User Reviews

I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 400 Christmas MOVIES.

BEWARE OF BOGUS REVIEWS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW. WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE PRODUCTION. NOW I HAVE NO AGENDA! I AM HONEST! I REVIEW Christmas MOVIES AS A WAY TO KEEP TRACK OF WHAT I HAVE SEEN!

Tom Jacobs has built a business around helping clients find the perfect gift for their loved ones. When he's hired to find a gift for his friend's girlfriend, he finds himself in a bit of trouble: The more he researches her, the more he likes her.

This film is a little different for the average Hallmark Movie. However I highly recommend this film because it gives you an idea on how to create the perfect gift for someone.

What also makes this film special is the fact the scenes leading up to the conclusion are not what you expect.

I can't think of having seen this premise before, although there is some similarity to Cyrano de Bergerac. It's nominally a Christmas story, but except for the holiday event, it didn't have to be around Christmas.

For me, a lot of how much I like this kind of movie has a lot to do with the relationship building between the leads and the premise provided a great mechanism for the leads to spend time together. Sam Page and Emily Peterson had great chemistry. Without it, the conflict wouldn't have made any sense.

I don't remember the first time I saw this movie, but I would think the surprise at the end was to be expected. That didn't mean it wasn't sweet.

This is the sort of life I could be living if I'd had more of a plan and the ability to see it through. I would love to run the sort of service that Mr Christmas does. Ensuring people get the best Christmas present and letting others take the credit is a good thing.

It helps that the lead is seen in just his boxers and that he has that sultry, sexy Marlon Brando thing going on. I have to say though, that it would be difficult to choose between the two fellas here, as the other one is also quite easy on the eye and not the usual jerky character that we've come to expect.

It's a sweet romance and builds up to a big festive party. Cheerful and lovely.

In my opinion, the male roles should have been switched, as Sam Page could have played a better embarrassing villain. Very unconvincing character, I don't mean he's not a good actor, he just doesn't feels like he belongs there.

For once, a Hallmark Christmas film told from a male POV. Bravo! And the opening voiceover was a grabber-it really stood out compared to HMC's usual generic titles over stock city footage accompanied by a generic holiday song.

That's as good as this one gets.

-Lead actress Tara Holt (Jenny) was hard to watch. Her tics drove me crazy. I hope this is her worst performance ever; it's bad even for HMC.

A few questions for HMC production:

-I bet 85% of your Christmas films feature mistletoe. How do you get the wrong plant?

-Was it important to limit Meg, the most interesting character, to FaceTime? Do you not get the optics of literally keeping our one named PoC from sharing a room with another character?

-Who drops in to a virtual stranger's house @ 6:30 AM?

-Who answers the door in nothing but their underwear?

-What natural hair color could be worse than Tara/Jenny's dye job? Did the team watching dailies fail to notice how dirty and lank her hair looked? Is that someone's whack idea of edgy?

-Which is less believable: a holiday party happened in < 2 weeks with no money? Or that the 30ish people in attendance (29ish white) equaled success?

-Do y'all really fail to get the difference between research and stalking?

Stalking isn't romantic, FYI.

Most films begin with loads of titles, stock footage etc, all of which make you want to change channel. Unusually and to its credit, this film hooked me from the beginning with some interesting facts about snowflakes and an introduction into the leading man Tom's work. His job is to research and find the perfect present for the partner of his (clueless) client.

Not only is this film entertaining, but there is food for thought in terms of a serious theme. When buying a present for your other half, do you really know enough about them to get them exactly what they want?

There are only four principal players in this movie - Jenny, her unreliable boyfriend Paul, Tom and socialite Victoria.

Tara Holt is excellent as leading lady Jenny, demonstrating a wide range of emotions, facial expressions and matching body language. When she inevitably kisses Tom (this is Hallmark), it really looks like her heart is racing. When she is upset with Tom, she looks upset. I also liked her boyfriend Paul (Sam Guinan-Nyhart), who ropes his faternity buddy Tom into the job of finding a present for Jenny.

Leading man Tom (played by Sam Page) is trying not to get involved with Sarah for professional reasons, which means his chemistry with her is not quite as good as it could be.

Victoria (played by Emily Peterson) is comfortable as an attractive socialite who would like to sink her claws into Tom. My favourite scene comes at about 24 minutes when Victoria is telling Jenny and Tom about the history of her old house. This is a piece of unexpected, nicely written script.

