I don't think I've ever seen a recent movie on TV that's this amateurish. It looks like it was made with a tiny budget and with actors and a director with no experience. Even the singing on the soundtrack made me cover my ears.
This movie really made me appreciate how well other movies are made.
But I have to admit I found it really fun to watch.
15 Reviews
Nice plot, mediocre acting
zaziana22 December 2021
Worse then most
glbenner25 December 2021
I admit I Ana Christmas romance movie junkie. I Watch them all and I know they have the same plot just in different settings. All very sappy but hey it's Christmas.
This however was just bad Bad writing Bad acting Bad sound track The characters had no chemistry, interactions seemed strained. As silly as it may seem people don't talk like this!
" Hi Hope!" "Hi Gabe" " what are you doing Hope?""I'm just getting the horses ready Gabe". " Ok Hope I have to go get a few things done." "Bye Gabe" "Bye Hope" Honestly the local high school productions are better.
This however was just bad Bad writing Bad acting Bad sound track The characters had no chemistry, interactions seemed strained. As silly as it may seem people don't talk like this!
" Hi Hope!" "Hi Gabe" " what are you doing Hope?""I'm just getting the horses ready Gabe". " Ok Hope I have to go get a few things done." "Bye Gabe" "Bye Hope" Honestly the local high school productions are better.
Hardcore Christmas TV soap opera
yannislekkas16 December 2020
Even the snow is low budget!
dbramer10 December 2021
This movie was by far one of the worst cheesey Christmas movies ever, from the acting, writing, music, hair cuts, and fake snow that blew in front of the camera during one scene. There were a few points in this show that seemed like they were trying to act poorly. What the heck was Gabe thinking to propose to Hope before they even dated?! That is just one of many plotlines that are beyond a bad hallmark movie. Whoever gave this movie a 10 was smoking something or apparently worked on site.
Very Memorable
WesTexit12 September 2022
Absolutely abysmal. Acting, story, soundtrack, props, and camera work. All of which needed to be improved upon and feels like something I could've shot in school for a project than an actual movie available for streaming. It's very memorable and not in a way that is to its advantage. Definitely was not worth the time or even patience it took to get through this movie. The camera work is amateur. The lighting is neglected. The audio is lackluster. The script is quite boring and predictable with many, and I mean many, filler shots and time lapses to meet the time it shows. I'm actually blown away.
Wait, is that the meathead from Big Brother?
Racingphan215 July 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Yes, that is Cody the Meathead from Big Brother as one of the romantic leads. And frankly, he's not bad. He does as good a job as most Hallmark leads.
The real stars here though are the actors playing sisters Joy and Hope. Ashley Brinkman and Alix Kermes are delicious beauties. Hallmark should give them a call.
And frankly, any movie that employs an actor with the name Stink has got to be good.
The downside of this movie is the absolute wooden acting of Andrew Rogers. Dude, get some lessons.
And I lived in Upstate New York for 60 years. There are absolutely no green leaves on the trees in December.
The real stars here though are the actors playing sisters Joy and Hope. Ashley Brinkman and Alix Kermes are delicious beauties. Hallmark should give them a call.
And frankly, any movie that employs an actor with the name Stink has got to be good.
The downside of this movie is the absolute wooden acting of Andrew Rogers. Dude, get some lessons.
And I lived in Upstate New York for 60 years. There are absolutely no green leaves on the trees in December.
Lowest low budget TV movie ever
bluiz1321 November 2021
This came on while I was at nail salon getting a pedicure. I can't even believe this made it on tv. I am by no means a filmographer BUT seriously this looks like it was filmed on a hand held video recorder from Best Buy and the sets and props are ridiculous. I can't even hear the dialogue as the volume is off BUT OMG the acting is terrible from what I can see!!!
High school productions better than this
gaaelaine-3903916 August 2022
Memorable Experience from Start to Finish
michaelg07730 April 2021
Warning: Spoilers
There's a certain scene in here that I'm sure many may find insightful.
I worked as a 2nd Unit PA the second to last day of shooting.
Story Time:
So two years ago, I had an experience unlike any other in my life at the time, I wasn't particularly established or even unionized at the point where I decided my passion would be in assisting in any way I could without ruining interpersonal integrities and shared dignities in our passion for creating memorable content, that one day, changed the course of my life because in this very moment I knew a team effort was the best effort, and never to sleep on opportunities that become a shared experience, a genuine little flair that if you were there, you could only hope in post it would be illuminated, sure you have your monitors, you have your soft and hard lighting, your aperture and focus set to manual, one crank could change the outcome of the final image, the lasting image.
The unforgettable moment.
A final touch into such a simple gesture became a staple of what humanity in its most productive can achieve if there's enough collaborative effort when spirits are high.
