Overall, it is a decent Christmas movie with some good acting, I thought. The story centers around Josie (played by Kim Shaw), a chef who heads home for Christmas to help her mother (played by Cynthia Gibb) launch her new bed and breakfast by developing a (holiday) menu. To her surprise, Tanner (our other protagonist in this story played by Clayton James), who is a well-known food critic and has a past with Josie's food, has also come to her mother's B&B to check out the new menu. The friction between the two slowly turns to romance as they increasingly spend more time together (e.g., discussing food and their past) at this charming little bed and breakfast. As other reviewers here have pointed out, the story is quite ordinary and predictable. To be fair so is much of the Christmas (romance) genre. That said, I did find myself pulled in by the film; it engaged me. The dialogue between Josie and Clayton was warm and heartfelt and so too were some of the other interactions in the film, for example, between Nolan (played by Jesse Kove) and Josie (and Josie and her mother). The appeal of the film for me was the acting. I thought Shaw had a very strong, convincing performance. James too had a solid performance. He had some nice dialogue with Shaw in this one. I thought the chemistry between the two was pretty good (unlike some of the other reviewers here). Was it brilliant? No. But I did think it was believable on screen. The supporting cast in this one, I thought, was great. Gibb had a good performance. It was also nice to see Michael Steger (as Stu, the photographer) on screen again (I watched him in 90210 and have not seen him since). The last 10 minutes or so were quite festive too with a bit of a musical performance by Shanica Knowles (as Iris); it is a shame she did not sing more in the film. All in all, although the story was unexceptional, the movie was engaging due to the quality of acting. I give it a 6.5 out of 10 stars. Well worth a watch if you are a fan of the Christmas romance genre.
16 Reviews
Jeez, What's up with the 2020 Christmas films?
emortland26 December 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Maybe it's a Covid production thing, but this new batch of 2020 Hallmark/Lifestyle Christmas movies I've seen so far have all been pretty lame. I'm not expecting "The Godfather" or "Gone with the Wind," but at least a little chemistry between our couples, and dialogue that seems like an actual conversation between people, not just memorized words waiting for the cue. Are they rushing productions these days?
Two things that fascinated me: There are only three brief scenes in this movie where Ms Shaw isn't smiling or "being giddy," and I still remember the Death Squad scene with Ms Gibb in "Salvador" - and she's so "cool mom" normal in this endeavor. Nice.
Six of one or a half-dozen of the other, boy meets girl, girl hates boy, but he brings her the vanilla extract at the end. That's love. The chef/critic food allusions seem more convenient than premise-worthy. Was this movie released with another name? Christmas Cuisine of Love? They could have used Drive-Thru too.
Two things that fascinated me: There are only three brief scenes in this movie where Ms Shaw isn't smiling or "being giddy," and I still remember the Death Squad scene with Ms Gibb in "Salvador" - and she's so "cool mom" normal in this endeavor. Nice.
Six of one or a half-dozen of the other, boy meets girl, girl hates boy, but he brings her the vanilla extract at the end. That's love. The chef/critic food allusions seem more convenient than premise-worthy. Was this movie released with another name? Christmas Cuisine of Love? They could have used Drive-Thru too.
Some great acting that made me fall asleep...
ChristmasUK21 December 2020
I agree with other reviewers here. The acting in this one was pretty good, especially the leads. However, my daughter had to keep throwing popcorn at me to keep me awake. So, acting aside, it was quite a snooze-worthy.
Another B&B
Jackbv12319 December 2020
This movie uses the common trope of a B&B hosting reviewers which will affect their business. Throw in a little of the evil editor who changes the original reviews and add that it's not just the B&B but the owner's daughter's desserts that are getting reviewed. The conflict was created in a slightly unusual way but the surprise was dampened a little bit because you could see it coming from several scenes earlier. There are a lot of technical details about cooking sprinkled through the movie. There aren't that many of the traditional Christmas activities that are so formulaic in other Christmas movies.