In the end, Tom does find the perfect present for Jenny, but not something material like a car or jewellry, but is instead something personal to her.

The only negative I have is that I found the final scene to be cheesy and over-acted.

Overall, one of the better Hallmark Christmas films and will watch again next year.

Throughout my whole Christmas film completest quest undertaken since late 2019, an interesting quest but very mixed one, there was never the mentality of expecting a classic or the film in question to be flawless. Something that was never managed with Hallmark's and Lifetime's output in particular. There was however always the expectation of seeing a film where one can see at least some effort rather than merely cash-in level.

A distinction that does not belong to 'The Perfect Christmas Present' in any way. It is not quite a Christmas classic, but out of the films seen between then and now (which have been very hit and miss) 'The Perfect Christmas Present' is easily among the best faring and quite a pleasant surprise for a premise that could have gone either way. With almost everything done remarkably well and only a couple of things done imperfectly which was not unexpected in a way.

For me the final quarter was on the rushed and too convenient side. It did take a bit of time for me to warm to Tom and it was once the romantic chemistry got going when it was easier to do so.

Sadly am another person that didn't always care for Tara Holt here, she did have some odd overdone mannerisms and it made her performance on the mannered and over-eager side at times.

However, Sam Page is charming and did like how Tom grows as a character. Nice genuine chemistry with perky Emily Peterson too. Generally the characters were interesting and engaging and the romantic chemistry moves at a realistic rate and felt natural and genuine.

Production values wise, 'The Perfect Christmas Present' is not too drab or garish in photography, the editing didn't seem rushed or disorganised and the scenery has a real charm to it. Most of the soundtrack is nostalgic and appealing to listen to, capturing the festive spirit well. Have seen a lot of over-scored Christmas films, but that's not as much the case here.

Furthermore, the script just about avoids being corny and saccharine, with it never coming over as awkward, and the story is mostly very engaging, easy to be uplifted by and heart-warming. Not to mention quite poignant, with a serious theme being handled tactfully.

Overall, pleasant and well done film. 7/10.

If you watch Hallmark Christmas movies every year like I do, you might notice that each year has a couple of overriding theme to their new movies. In 2017, the themes were "Christmas miracles" and "nothing's wrong with your boyfriend, but leave him for someone new anyway." I can't count how many Hallmarks I watched that season that featured a handsome, kind, classy boyfriend whose sole flaw was that he worked too hard and couldn't be at her beck and call. To top it all off, the un-flawed boyfriend gives her a huge gesture, either offering to move, quit his job, or spend Christmas with her family-and she still turns him down! Maybe I'm too old-at-heart for these movies; trading in for someone new doesn't guarantee a problem-free relationship, it just means you haven't discovered that person's flaws yet.

The Perfect Christmas Present is a perfect-no pun intended-example. Tara Holt has such an un-flawed boyfriend, Sam Guinan-Nyhart, whose sole flaw is that he's so intent on getting her the perfect Christmas present he hires someone to find it for him. He works very hard and doesn't have the time, and Sam Page's actual job is to find perfect, thoughtful, touching Christmas presents for people. Given the seasonal nature of his job and how he devotes exclusive time to each client, it must be incredibly expensive to hire him. When you look at it that way, isn't it nice of Sam #1 to hire Sam #2 to pick out a wonderful present for his girlfriend, rather than just getting her something generic or a gift certificate, and not caring whether it means anything to her?

So, when Sam #2 devotes every waking hour to getting to know Tara's interests, he starts to fall in love with her. Folks, let's just call this what it is: stalking. He follows her around, takes notes on her activities and routines, puts up pictures of her all over his apartment, and lies to her about his identity so he can weasel his way into her life. And this is the good guy?

As you can tell, this movie made no sense to me. I don't see why it's romantic to fall in love with someone who's being paid to stalk you. Of course he's going to seem interested in you-he's being paid a fortune to follow you around! If you disagree, check this one out. I've dubbed Sam Page "Hallmark's Marlon Brando" so it is fun to see him pretending to like someone then falling for her, like Brando did in Guys and Dolls.

Simple formula Christmas Movie, acting very good. Showcasing the Windy City was a plus.

