The Christmas Ring (2020 Hallmark Movies & Mysteries)
Cast: Nazneen Contractor, David Alpay, Sam Quinn
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Synopsis (via Hallmark)
A reporter searches for the love story behind an antique engagement ring. With the help of the ring’s owner’s grandson, they learn the legacy of his grandparents left behind.
Thoughts
Kendra works at Quizzer Magazine as a writer and is looking for the right story to further her career. She finds a ring in a pawn shop and decides to write a story about the original owner from 1943. Old heirlooms are sentimental to her because she lost her mother’s engagement ring after both her parents died. She searches on a web browser called “Search.” and takes a vacation to a small town called Pine Grove, where the ring originated. She plans to write her (unauthorized) new piece on the ring’s owner William Jones.
In the town, Kendra gets the address of a woman named Pearl, the daughter of William Jones. Her son is named Michael Jones, and he is a hunk but doesn’t like Kendra because she is a reporter. He shuts her down and is a very private person. Kendra doubles down and rents a room at a local inn.
Kendra recruits Scott (Michael’s brother) and his wife Trish to help her with the engagement ring. Trish works for the local Pine Grove Gazette and offers to give archive access to Kendra. They bond over Journalism. Kendra looks through antiquated article archives. (I honestly can’t even remember what the machine she is using is called.)
Michael and Kendra start to come to an understanding. She explains her interest in the history of Pearl and her engagement ring. Then they watch a Christmas tree lighting. Michael let Kendra into his house and shares that he too lost his parents when he was young; Pearl was his grandmother and raised him until she passed away. Sadly, Michael shows her nostalgic Christmas decorations passed down through his family, or he made himself. (Awkward Christmas Elf.)
Scott gets an offer to sell the family store and is hesitant to let it go. Michael is ready to move on and doesn’t want to look into things other than on a surface level. He was hurt in the past by a business partner/ex-fiance. They decorate the store for a town festival. Afterward, Michael gives Kendra a ride home, and they see a shooting star. As they make a Christmas wish, Michael goes in for the Christmas kiss, and it ends awkwardly. (I’m guessing she has journalistic integrity and doesn’t want to get involved with a source.
More archives pop up, and they decide to run a cookie exchange. Michael and Kendra make Pearl’s recipe for the Peppermint Whoopie Pies. A baking montage happens. (No flour fight happens.) Michael does make a joke about selling a cookie cologne for men, which is cute. (Mostly because it tickles Kendra.) The cookie exchange is a hit. Kendra and Trish watch the brothers work together to make the event a success.
Michael and Kendra look into an old Jewelry store and find the story of Pearl selling the ring to save the general store. Michael and Scott officially decide not to sell the store and hug it out. Kendra has all she needs for the story.
The article that Kendra writes is no the one that is published. (Does this often happen, because it sure happens in Christmas movies!) Michael feels betrayed by the article and wants nothing to do with Kendra. Kendra quits her job and writes a new article her way. More personal and with an adorable top knot. It is published on the front page of Pine Grove Gazette. (Thanks, Trish! It helps to know people, I guess!)
Michael reads the article and realizes that he was wrong about Kendra. I mean she says she loves him in the article. She writes for him to meet her at the Pine Grove Dance if he feels the same way. Kendra waits in a meh red dress with a terrible purse. Michael shows up and thinks she looks beautiful, despite her fashion choices. They dance and kiss while planning their lives in Boston. He gives her the engagement ring on a necklace. So it is not a proposal, but it should me. The end!
Side Note
Minority Report: Kendra,
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Overall rating
🎄🎄 (2 Christmas Trees)
🍷🍷 (2 glasses of wine required.)
*Photo Credit: © 2020 Hallmark Crown Media
