Next Stop, Christmas (2021 TV Movie) User Reviews

An Enchanting Romance

[atlasmb · 8/10 · 7 November 2021]

Though there might be some minor plot holes in this time-bending Hallmark holiday romance, they are not enough to derail this imaginative reimagining of the "Groundhog Day" conceit, which begins with a train ride to yesteryear.

Lyndsy Fonseca stars as Angie, a neurosurgeon who finds the Christmas season less than enchanting. Christopher Lloyd plays a mysterious ticket agent who engineers a sidetrack off the path of Angie's life. She gains the opportunity to rework her life, learning lessons about love and family along the way.

The camera loves Lyndsy Fonseca and she projects an energetic authenticity that is winning. In fact, all the cast is enjoyable to watch. And they are given dialogue that feels real, not like some romances where every line feels canned.

This enchanting tale is worthy of watching and appreciating again and again.

An absolute standout...

[toddsgraham · 8/10 · 23 November 2021]

'Next Stop, Christmas' is a wonderful Hallmark Christmas movie: cute, fun, and entertaining. The story is clever and creative, the script is punchy, the emotional beats land, and the cast is charming and enjoyable to watch on screen. Hands down the best thus far this 2021 holiday season. The storyline revolves around Angie (played by Lyndsy Fonseca), a busy neurosurgeon who has, for some years, been avoiding her family during Christmas time. Her last fond memory of Christmas was ten years ago when her parents were together and her sister and she were on the same wavelength, a time too when she turned down a marriage proposal from the now-famous (and very handsome) sports commentator Tyler Grant (played by Eric Freeman). One evening before Christmas, after work and a drink with a friend, Angie grabs the last commuter train home to Yonkers to start her quiet and relaxing Christmas holiday alone. However, these plans are soon derailed by a mysterious ticket agent and conductor (played by Christopher Lloyd), as she finds herself on a magical train that takes her back home to that Christmas 10 years earlier. Her mission now is to figure out what she needs to do to get back to the present. And so our story begins, as we watch Angie relive her Christmas of ten years past, getting second chances and learning lessons about love and family along the way. This Christmas twist of the popular film 'Back to the Future' (BTTF) is well written with some fun and entertaining dialogue and scenes throughout. The writers also do a very good job of developing multiple sub-plots in 82 minutes, all while subtly introducing links to BTTF. As many reviewers have pointed out, the writers not only draw from BTTF, they also pay homage to the film, featuring two of the original stars Leah Thompson (playing Evelyn, Angie's mother) and Christopher Lloyd. One weakness of the story was the romance between Angie and Ben (played by Chandler Massey). Simply put, it was underdeveloped. There were not enough scenes of the two to develop their chemistry on-screen, unfortunately. The ending too is not ideal, though this is a minor fault. The acting, overall, is outstanding. Hallmark did an excellent job with casting in this one. Fonseca was brilliant. She had a quirky, yet warm, vibe to her performance, which was enjoyable to watch. The supporting cast too was outstanding. Finally, the film has a fairy-tale-like feel to it with some beautiful (and festive) props and sets, which will no doubt get you into the Christmas mood this holiday season. All in all, it is a cute, fun, and festive Christmas movie, with some impressive acting, a nice new addition to Hallmark's 2021 line-up. I highly recommend it.

Back to the Future

[Jackbv123 · 8/10 · 7 November 2021]

There's little doubt the writers were conjuring up memories of Back to the Future since not only are there two of the stars from that movie, but the partially disappearing ticket was central to determining if Angie had succeeded in her quest. This movie is clever in the use of those elements while putting them in a Christmas setting. One almost expects the conductor to call out to Marty.

This movie isn't focused on one central romance, although Angie's future love life is one of the threads. Angie is also hard at work on her family relationships, especially her sister and her parents, the latter evoking even stronger similarities with BttF.

Because Angie's own romance is only part of the focus of the movie, Fonseca's chemistry with her romantic opposites is not as much a factor is we usually expect, but she does have great interplay with Chandler Massey. Fonseca, and for that matter all the cast, provide good acting. The dialogue is fun and plays well to the situations that crop up. Christopher Lloyd is great as usual and Lea Thompson impresses me more in this movie than in BttF.

While the redo element of the plot is not unusual for a Christmas movie, this movie still stands out as clever and creative in story, acting and dialogue.

Excellent!

[mbiv · 9/10 · 7 November 2021]

How cool that two of the stars of Back to the Future (Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson) would appear in a movie about a girl who goes back in time!

Lloyd is excellent as a magical train conductor who escorts Lyndsy Fonseca on a magical trip to Christmas ten years prior, where she must right some wrongs in order to return.

Fonseca is a very talented actress, with great comic timing and a quirky personality. Initially, she's supposed tobe a stuck-up surgeon, but that doesn't really ring true.

Lots of twists and turns along the way, so enjoy the ride. This is a Hallmark movie the way they used to be.