Stink and Andrew were professional, Candice was deeply entranced, Nelson clutching the warm, beaming C-Stand, Nicholas huddled behind a door left ever so slightly ajar, but not off-putting in his demeanor, we all took a breath, even Gabrielle did.
A soft break (maybe not even ten minutes) for Jess to get adjusted, Renzo had lit the hallway just enough for us to get a clear image without creating a massive leak of light from the door of the establishment.
Before action-and-speed was called, we made the general agreement something had to make this scene stand-out and be what I suppose could be best described as a "Hallmark Moment" something to really sell the scene as a heartfelt moment that would invoke a positive, yet at times unspoken emotional response within viewers especially taking Nielsen ratings into consideration, the consensus was that Stink would have to place down his prop at Point A, and walk away off-screen to Point-B, not just bare-handed but bearing just enough of dust particles that if we all adjusted properly, and took a deep breath that felt like the most crucial of voluntary-function that would demonstrate a level of practical-effects that even a production-designer like Juliette would enjoy and probably did.
We created this moment together as a team, and I'll cherish it for the rest of my life.
It was then I knew..
Movies. Are. Magic.
I worked as a 2nd Unit PA the second to last day of shooting.
Story Time:
So two years ago, I had an experience unlike any other in my life at the time, I wasn't particularly established or even unionized at the point where I decided my passion would be in assisting in any way I could without ruining interpersonal integrities and shared dignities in our passion for creating memorable content, that one day, changed the course of my life because in this very moment I knew a team effort was the best effort, and never to sleep on opportunities that become a shared experience, a genuine little flair that if you were there, you could only hope in post it would be illuminated, sure you have your monitors, you have your soft and hard lighting, your aperture and focus set to manual, one crank could change the outcome of the final image, the lasting image.
The unforgettable moment.
A final touch into such a simple gesture became a staple of what humanity in its most productive can achieve if there's enough collaborative effort when spirits are high.
Stink and Andrew were professional, Candice was deeply entranced, Nelson clutching the warm, beaming C-Stand, Nicholas huddled behind a door left ever so slightly ajar, but not off-putting in his demeanor, we all took a breath, even Gabrielle did.
A soft break (maybe not even ten minutes) for Jess to get adjusted, Renzo had lit the hallway just enough for us to get a clear image without creating a massive leak of light from the door of the establishment.
Before action-and-speed was called, we made the general agreement something had to make this scene stand-out and be what I suppose could be best described as a "Hallmark Moment" something to really sell the scene as a heartfelt moment that would invoke a positive, yet at times unspoken emotional response within viewers especially taking Nielsen ratings into consideration, the consensus was that Stink would have to place down his prop at Point A, and walk away off-screen to Point-B, not just bare-handed but bearing just enough of dust particles that if we all adjusted properly, and took a deep breath that felt like the most crucial of voluntary-function that would demonstrate a level of practical-effects that even a production-designer like Juliette would enjoy and probably did.
We created this moment together as a team, and I'll cherish it for the rest of my life.
It was then I knew..
Movies. Are. Magic.
Worst acting i think I've ever seen
katieellison-724447 October 2023
As a lover of these cheesy Christmas type movies I know not to set my standards too high but my goodness the acting in this is abysmal. I don't know if it's inexperienced actors, awful writing or a combination of the two but it has to be the same level as The Room. I'm the biggest soft ass and will cry at always any romantic film, this on the other hand made me cringe. The 'proposal' was just awful no emotion, I was more focused on the horse in the background chomping on hay. Yeah honestly don't waste your time with this one even if you have a couple hours to kill. If you wasn't awful acting watch The Room at least that is funny!
What a waste of time!
cls195420 December 2022
While I heartily agree with the other viewers who gave this a 2-star rating, I really don't have much more to add but that it was worse than a high school drama class table read. I gave it 2 stars because it was a sweet story, just so poorly executed with pathetic acting and miserable music that it makes you wonder how such awful movies like this get released.
I felt sorry for Andrew Rogers who played Ethan, the writer. He has really been good and memorable in other movies I've seen. Huge waste of his talent for sure in this otherwise talent-less waste of time. I'm about 2/3 of the way through it at this point and as soon as I've finished this review, I'm going to watch something else.
I felt sorry for Andrew Rogers who played Ethan, the writer. He has really been good and memorable in other movies I've seen. Huge waste of his talent for sure in this otherwise talent-less waste of time. I'm about 2/3 of the way through it at this point and as soon as I've finished this review, I'm going to watch something else.
Little things pile up
Jackbv12331 August 2023
High school Freshman Dawson Leery made a better production in his first attempt than this movie. This movie does so many things badly. A lot are the little things. One of the biggest flaws is that scenes dwell too long. Action needs to start sooner and the scenes need to cut sooner. For example when Hope gets in the truck to leave with Gabe the first time, the scene dwells while they get in the truck, and while he starts the truck, and while he backs out. One time wouldn't be a big deal but that's the way the whole movie is shot.
