The Christmas Promise HMK (2021) 4K 2160p

The Christmas Promise HMK (2021) 4K 2160p
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IMDb RATING: 6.7/10

Stars: Torrey DeVitto, Dylan Bruce, Patrick Duffy

Storyline: It's the Christmas season, one year since Nicole Graham's fiancé Henry unexpectedly passed away in an accident. It has been a difficult year for her, but despite hiding away at times, she managed to come out the other end in part with the help of a wide and supportive group of friends and family. As she decides to move on with her life albeit with no set goal to move toward, she starts talking to her grandfather, affectionately called Pops, about the long time passing of Nicole's grandmother, Margaret, who was the love of his life, and how he managed to cope through his grief. To Nicole, that love must have been eternal in her mind as he never remarried. But the two biggest decisions Nicole makes are to sell what was her and Henry's toy store, the Village Toy Emporium, and to sell the house that Henry was renovating for them to move into after their wedding, the renovations which she has been advised to complete before selling and which she wants nothing personally to do with in not wanting any longer to be attached to the house. Through these processes, Nicole seemingly makes two new human connections. The first is with Joe Roberts, the carpenter who she hired to do the home renovations. And the second is the man at the other end of her cell phone. She took a play from Pops who said that he coped with Marget's passing in part by writing her letters every day to pour out his emotions, deep and mundane. Nicole's twenty-first century version of letters is to send texts to what was Henry's cell phone number. What she didn't expect was to get responses back from that person, he the recipient of Henry's old cell phone number, and who, in experiencing grief of his own, has managed to provide her with some comfort in those reply texts. The issues are if either of those two new human connections are for the long term, and if she may end up being hurt by opening herself up in both these fashions. 

Genres: Family Drama Romance

Certificate: TV-G

Featured review 7/10
Well meaning promise
'The Christmas Promise' is another 2021 Hallmark Christmas film to have a more serious theme for its story, after 'Christmas in My Heart'. The themes of grief and loss is familiar territory for Hallmark, but they are such relevant, universal and relatable themes/emotions due to everybody encountering them at least once in their lives that it doesn't matter how many times they're seen in film and television. Did like the idea and was already prepared to appreciate its good intentions regardless of the overall execution.

On the whole, the themes and the idea in 'The Christmas Promise' are executed quite well. Not flawlessly, with some story progression/pacing issues and aspects could have been fleshed out more. There was a lot to like about 'The Christmas Promise' though, it did move me, it's well performed and its good intentions and well meaning were very much obvious and appreciated hugely. As far as the 2021 Christmas films from Hallmark go, it's overall neither one of the best or worst (though out of the ones that had been aired already and this it is one of the better faring ones).

Am going to start with the good. It is a good looking film, with the scenery being beautiful. The music has presence and isn't drab, but it also doesn't feel intrusive or overwrought (which would have been very easy to do with such a serious story). The script has sincerity and doesn't get too melodramatic, though it is not always perfect.

While the story isn't perfect either, it deals with the themes of grief and loss thoughtfully and poignantly and manages to be moving without being maudlin. While also managing to be cheerful and upbeat, the gentle tone working very well. The cast are near uniformly great, with a poignant turn from Torrey DeVitto, a sympathetic one from Dylan Bruce and the always worth watching Patrick Duffy bringing understated feistiness to his role.

Did however find some of the story rushed in how it progresses, with things happening too quickly and sometimes introduced abruptly in the final third particularly. While DeVitto and Bruce have really lovely chemistry together, the relationship itself develops too fast and almost too whirlwind like.

While really liking Duffy in the role, his story could have been fleshed out a lot more or been cut because it did feel like padding. Personally did find Karen Holness too hammy and her character obnoxious, they do not gel within a film with such a gentle tone.

In summary, pretty good film with good intentions and heart but also a few bumps.

Country of origin: Canada

Technical specs:
Runtime: 1 hour 24 minutes
Color: Color
Sound mix: Stereo
Aspect ratio: 16:9 HD

SOURCE FILE INFO:
General
Filename.......: The.Christmas.Promise.2021.BLU-RAY 2160p.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264.mkv
FileSize.......: 16.03 GiB
Duration.......: 1 h 24 min
Video
Codec..........: AVC High@L4
Resolution.....: 3840x2160
Aspect ratio...: 16:9
Bit rate.......: 9 412 kb/s
Frame rate.....: 30.000 fps
Audio
Language.......: English
Channels.......: 6 CH
Format.........: Dolby Digital Plus
Bit rate.......: 640 kb/s
Subtitle.......: English
Subtitle.......: English (SDH)