One of the best hallmark Christmas movies Ive seen in years

[jakethesnake-42007 · 7/10 · 11 November 2021]

What a great surprise this film was. One of the best hallmark Christmas movies. I enjoyed the story and I enjoyed the actors the most. The chemistry between the leads is great too. It's corny yes but it's a cute Christmas movie.

Reminiscent of the TV Christmas movies of yesteryear

[chuck-509 · 8/10 · 9 November 2021]

Back during 70s, 80s, and 90s and into the early 2000s, ABC, NBC, or CBS used to have a new Christmas movie during the holiday season, usually showing up on a Sunday night somewhere between Thanksgiving weekend and mid December. Sometimes they were Hallmark Hall of Fame Christmas movies, but mostly they were made for TV Christmas movies. For the most part, those movies had more thought and creativity put into them than most of what we see now on the Hallmark networks.

This movie reminded me of those movies much more than those Hallmark networks Christmas movies that we see now. It's a little "Groundhog Day", a little "The Family Man", some "Back to the Future", and a healthy helping of "Eve's Christmas", although there are original twists to this particular story. Lyndsy Fonseca, who just recently co-starred in the Disney Plus series "Turner and Hooch" does a great job as Angie as she travels 10 years into her past and then has to figure out what she needs to do to get back to the present. Along the way she learns things about the people she loves that she should have known if only she had opened her eyes to the world around her. Christopher Lloyd also puts on a nice performance as the ticketmaster/train conductor.

Yes, the last few minutes are predictable, but so what? It's not the destination that makes or breaks this movie, it's the journey that puts this movie quite a few notches above the standard Hallmark Channel Christmas movie and one that makes it well worth watching.

just beautiful

[Kirpianuscus · 30 November 2023]

I like it !

I write this very rare about a Hallmark christmas film but Next Stop, Christmas is just...special. The basic motives - first, christopher Lloyd in an enigmatic, providential character skin , offering serious dose of seduction. Second - lovely aunt Myrt proposed by Erika Slezak. Not last - the handsome Chandler Massey and eric Freeman.

Not the last, the story and the beautiful work of Lyndsey Fonseca, real loved by camera. I do not ignore the Frosty box, off course.

But the good spice remains something easy to define as magic realism, good used for a fascinating story about a secret desire animated by many from us and the atmosphere of fairy tale (the memory about Polar Express by Robert Zemeckis was a red line in my memory seeing this movie ).

So, bashful, I admitt - I like this film !

Better than your average Christmas movie...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 5 December 2021]

When I sat down to watch the 2021 Hallmark Christmas movie titled "Next Stop, Christmas", it was because I hadn't already seen the movie, but also because the movie have Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson on the cast list.

For a Hallmark Christmas movie then I will admit that "Next Stop, Christmas" was actually a bit more entertaining and enjoyable than most other Christmas movies. Sure, it has the same type of sappy contents to it, but the storyline in "Next Stop, Christmas" just offers a bit more. And truth be told, then the whole traveling back and forth in the past with the magical train was just a nice touch. And that is what made the movie outstanding.

Writers Samantha DiPippo, Andrew Gernhard and Christy O'Connor actually managed to put together a wholesome storyline that had a nice feel to it.

The acting performances in "Next Stop, Christmas" were good. Just a shame that Lea Thompson and Christopher Lloyd didn't have bigger roles in the movie. I wasn't at all familiar with the rest of the cast in the movie, but they did perform well enough and carried the movie nicely.

While "Next Stop, Christmas" is not going to be a Christmas classic for me, this is certainly a movie that is well-worth taking the time to sit down and watch, especially if you enjoy Christmas movies.

My rating of director Dustin Rikert's 2021 movie "Next Stop, Christmas" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Outstanding

[drbeeson · 10/10 · 8 November 2021]

Best Hallmark Christmas movie so far this "season". Lyndsy Fonseca's character and personality were infectious and endearing. Of course, Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson made the movie even more special and harkened "Back to the Future" in a memorable way.

I thought it was a great movie!

[mimpsie923 · 7/10 · 14 November 2021]

I really liked this movie! The back in time with train was cute and it was a great story line!

Lyndsay Foreseca was great and so was Christopher Llyod was great! I'm glad Hallmark made this movie! Better then some of the others this year!

Another disappointment

[jenrn-09722 · 4/10 · 7 November 2021]

It had a lot of possibilities, time travel, reliving the past, a mysterious conductor on the train, and her family's issues all wrapped up in a nice tidy bow. But the ending was painful at best. Why is the time travel jumps always so long? 10 years? And when she gets back to her present day, how is it she's not already engaged or married to the guy she professed love to as she as boarding the train? Especially when she finds out they've been together all that time? No one who is that much "in love" would still be dating after 10 years with fully established careers. And then after he tells her they've been together the whole time, she lamely says "oh, yeah, I remember now." Just made no sense. Needed better writing to tie it together, or at least not such a long time jump so he could be waiting when she got back. The ending just seemed anti-climactic and the proposal seemed staged and hurried. Just didn't make sense and wasn't fulfilling for the time-travel storyline and how dragged out the time travel portion was... But rushed, anti-climactic endings seem to be Hallmark's thing this season....

