A VERY MERRY TOY STORE
Connie (Melissa Joan Hart) and Will (Mario Lopez) run rival toy stores in New Britain, Connecticut. When the unscrupulous owner of Roy’s Toys open his megastore right before Christmas, Connie and Will put aside their differences to save their businesses — and discover that love has been waiting just down the street.
Lifetime released a DVD with two Christmas movies and the first, “A Very Merry Toy Store,” is top-notch as far as cutesy Lifetime movies go. With Melissa Joan Hart and Mario Lopez as competitors, ready to ruin each other’s holiday sales records, the heat is on. A new chain toy store, Roy’s Toys, moves in two weeks before Christmas, causing both Connie’s (Hart) and Will’s (Lopez) store lose business and threaten their small-time, family-owned business livelihood. The two owners work together to put the chain-store out of business when they find an old town law in the library.
Connie lives with her mother, son, and her brother and the toy store keeps the family afloat. Will wants to purchase his old home but needs an exorbitant amount of money to re-purchase. They try every marketing trick they can think of to keep their stores open. With the stores walking distance from each other, they send customers to each other’s stores for toys they did not stock instead of across town to the cheaper chain-store. Unfortunately, Roy’s deep pockets keep his store open. Despite their lives falling apart, Connie and Will fall in love. It’s a Lifetime movie so you can figure out the rest on your own.
I’m not a fan of Melissa Joan Hart but she pulls off her role, and she has more chemistry with Mario than with Joey Lawrence in the show “Melissa & Joey.” The plot is perfect for playing games on my phone and seeing romance during the holidays. Just right for snowy cold nights around Christmas with a sappy ending.
FOUR CHRISTMASES AND A WEDDING
Four years ago, Chloe (Arielle Kebbel) and Evan (Corey Sevier) fell in love — only to see their whirlwind romance end when Evan was transferred overseas for work. Each year, something — or someone — seems to stand in the way of their true love, but will a touch of Santa’s magic finally bring Chloe and Evan together?
As enjoyable as the first movie was, I expected another amusing romance and while “Four Christmases and a Wedding” was a romance, it fell short of pretty much every Lifetime movie I have seen. The main reason is the terrible (even for a made for TV movie) main actress Arielle Kebbel, who while pretty, overacts like her life depends on it. The plot was simple enough to follow and would have been more enjoyable if a better co-star worked with Corey Sevier, but sadly, the movie flops.
Chloe plans the first Christmas Fair for her small town and meets cute guy Evan long enough for sparks to fly. The next day, his job transfers him to another country. A year later, Chloe assembles the fair once more and inevitably, runs into Evan… and his foreign girlfriend. Meanwhile, her co-worker Ted tries to date her, despite constant rejection. Chloe’s mother falls in love and marries. Chloe’s best friend starts a family and still, Chloe lives alone with her dog. The third fair rolls around and again, Evan arrives in time for the holidays but by this point, Chloe is dating her co-worker Ted. Another Christmas arrives with Evan in tow with both finally single. Following all Lifetime predecessors, this movie ends with a kiss.
Besides Arielle and the barely noticeable passage of time, the plot is cute as were the supporting actors, including Markie Post and Judge Reinhold, but the overacting from the main actress was too much, even for a TV flick. I would bypass this movie altogether and focus on the Hart/Lopez film instead. Every aspect was over the top in “Four Christmases” including the out-of-date use of dance cards and puppies to fill in blank plot spots. Lifetime missed the mark on this flick and I hope they improve with the new 2018 holiday sappy stories.
“A Very Merry Toy Store” & “Four Christmases And A Wedding” Double Feature is now available to own on DVD
