Candace Cameron Bure is a doctor who wants the same fellowship in Boston that her father had. When she doesn't get it, she needs a job and winds up in Alaska running through the standard Hallmark Christmas Romantic comedy tropes.
If what you're looking for is those standard tropes played engagingly, you'll find them here. Miss Bure is pretty and speaks her lines well; David O'Donnell is a competent juvenile; Brian Doyle-Murray is a fine Santa-like supporting player; Kendra Mylnechuk has the best performance as a hyper-competent nurse.
However, there's nothing in the script that isn't interchangeable with most of Hallmark's rote romcoms. It's so unengaging -- because you know exactly what is going to happen next -- that you have time to contemplate the production errors that make it clear that this wasn't shot in Alaska, once you get past the beautiful setting shots. Every morning Miss Bure awakens at 6:30 to a sun high in the sky in an Alaska December. The grass is bright green and you can see some weedy young maples wearing their summer leaves in town. Finally, in a town so remote that Amazon.com won't ship there, there is no trouble for the local florist (?!) to come up with a dozen perfect roses for the leading man to give to the leading lady on the spur of the moment.
I begin watching these Hallmark seasonal romantic comedies intending to give them easy marks. They seem pitched at a very undemanding audience and the actors invariably try their best. However, if the people in charge can't be bothered, then why should the audience?
If what you're looking for is those standard tropes played engagingly, you'll find them here. Miss Bure is pretty and speaks her lines well; David O'Donnell is a competent juvenile; Brian Doyle-Murray is a fine Santa-like supporting player; Kendra Mylnechuk has the best performance as a hyper-competent nurse.
However, there's nothing in the script that isn't interchangeable with most of Hallmark's rote romcoms. It's so unengaging -- because you know exactly what is going to happen next -- that you have time to contemplate the production errors that make it clear that this wasn't shot in Alaska, once you get past the beautiful setting shots. Every morning Miss Bure awakens at 6:30 to a sun high in the sky in an Alaska December. The grass is bright green and you can see some weedy young maples wearing their summer leaves in town. Finally, in a town so remote that Amazon.com won't ship there, there is no trouble for the local florist (?!) to come up with a dozen perfect roses for the leading man to give to the leading lady on the spur of the moment.
I begin watching these Hallmark seasonal romantic comedies intending to give them easy marks. They seem pitched at a very undemanding audience and the actors invariably try their best. However, if the people in charge can't be bothered, then why should the audience?