I enjoyed this movie. I really like Sam Page. This is the first movie I've seen of his but I'll look for others now. I did have a hard time warming up to the character of Jenny. She didn't come across has believable has the head of an organization. But overall I'd watch it again.

A man (Sam Page) buys Christmas presents for a living. His old school acquaintance hires him to buy one for his girlfriend. But the man begins to fall for the girl who seems a better fit for him than his friend.

In Hallmark land everyone is forgiving and not hurt at all. But if you think about it's a story about betrayal and stealing.

Not one of the better Hallmark movies.

I am subjective. But it seems to me only a film with a Barbie and two Kens. Not convincing, fake, artificial, using in not the most inspired manner the recipe Hallmark Christmas films . For fans, maybe a good film. For me, a romance in labyrinth , with predictable end and a sort of unrealistic dilemma.

I found it annoying that the opening and closing scenes of the movie are so obviously "inspired" from one of my favorite movies "The Age of Adaline" It is otherwise an enjoyable Christmas movie.

6.8 stars.

I enjoyed watching this, the actors are good. I haven't seen Tara Holt before, and she was enjoyable to watch. For female leads I'd rate her in my top 20, but that doesn't say much since I've only seen maybe 30 leading females in all the Hallmark movies I've watched? I don't know, I haven't counted, but it seems about right. Sam Page is entertaining as usual, but he's not in my top 10 male leads, maybe in the top 15 though, and I've seen him in a plethora of movies. He has enough screen presence, but is not in the WOW category.

What I liked most about this movie is that Page and Holt have above average chemistry, not knock me out of my shoes, but enough that I was intrigued to see how this would blossom. The story is original enough, albeit it's a spin on being a secret shopper (professional shopper?). With that in mind, it's not so original, but it is a fresh perspective on the whole experience. The Chicago scenery and landscapes, the architecture, and locations was a very nice addition and I was impressed by the atmosphere it created. I felt that we were in the big city the whole time, not that usual feel of filming on some set, then taking screenshots in the city for effect.

The end was not bad, maybe a bit amateurish. They wrapped up the romance adequately and I felt it was a very happy ending. The jazz music was lousy (being honest). It's my least favorite music genre. It's all soul and no art. People would disagree and say it's all art, but my feeling is anyone can play jazz, just pick up an instrument and pour your soul into it, doesn't mean you're making music that is pleasant to the ears.

All the actors are likable, except the leading male played by Sam Page in the role of the super chaste Tom Jacobs. As a Hallmark fantasy Xmas movie, we know who's going to end up with each other. Mr. Page just wasn't right for this particular role. All the other actors did well in the roles they played. One annoyance was the writing. If I heard "amazing" in the script one more time, I'd have thrown a soft object at my tv.

Wanted to love it. Mediocre at best. Did anyone else notice that Tom's lips were almost blue/purple in the first two thirds of the movie? He only looked healthy in the last two scenes... The reviewer who said Jenny is not believable did not pay attention. She is not the 'head' of the organization - just trying to set up a new location. Not for profits do hire and promote youth. All in all, not Hallmarks' best work. Chicago lights saved it. Go Christmas!

She's not a good actress and weirdly twitches constantly especially in the couch scene. So twitchy that it makes the entire film cringeworthy. Stop putting people on camera who are clearly uncomfortable on camera. It could of been good with different actor hiring. The script had potential!

This is a male version of 'A Gift Wrapped Christmas'. Like most of the Christmas films, this is also a romance-drama. A man who earned the nickname Mr. Christmas for his ability to pick the ideal Christmas gifts for people is now not set to find one for his friend's girlfriend. But when they are introduced to each other, the things changes around. They two seems started to have feelings. Then there's always a truth that's ready to strike to make the issue even complicated. How this love triangle tale ends were told in the remaining part.

The story was just okay. But the actors were good. Typical Hallmark Christmas film. Always guessable and a romance drama that takes place in the snow falling region/city. Mainly instantly falling in love kind of theme. Knowing the storyline, I knew it was not my cup of tea. Despite I did not enjoy it very much, it was not that bad. I did not feel boring, or annoyance. Using old contents and giving a decent film is not an easy task, but they have done a better job. Its for the home audience, the women would enjoy it. So I respect and give it an average. Neither loved nor disliked, like 50/50.

5/10