This movie stars Tia Mowry-Hardrict as Jen Taylor, a workaholic Ad Executive living in San Francisco. Jen is desperately competing for a creative director position with another coworker. She’s recently been avoiding calls from the attorney handling her great aunt’s estate. She goes to meet her friend at a bar after previously rescheduling 4 times (Yeah, she sounds like a great friend right?) where we learn that she is single due to her obsession with work and obtaining a new promotion. You might recognize Tia from the mid-90s teen comedy ‘Sister, Sister’ where she starred with her real life twin sister, Tamara. I know what you are thinking, most child stars never continue their success as they get older because when they lose their 'cuteness' it turns out they can’t act well enough to purse the career as adults. And while there are some exceptions to this rule who turn out to be truly gifted at acting, based on this movie, Tia isn’t one of them.
Jen finds out that she has inherited her Great Aunt’s Inn in Chestnut Hill, Alaska. At the airport she meets attorney Brian Anderson, played by Rob Mayes, who looks like a younger version of Jerry O’Connell. Brian is rude and condescending to Jen the entire drive from the airport (So I guess they based his character’s personality on real life Jerry O’Connell!) because she might sell the Inn which is an important piece of the town or maybe it's because she never returned his calls . . . who really cares. The point is that Brian is pretty much a dick. He’s also a part time attorney and part time sleigh builder (Hey, you gotta diversify these days. The economy in Alaska is NOT what it used to be.).
After dropping Jen off at the Inn, Brian goes to his mom’s nearby Café where they get a call that the Inn is on fire (Because for goodness sake, whenever there is an fire emergency make sure you call the local restaurant so they will know to make more coffee.). Brian rushes back to the Inn where he finds out that Jen had tried to use the fireplace without opening the chimney flume causing smoke to fill the building. While Brian is again being a dick towards Jen because she didn’t know how to use the fireplace properly, she accuses him of being at fault for not warning her the place had been winterized. To be honest, she kind of has a point. I’m not sure why Brian wouldn’t pass along this information other than to be a jerk (Classic Brian!!!). He tells her to go to the local Café to warm up while he takes care of the place. Come to think of it . . . there never were any fire trucks that arrived . . . . so apparently, when there IS a fire in town they don’t actually call emergency services, they just call the Café and order take out (Smores anyone?). Either that or the Fire Department only operates in the summer. Or maybe they are waiting on Brian to deliver some of his hand carved sleighs as transportation and the shipment has been delayed because of all these damned estate issues.
Jen goes to the Cafe and unwittingly complains about Brian to Brian's mother, Molly (Erin Gray). Since he never mentions that his family actually owns the Café (Again, classic Brian) it's not something she can be blamed for. Later, back at the Inn, Jen finds some old photos of great aunt Helen and finds her journal. The next day at Molly’s Café, Jen gets volunteered to participate in the Chestnut Hill Annual Christmas Festival (All small towns have these, it’s Christmas Law!!!). Jen admits she doesn’t celebrate Christmas nor know how to decorate (What? How hard is it to hang a wreath or some lights?) and is assigned to run the Gingerbread booth (no decorating required I hope). She then goes to Brian’s Law Office and Sleigh Emporium where Brian admits there isn’t much money in the sleigh construction business (no kidding). The paperwork is completed and the Inn is officially signed over to Jen. She gets a call from her friend who suggests that decorating the Inn might help it sell faster (Sure, if you are trying to sell it to Santa Clause) and Jen agrees.
The next morning some guests show up at her door to stay at the Inn, not realizing that Helen has passed. Jerry O’Connell Jr shows up, throws some of his usual insults at Jen so she decides to let the couple stay. Then Jen goes to the Christmas festival where we discover pastry decorating is included in her overall lack of decorating skills (yet she is a sketch artist and Ad executive . . . hmmm). I can’t recall all the specific details but now Jen and Brian start admiring one another (because of course, since he’s a complete and total A-hole and she looks like she’s 8 months pregnant . . . why wouldn’t romance ultimately bloom?). I’ll be honest, at this point in the movie I became so bored that I found myself playing a game on a tablet. I can unequivocally state that this is not a good sign.
They make a bet in a local candy cane ring-tossing contest that the loser has to either help decorate the Inn or help build a sleigh respectively. Amazingly, they tie so they both have to help each other (Even though in the truest sense, a tie would mean no winner and no loser but this method moves the plot along better.). At this point I just gave up. I was almost halfway through but couldn’t do it. The acting wasn’t terrible (It wasn’t good either) but I cared so little about the leads that it didn’t matter to me what happened the rest of the way. It’s true that this type of movie has a tried and true formula. When executed properly it works. When saddled with bad casting decisions and a weak plot it can fail miserably (Case in Point – My Christmas Inn).
This movie even had Erin Gray and I loved Erin Gray ever since 'Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'. While she is fine, it’s a side role and mainly inconsequential. This movie is just bland and uninteresting. Anyone who is watching this movie because they are a big Tia Mowry fan needs to find something else she’s done or go back and watch some 'Sister, Sister' reruns. Don’t waste your time. I give it a 1 out of 5.
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