I thought most of the actors were consciously "delivering" their lines as opposed to dialogue happening naturally and the dialogue wasn't that great. Kim Shaw overdid Josie's early anger for Tanner. Just watching the story and not inferring from external clues, for a while it was a tossup which guy, Tanner or Nolan, would get the girl. Both were good choices with no apparent flaws. But Jesse Kove had no chemistry with Shaw. Clayton James had some chemistry with Shaw but it wasn't sparkling. So much screen time revolved around the cooking that it diluted James and Shaw's chances to sell the romance.
Shanica Knowles does a song performance with some sultry moves. I wasn't impressed with her voice, but that's just me.
This is a watchable movie despite slightly below average acting . The story has some common elements with a couple of things out of the ordinary for Christmas movies.
I thought most of the actors were consciously "delivering" their lines as opposed to dialogue happening naturally and the dialogue wasn't that great. Kim Shaw overdid Josie's early anger for Tanner. Just watching the story and not inferring from external clues, for a while it was a tossup which guy, Tanner or Nolan, would get the girl. Both were good choices with no apparent flaws. But Jesse Kove had no chemistry with Shaw. Clayton James had some chemistry with Shaw but it wasn't sparkling. So much screen time revolved around the cooking that it diluted James and Shaw's chances to sell the romance.
Shanica Knowles does a song performance with some sultry moves. I wasn't impressed with her voice, but that's just me.
This is a watchable movie despite slightly below average acting . The story has some common elements with a couple of things out of the ordinary for Christmas movies.
Clearing someone's fact that are wrong in the review section of this movie
Hallmarklover24720 December 2020
For the person who put their review title as SMH you might want to get your facts straight. You said Cynthia Gibb who plays Kim Shaws mother in this movie is only 11 years older than Kim Shaw, you are 100% wrong, they are 21 years apart in age. Did you even bother to google their ages before you made that incorrect comment? Cynthia Gibb was born in 1963 and Kim Shaw was born in 84. Cynthia just turned 57 on December 14th and Kim is 36. That is not an 11 year difference. Thats 21. You might want to relearn how to do math. So yes. Their age difference is perfectly normal for mother daughter as ALOT of people have children at 21. It just baffles me people that don't take time to actually fact check facts they think are accurate.
Trigger Warning Needed.
rebekahrox20 December 2020
I liked Kim Shaw's performance in this, but a lot of the movie didn't make sense. First, the ages. Cynthia Gibb, who played Kim's mother, looks way to young to be the mother of a 35 year-old. (Good for Her!) Also, the actor that played Kim's ex- boyfriend is 7 years younger than her. At first, I was confused by his role in this, and why he was working in such close proximity to Kim's mother.
The love-interest/restaurant critic was handsome but kind of a non-entity. And since when does a food-critic agree to only give a good review or no review? His editor, Pepper, was the antagonist who doctored honest reviews to make them more mean and better click-bait. And the food critic just let her do that without a peep. What a wimp. Where is the integrity? Also present at the grand opening were two nationally known reviewers who loved everything. If the little newspaper gave a bad review, it would reflect on them, not the chef (who was also famous and lauded in her own right anyway.) Also she ate a whole big bowl of Kim's special whip cream to sabatage her. And she didn't even deny it! LOLWUT?
The love-interest/restaurant critic was handsome but kind of a non-entity. And since when does a food-critic agree to only give a good review or no review? His editor, Pepper, was the antagonist who doctored honest reviews to make them more mean and better click-bait. And the food critic just let her do that without a peep. What a wimp. Where is the integrity? Also present at the grand opening were two nationally known reviewers who loved everything. If the little newspaper gave a bad review, it would reflect on them, not the chef (who was also famous and lauded in her own right anyway.) Also she ate a whole big bowl of Kim's special whip cream to sabatage her. And she didn't even deny it! LOLWUT?
