MarVista Entertainment is the production company for this film, which primarily makes made-for-television movies for, e.g., Lifetime, UPtv, Hallmark, ION and so on. And this includes a number of Christmas movies. So, my expectations were adjusted accordingly. That said, I enjoyed this Christmas movie. The story was fun and cute. The script/dialogue was good. The acting was strong. And the scenery, props and sets were of the same quality of a typical Hallmark or Lifetime Christmas movie, well-polished and festive. I might have even shed a tear or two at the New Year's Eve party at the Magnolia (near the end of the movie). In short, the movie pulled me in quite quickly; at no point was I, e.g., looking for my iPad. In terms of acting, this is the second Christmas movie that I have seen Natalie Hall in this 2020 Christmas movie season. She was also in A Very Charming Christmas Town (a Lifetime original Christmas movie), which was of the same quality to this one. I think she performs well in this genre of film, so when I saw her at the top of the bill, I was looking forward to seeing this movie. Overall, I thought she had a strong performance as Maggie; it was convincing. Evan Williams (as Jack) was also pretty good in this one, though I thought he was a bit less convincing towards the end, the scene where his future father-in-law (played by Steve Cumyn) gave him the ring. What stands out for me is their dialogue, their interaction, their banter. Unlike some reviewers on here, I thought they had good chemistry. It was one of the elements of the movie I enjoyed most. The supporting cast had a pretty good performance as well. All in all, it is a cute, funny, and entertaining movie, a nice new edition to Netflix's Christmas movie catalogue/lineup.
Review of Midnight at the Magnolia
