lot next to the cafe. She declines his offer due to money issues, and he caresses her shoulder in a moment of understanding. Matt walks in and sees the caress mistaking it for a classic lover’s shoulder pat.

Matt and Audrey talk about the misunderstanding and realize that they like one another. They start over, and he tells her that he is happy to have someone he can come home and see. Matt gives her Christmas angel ornaments because she is his angel. He tells her that he will be staying in town to give their relationship a chance.

The event loses the venue because I guess Audrey lives in the most heartless town ever. Her brother convinces her to have the Holiday for Heroes in the family barn.

At the barn, the party is a huge success. Matt makes a beautiful speech thanking Audrey and her hard work. The townsfolk get together and raise money to expand the cafe and pay for the first year of rent. The march of the toy soldiers happens. (Including Marc Blucas!) Audrey’s brother and Jade’s husband are also back home. They bring in the whole brigade of soldiers because what is a Holiday for Heroes without the heroes!

Matt and Audrey slow dance and kiss. End of the movie!

Side Note

Minority Report: Jade (Audrey’s co-worker/friend.) and her son, Luke (Realiste agent.), Carlos, and his daughter Rosa. Soldiers, school principal. Santa! (I’m surprised, Hallmark agreed to this.) This movie was the most POC I’ve seen in a Hallmark movie this year so far.

Marc Blucas is pushing 50, and he can still get it. The man is super cute.

A woman named Clare Niederpruem directed the movie. I liked her vision for this movie.

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Overall rating

🎄🎄🎄🎄 (4 Christmas Trees)

🍷🍷 (2 glasses of wine required)