Mysterious Nolan
tambolove28 December 2020
Good acting and a cute movie
peter-alexandris5 January 2021
Well done. I like when a Christmas movie doesn't feel like it was made as a school project. Some I seen habe been so awful but most are at least quality for the most part. As always, predictable but that's why we watch these. The cute little things and Christmas.
More Christmas needed!
adamjohns-4257527 December 2021
I do like Clayton, but once again his character is too good for her, she really is quite plain and uninteresting, although for some reason, I thought that she should end up with Nolan, who was also actually too nice and really hot. Give him a leading role please, preferably opposite me when lots of kissing is involved.
It's not that Christmassy and more about the food than celebrating the season.
The supporting characters in the form of the reviewers are awful people and they need to shoot the wardrobe team, who made some really bad decisions all round.
For some reason they always make the 'other' woman such a witch that she's almost pantomime.
The story isn't bad, but I'd like to see the girl get together with the one she left behind, because the new one shows her the way, just for a change up of stories. And Nolan really was the better guy.
6ish/10?
It's not that Christmassy and more about the food than celebrating the season.
The supporting characters in the form of the reviewers are awful people and they need to shoot the wardrobe team, who made some really bad decisions all round.
For some reason they always make the 'other' woman such a witch that she's almost pantomime.
The story isn't bad, but I'd like to see the girl get together with the one she left behind, because the new one shows her the way, just for a change up of stories. And Nolan really was the better guy.
6ish/10?
Undercooked but just about edible
TheLittleSongbird20 July 2021
2020 was very variable to unimpressive when it came to Lifetime's Christmas films, and there was definitely the sense that the films were made in a rush with not a lot of preparation time. Yet enough of them were far from amateur-hour efforts and were still watchable all things considered. Lifetime just have done a lot better in previous years, although their festive output is very hit and miss it should not be dismissed outright as enough have left me pleasantly surprised.
'Christmas on the Menu' was though more or less what was expected, which was a watchable enough film with good moments and better than expected acting. But also one that is nothing extraordinary and does nothing new with pretty familiar plot tropes. Lifetime did a lot better than 'Christmas on the Menu', but also worse than what is a somewhat middling effort for them. Considering the difficult circumstances though, it did make do perhaps.
Am going to start with the good. The best thing about 'Christmas on the Menu' is the acting. Both Kim Shaw, though she overdid it at times early on, and Clayton James are very likeable leads and of the uniformly solid supporting cast Cynthia Gibb is a particular breath of fresh air. The characters are overused stereotypes but don't irritate or bore at least. Actually thought that the chemistry between Shaw and James was quite good and genuine once the relationship found its groove, have seen a lot worse lead chemistries in other Lifetime films.
The film also looks pretty decent all things considered and has some professionalism at least in its look. Especially the scenery. The music didn't sound too intrusive and some of the dialogue is cute, emphasis on some.
However, 'Christmas on the Menu' has its issues. The story never properly grabbed me, as well as being very predictable it is very thin on the ground and drags a lot from too much stretched padding and an uncertain feel most of the time. There isn't enough of an emotional core or charm which made the film come over as bland and lacking in substance too. The direction is competent in some parts but is disorganised and hesitant in others.
Furthermore, the script on the most part is too verbose and the flow is very stilted, had a feeling of it being written in haste and that it had not been proof read. The conflict completely lacks tension and it didn't actually feel like there was much at stake with the indifferent and too hasty way it's written in. A lot of ingredients in the story that are done very little with.
Overall, just about edible but didn't come over as cooked enough. 5/10.
'Christmas on the Menu' was though more or less what was expected, which was a watchable enough film with good moments and better than expected acting. But also one that is nothing extraordinary and does nothing new with pretty familiar plot tropes. Lifetime did a lot better than 'Christmas on the Menu', but also worse than what is a somewhat middling effort for them. Considering the difficult circumstances though, it did make do perhaps.
