REVIEW: Get Into the Holiday Spirit with Christmas Joy

November is upon us and the Hallmark Channel’s Holiday movie season is well underway. This Saturday, November 3, Hallmark debuts their newest Holiday movie, Christmas Joy. Based on the book by Nancy Naigle, Christmas Joy is the story of Joy, a marketing associate living in Washington, D.C., who returns home to a small town in North Carolina to help out her aunt. Joy’s aunt has injured herself right before the coveted “Cookie Crawl” is to take place. Joy is now tasked with balancing her work life and small-town holiday traditions that she may not fully buy in to. Adding to the festive mix, Joy reunites with her childhood crush and she just may find returning home may be exactly what she needed for Christmas.

Danielle Panabaker stars as leading lady Joy and is perfect in this role. Panabaker encapsulates Joy’s struggle to accept the fun of the season and her slow realization that small-town life may be a better fit for her life. She is joined in the movie by Matt Long, as her childhood crush, Ben. Ben returned home to be closer to his parents in their retirement and is focused on helping Joy see the delights in a small-town Christmas. Panabaker and Long have fairly decent chemistry which helps lift the story.

The plot is a bit predictable but that’s what makes it a Hallmark film. Adding to the charm is Ben’s meddlesome parents and Joy’s aunt. The three are the quintessential small-town busybodies, wrapped up in other people’s business. This could have become an annoyance but their parts end up being nice moments of humor.

For those already eager to begin celebrating the Holiday season, I suggest grabbing a cup of hot cocoa and tuning in Saturday night for this movie. It has everything you will need to start getting into the Holiday mood.

Grade: B