A Crafty Christmas Romance (2020 Lifetime)
Cast: Nicola Posener, Brad Johnson, Renny Grames
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Synopsis (via Lifetime)
Mandy, the owner of a craft and hobby store, discovers an old copy of “A Christmas Carol” among donations for a book drive. The book is a letter to Santa from 70 years ago, along with a valuable coin. Mandy sets out to find the book’s owner, letter, and coin with Jonah’s help, a contractor who first came upon and donated the book. Along the way, they find clues that lead them closer to the author and each other, but can Mandy return everything to the book owner in time for Christmas and make her own Christmas wish come true?
Thoughts
Mandy runs a craft store and has perfect hair. (With tweedles!) She finds a first edition copy of “A Christmas Carol” in a donation box. In the book is a note to Santa with a Christmas wish and a silver coin (Which turns out to be worth $30,000) from a girl named Judith. The letter is from 1947 and is totally haunted. Oh, wait, my brain is in Halloween mode. It is sweet!
Mandy brings the donations back to the local church and runs into a hunk construction worker named Jonah. He gives her his card and promises to talk to the pastor about the mystery book. Jonah stops by the store and tells Mandy that the pastor doesn’t know who the items belong to, but he is willing to help! We’ve got a boring Christmas mystery on our hands.
Jonah and Mandy visit the library, look at papers while saying “hmm,” and walk around with a large briefcase while churning through exposition. (Mandy’s family hates her and leaves her alone for the holidays, and Jonah’s family stays with him. He will order takeout for Christmas.)
Next, Mandy and Jonah go to a school library and borrow all the school yearbooks. Then the CRAFT. It is actually very lame, and they basically hot glue gun crap on sweatshirts.
“Romantic” wall painting happens, and then they look at Christmas lights at a Christmas festival. Then they write letters to SANTA.
The coin goes missing, and Mandy inexplicably accuses Jonah of stealing the coin and then finds it in her shop. She leaves jonah a present at his house, and he finds it on Christmas. It is a book that cares.
There are thirty minutes left in the movie, and I am dying with boredom—birth record, death records, calls, all to find the coin’s owner. Mandy finds Jonah and makes up with him. They head to her small town and find Judith with her grandchildren in the town square. They return the book, coin, and note wrapped for a holiday. Judith opens the gift and is touched. She reads the letter out loud that we’ve already heard before, and it is excruciatingly repetitive.
The couple kisses and they can’t even do that right. Put a cork in this movie. So hard.
Side Note
Lead actors had zero chemistry. ZERO. Brad Johnson is 61 years old (Update he is not 61 IMDB had the wrong actor listed. Still no chemistry regardless of age.)
Minority Report: Librarian, Construction worker, Eli, Mayor
Also Known as Crafting Christmas
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Overall rating
🎄 (1 Christmas Tree)
🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷 (5 glasses of wine required.)
*Photo Credit: © 2020 Lifetime
I think you got the lead actor wrong. The 61 year old Brad Johnson that you mentioned (and that imdb has too) isn’t the actor in this movie.
This guy, Bradford B. Johnson (https://www.instagram.com/bradfordbjohnson/) is, and he’s a lot younger. Agree on the lack of chemistry, though.
Jim! Yas! Thanks for the sluthing. I will update that info. I thought he looked amazing for 61. Haha. Happy holidays.
This actress is the worst I have ever seen. Heavy breathing, drawing out each word, valley girl baby voice, and overall impossible to believe a single word she recites. It sounds like she’s a casting director halfheartedly reading to another actor. Get it together Lifetime!