Am going to start with the good. The best thing about 'Christmas on the Menu' is the acting. Both Kim Shaw, though she overdid it at times early on, and Clayton James are very likeable leads and of the uniformly solid supporting cast Cynthia Gibb is a particular breath of fresh air. The characters are overused stereotypes but don't irritate or bore at least. Actually thought that the chemistry between Shaw and James was quite good and genuine once the relationship found its groove, have seen a lot worse lead chemistries in other Lifetime films.
The film also looks pretty decent all things considered and has some professionalism at least in its look. Especially the scenery. The music didn't sound too intrusive and some of the dialogue is cute, emphasis on some.
However, 'Christmas on the Menu' has its issues. The story never properly grabbed me, as well as being very predictable it is very thin on the ground and drags a lot from too much stretched padding and an uncertain feel most of the time. There isn't enough of an emotional core or charm which made the film come over as bland and lacking in substance too. The direction is competent in some parts but is disorganised and hesitant in others.
Furthermore, the script on the most part is too verbose and the flow is very stilted, had a feeling of it being written in haste and that it had not been proof read. The conflict completely lacks tension and it didn't actually feel like there was much at stake with the indifferent and too hasty way it's written in. A lot of ingredients in the story that are done very little with.
Overall, just about edible but didn't come over as cooked enough. 5/10.
Good movie
tinatalksavon20 December 2020
Good Acting, Boring Story
jagfannn20 December 2020
Kim Shaw, Cynthia Gibb and Clayton James do a good job with what they were given. The rest of the cast did a good job as well, but do to the writing (or lack of), they just seemed to drift through the story. There are no interesting subplots, and the story is very surfaced and one dimensional, so some characters just seemed to have no reason for being there and it showed. The characters lack of purpose leads to a lot of empty, pretentious dialogue which leaves you searching for the fast forward button.
Wasn't sure but came good in the end
SunnyDaise14 December 2023
I got a bit bogged down with this in the middle when a bunch of new characters changed the dynamic, but they all have a purpose in the conclusion. It's probably not a good idea to watch this on a full stomach or if on a diet, and bound to upsize cooking if viewed before dinner! But despite all the food, the movie is actually about overcoming the past and making a go of things now. It isn't very cross-generational, yet still suitable for children to watch - the characters aren't perfect but set a good example in how to make amends. I enjoyed the cultural diversity and different perspectives that emerge.
Don't waste your time....
DreamyOneNumber120 December 2020
There are so many Christmas movies out this year, so the bar has been raised. Don't waste your time on this one. The movie is boring, we all know the plot by now, and Kim Shaw's performance was so superficial that it was difficult to watch. She smiled her way almost all the way through the entire movie. It's not realistic. It's not how real people behave and react. As far as the script itself, for the first part of the movie, the character was too know it all for me, and difficult to like or warm up to. It wasn't easy to root for her. As the movie progressed, she became an okay character, but still, that obnoxious grinning and smiling was a turnoff. She was almost a little too giddy. I know of no woman who exists in a continued state of giddiness. We did make it through the movie, but nobody here would recommend it when there are other better movies available to watch.
the food
Kirpianuscus21 October 2023
Unfortunatelly, except the food, nothing to be real interesting. No romance, no tension, no useful supporting cast for say something.
Only a bistro and a very, very , very forced end.
A nice story, with nice potential, reduced at some cooking, childish games and malice, a TV team as guests and a presumed bistro .
The acting... . The dialogue, not better , all being reduced at old Hallmark recipe who gives not a single appearence of emotion.
But, sure, applauses for food . And for some tries of main actors to propose a decent show.
Not the best Christmas Hallmark. Maybe, not the worst. Only a new film for fans.
Only a bistro and a very, very , very forced end.
A nice story, with nice potential, reduced at some cooking, childish games and malice, a TV team as guests and a presumed bistro .
The acting... . The dialogue, not better , all being reduced at old Hallmark recipe who gives not a single appearence of emotion.
But, sure, applauses for food . And for some tries of main actors to propose a decent show.
Not the best Christmas Hallmark. Maybe, not the worst. Only a new film for fans.
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