Camera work was terrible. In an early scene Ethan falls over while grabbing his bag. Since the scene is shot through the car, Ethan falls completely out of the picture. To be cute, when he gets up, he and Joy "bump" into each other. Just before that, there was an overly long car ride conversation. Besides being too long and too drab, every time Joy turned her head there was a red light reflection in her eyes that made her look creepy like a horror movie. That was definitely not the tone the scene was going for. The flashbacks during Joy's recounting of the past tragedy are stupid and unnecessary - definitely amateurish.
Humor is questionable. The four foot tree scene wasn't funny unless this is Napoleon Dynamite.
Sets looked just shabby enough that they were probably someone's own house.
Dialogue was totally flat and lame.
Acting! Oh my! I cringed every time Stink Cain, the father, was on screen.
Part of me kept wondering if this was some kind of parody, but if that's the case it wasn't obvious enough. But I should have turned it off when I saw it was a "Candy Cain" production written by "Candy Cain".
I could go on and on because there are so many examples of the various problems. Suffice it to say even the ending is poor. The climax is an original song with montage video and even this is too long.
Camera work was terrible. In an early scene Ethan falls over while grabbing his bag. Since the scene is shot through the car, Ethan falls completely out of the picture. To be cute, when he gets up, he and Joy "bump" into each other. Just before that, there was an overly long car ride conversation. Besides being too long and too drab, every time Joy turned her head there was a red light reflection in her eyes that made her look creepy like a horror movie. That was definitely not the tone the scene was going for. The flashbacks during Joy's recounting of the past tragedy are stupid and unnecessary - definitely amateurish.
Humor is questionable. The four foot tree scene wasn't funny unless this is Napoleon Dynamite.
Sets looked just shabby enough that they were probably someone's own house.
Dialogue was totally flat and lame.
Acting! Oh my! I cringed every time Stink Cain, the father, was on screen.
Part of me kept wondering if this was some kind of parody, but if that's the case it wasn't obvious enough. But I should have turned it off when I saw it was a "Candy Cain" production written by "Candy Cain".
I could go on and on because there are so many examples of the various problems. Suffice it to say even the ending is poor. The climax is an original song with montage video and even this is too long.
Beautiful scenery but some of the worst acting
roseytimmisnorton28 August 2023
The scenery was wonderful, I started to watch this as a nice gentle film with fabulous scenery but a few minutes into it showed a really weak script which was only surpassed in the acting.
The dialogue was forced and the actors struggled to find a natural flow to their speech or any depth to the characters.
This was so bad, I only managed a few minutes. Next time the director needs to stick to one job as she cannot write at all. The actors maybe need to find different jobs or try again with a better script and hope it shows their acting skills in a better light.
Poor horses and scenery, both deserved much better than this rubbish.
The dialogue was forced and the actors struggled to find a natural flow to their speech or any depth to the characters.
This was so bad, I only managed a few minutes. Next time the director needs to stick to one job as she cannot write at all. The actors maybe need to find different jobs or try again with a better script and hope it shows their acting skills in a better light.
Poor horses and scenery, both deserved much better than this rubbish.
A Christmas Film with a Great Story
Alixkermes6 November 2020
"Joy & Hope" is more of a dramatic romance set during the Christmas holidays than a true Christmas film. It tells the story of sisters Joy and Hope McGregor (Alix Kermes and Ashley Brinkman respectively) who run Two Sisters Ranch with their dad Frank (Stink Fisher) in Evergreen Valley, NY. Also working on the ranch is Gabe (Cody Calafiore) and Eddie (David Eggers II).
Romance writer Ethan Dulane (Andrew Rogers) is sent to the ranch by his publisher Amanda Parkington (Vivica A. Fox) to get inspiration for a new book. Ethan reluctantly heads upstate, after leaving his cousin Denise (Abigail Hawk) to cat sit.
While the film is predictable - as virtually all Christmas movies are - it has a lot of heart. The ensemble cast is terrific, and there is great chemistry between the couples. It's a feel-good movie for the holidays that the whole family can watch.
Romance writer Ethan Dulane (Andrew Rogers) is sent to the ranch by his publisher Amanda Parkington (Vivica A. Fox) to get inspiration for a new book. Ethan reluctantly heads upstate, after leaving his cousin Denise (Abigail Hawk) to cat sit.
While the film is predictable - as virtually all Christmas movies are - it has a lot of heart. The ensemble cast is terrific, and there is great chemistry between the couples. It's a feel-good movie for the holidays that the whole family can watch.
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