If you are wanting a romantic comedy with a touch of holiday magic, definitely give “Christmas Pen Pals” a try!
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TITLE: Christmas Pen Pals
FILM YEAR: 2018
DURATION: 88 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition
COMPANY: Lifetime Television
RATED: TV-PG
Directed by Siobhan Devine
Written by Carley Smale
Executive Producer: Howard Braunstein, Jack Grossbart
Produced by Christian Bruyere
Supervising Producer: Dawn Knight
Music by Hamish Thomson
Cinematography by Dana Barnaby
Edited by Mark Adams
Casting by Patrick Baca, Shana Landsburg, Jackie Lind
Production Design by Bob Bottieri
Set Decoration: La Vonne Girard
Costume Design: Tina Fiorda
Starring:
Sarah Drew as Hannah Morris
Niall Matter as Sam Watson
Michael Gross as Ted
Chiara Zanni as Lucy
Nicholas Holmes as Max
William Vaughan as Joe
Kathleen Duborg as Susan
Naika Toussaint as Julie
Vincent Dangerfield as Greg
Giles Panton as Daniel
Latonya Williams as Sarah
Christine Willes as Martha
Cardi Wong as Spencer
Nevis Unipan as Lizzy
Catherine Lough Haggquist as Naomi
For day 28 of my holiday film marathon, I am checking out my second time watching a holiday telefilm starring actress Sarah Drew (“Grey’s Anatomy”, “Mom’s Night Out”, “Supernatural”) titled “Christmas Pen Pals” which aired on Lifetime Television.
The film is directed by Siobhan Devine (“Kim’s Convenience”, “The Birdwatcher”) and written by Carley Smale.
The film stars Nial Matter (“The Predator”, “Watchmen”, “Primeval: New World”), Michael Gross (“Family Ties”, “Tremors” films), Chiari Zanni (“Valley of the Boom”, “Good Luck Chuck”) and many more.
The film revolves around Sarah Drew, who is a successful tech developer who is known for her work for the dating app “Perfect One”. For Sarah, she learns that the numbers for the app are falling and before they do massive budget cuts, Naomi (portrayed by Catherine Lough Haggquist) who runs business/sales tells her that she should step back and not work but take sometime to find romance.
So, Sarah calls her boyfriend and her boyfriend responds that they have no human connection and breaks up with her via text.
So, Hannah decides to head home and celebrate Christmas with her father Ted (portrayed by Michael Gross) and her sister Lucy (portrayed by Chiara Zanni) and her family.
While exploring the town, she finds out that her ex-boyfriend Sam Watson (portrayed by Niall Matter) is back in town and owns the popular cafe.
Meanwhile, she heads to the post office and finds out from Martha (portrayed by Christine Willes), who runs the post office that the town is having their “Christmas Cupid” event.
She learns that an old tradition which dates back to World War II that those who participate in the event can find a friend/romance and they would write pen pal letters to an unknown person and on Christmas Eve, they will find out who they have been writing letters to.
Hannah and her father decide to take part in Christmas Cupid and give it a try. How will things go for Hannah and her father Ted?
I have to say that “Christmas Pen Pals” was a holiday telefilm which I found quite entertaining. I like the fact that film was taking part in a Christmas tradition, the feeling of Christmas was no doubt in the atmosphere for overall set design.
But I also liked the process of growth within Hannah’s character. Hannah is no doubt like many I know in the tech industry who is very analytical, and sometimes their tech projects can be their primary focus more than their personal life. And for Hannah, her life is dedicated to the dating app which she developed and has maintained.
But she lacks the understanding of what is love, what people experience and now that she is back at home, no wi-fi at home and taking part in “Christmas Cupid”, through pen pal letters, she finds herself growing attached to them and feeling whoever may have written to those letters to her, may be someone special. She doesn’t know who it may be? Meanwhile, she deals with having to see her ex-boyfriend and the two often arguing, with some of their past still upsetting them in the present.
Also, it was great to see another “Family Ties” star show up in a holiday film. First, Meredith Baxter and now Michael Gross, which is very cool!
But overall, if you are wanting a romantic comedy with a touch of holiday magic, definitely give “Christmas Pen Pals” a try!
PURCHASE THIS FILM ON AMAZON PRIME
