A Major Disappointment

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I have many "stones" against this film. flaws, predactibility, unrealism. but the poor of it has a small virtue - the name of town. and the spirit of family of a small community. and the idea of recipe for the cookies of aunt Sally. so, it works. with the well known love story and the end who you expect be different - sure, in this case is real forced, fake, bizarre -. but who coould resist to... Cookies Jar ? and, sure, twoo good looking lead actors, P. Lynn Johnson remembering Eve Marie Saints and the flavor of cookies.

This movie gets lost and has some disconnected plot points, but overall it is worth watching once. The leads are interesting to watch but lack chemistry. "Jake" is a little dull and Hannah is kind of all over the place. What annoyed me most was the portrayal of a corporate takeover and related negotiation....what was shown was complete...bologna. Companies do not send a single person to negotiate for a buyout, nor do such negotiations occur on the factory floor in an open area surrounded by employees. CEOs do not travel to meetings alone to negotiate, and usually quality, legal, HR, IT, and compliance have a seat at the table and give critical input on any corporate acquisition. Also, as much as this movie likes to believe that emotions and passion can save a company circling the drain, in the real world a failing company requires liquidation or a complete overhaul to return it to profitability...which always includes layoffs and replacement of most management.

I know, I'm a sucker for these and I admit it. Yes, they are, for the most part, Cheesy; hopelessly romantic drivel that flows like maple syrup, but every once in a while THC gets it right, and they got it right with this one. A clever plot line twist at the end that saved the situation, but when you have Jill Wagner in a role like this, it seems this is the one she was born to play. You can either believe she is an astounding actress (which I do), or you can believe she went into this with no script and just lived the part, because that's how it comes across. She is so expressive and the way she looks; laughs; reacts and speaks you come away thinking this is real life. Her protagonist is equally adept, and he makes his role believable as well. So do the supporting characters. The girl who plays Jake's daughter is a scene-stealer, who will, no doubt, grow up to steal more than her fair share of hearts as well. From the town cabbie to the woman who runs the inn where Hannah stays, you connect with all of them. The waitress in the coffee shop going to Princeton has an incredible range of acting tools. I'm sure she'll be around for a long time as well. Hannah's big city boyfriend is the typical "other man" in the Hallmark Channel Movie heroine's life. Instantly unlikable with an array of traits one wonders what she ever saw in him to begin with. (Remember Faith's boyfriend in The Christmas Card?) I will watch this one again. I already have. Most are good enough for one look and you can pass them by a second time. A few of the good ones grab you and pull you inside. They push you into a cushy chair beside a blazing fireplace, wrap you in a warm blanket and make you wish you could be there with them. This is one of those.

I sometimes wonder where the Hallmark Conglomerate came from. When I was very young, Hallmark meant special programs—Hallmark Hall of Fame--produced by Hallmark Cards and these were special specials. Now there seem to be a proliferation of Hallmark Channels.I'm retired now and my wife watches the Hallmark Conglomerate and occasionally I drift into a chair and semi-watch. Laptops mean you never have to attend to any show ever again. This was the "episode" my wife was watching: Christmas Cookies. I figured it out pretty quick. Christmas hating/ignoring female exec gets sent to a cute town, Cookie Jar, to close a deal that will allow a food conglomerate to swallow the town's single industry—Aunt Sally's Cookies—and put everyone on unemployment/welfare/Medicaid in rapid time.Female exec meets sweet B&B owner who drops a crumb/clue into the plot early that I suspect will eventually save town. In-between, heartless female exec (Grinch, used to be Scrooge, but now all baddies or semi-baddies are Grinches) begins to find love for male owner of Aunt Sally's and doesn't want to destroy all the nice people she has met in Cookie Jar.But the owner is going broke and has to do what he has to do which is sell the company. While all of this is going on the exec is falling in love with the owner, refuses the proposal of her New York boyfriend, gets an idea from her Christmas loving sister, helps her boss accept the idea the cookies need to be made in Cookie Jar and saves everyone's jobs, and then gets her heart's desire. Pretty sure that was what happened.I have a hard time knowing who the actors are in these Hallmark shows as they all tend to be very pretty or handsome and tend to look alike (to me). In this case it's Jill Wagner as Hannah Harper and Wes Brown as Jake Carter who lead the cast.