The Time Travel Express

[rebekahrox · 8/10 · 8 November 2021]

This was a fairly straight forward time travel story elevated by the appealing cast and good acting. Even the bad boyfriend had his charms. I love seeing all of the fresh faces. Angie (Lyndsy Fonseca, who was excellent) is a busy surgeon in NYC who takes her family for granted. She does not want to go home for Christmas since her parents' divorce and her sisters struggles with adoption. Too stressful and depressing. She remembers the last good family Christmas she enjoyed 10 years ago when her parents were still together and she turned down a marriage proposal from a now famous sportscaster. On her way back to her apartment to spend a stress-free solitary holiday, she is diverted by Christopher Lloyd and finds herself on a magical train back home to that Christmas of 10 years ago. While there, she sees opportunities to redirect the course of her and her families lives: save her parents marriage, accept her ex-boyfriend's marriage proposal, and help her sister. She also reconnects with her childhood friend who has been in love with her his whole life.

The cast was fantastic. Come on, Lea Thompson (her mother) and Christopher Lloyd (the Train Conductor) in a time travel movie? Sign me up. There are many nods to Back to the Future, but it does not distract from this story. Her parents unraveling marriage and her sister's fertility troubles were engrossing and realistically done. Her ex-boyfriend, though adorable, was not a match for her. No harm, no foul, no drama. Her childhood buddy was appealing, looked like Justin Timberlake, and was obviously her destiny. Obvious to everyone but her. Talk about dense.

Loved seeing Erika Slezak looking her age, but great, with her smiling eyes. There were the usual things that didn't make sense as with most time travel stories. The big reunion that really wasn't at the end seemed problematic. What other big chunks of her two paths through time don't match up? Angie is going to have some interesting times ahead. The one weak point was the character of Chloe, who was super annoying and totally unnecessary. All in all it was very enjoyable and engaging.

Not a sign of Marty Mcfly!

[adamjohns-42575 · 6/10 · 9 January 2022]

Next Stop Christmas (2021)-

A 'Back To The Future' and 'Christmas Carol' mash up. It is daft, but it kind of works. Actually it was nice to have a different formula, although I have seen similar ones.

It's slightly less obvious who she will end up with to start off, which is nice, but I personally would have chosen Ben, even if he is a bit gay? (Although that would be better for me). Having said that Tyler is very pretty, but too much for my tastes. I like them a bit rougher. I'd probably cut myself on his cheek bones.

I didn't actually believe that Tyler, played by Eric Freeman, was a sports reporter. A music show host maybe or a model from a perfume advert, but nothing to do with sports, except perhaps a pansy boy footballer. Sadly I have to watch a lot of sports and I have never seen anyone like him reporting.

The supporting cast all do a good job and there are no obvious bad bits about it. I just didn't find it to be as enjoyable as some of the other Christmas films that I have seen. I would be happy to see it again though.

6.32ish?/10.

Warm and cold, like a swedish sauna.

[gfrasmd · 4/10 · 7 November 2021]

The movie provides the warmth and joy of a fairy tale with the magic of time traveling in an old train and the wonderful character of its conductor, Christopher Lloyd.

Unfortunately, the lead character, Angie, is superficial and clueless to the end. How can one warm up to a grown woman who does not even guess if she has real feelings for either one of her beaus and lets circumstances dictate her most serious choices? There is very little sentiment or logic in her relations with Tyler and Ben and no apparent chemistry among the characters. So, enjoy the surroundings and forget the main story.

Back to Christmas Future

[Heart_Christmas · 9/10 · 7 November 2021]

Feels like Hallmark hit it out of the park with this modern twist on Back to the Future. An homage featuring 2 of the original stars Leah Thompson and Christopher Lloyd. Leah looks like she has been drinking from the fountain of youth. Other stars include a soap fan's trifecta with Lindsey Fonseca, Chandler Massey and the great Ericka Slezack also looking fabulous.

If you are a fan of BTTF, you will see the similarities between the two movies without being hit over the head with a sledgehammer. Lindsey travels back 10 years without exactly knowing what she needs to change for the future.

She is given a train ticket with half of the return faded out (Marty's family photo?). In order to get back to 2021, she must restore the ticket.

She goes through several actions to try to restore her ticket including getting her parents to recreate their first date (Star of the Sea School Dance?)

Good casting, dialogue, and interesting plot flips the script over most of the usual Christmas blueprint.

good concept

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 26 July 2022]

Busy surgeon Angie Reynolds (Lyndsy Fonseca) is happy to be on call for the Christmas season. She doesn't want to go home and would rather spend the holidays alone. She boards a train which turns into a magical Christmas train. It has brought her back home ten years earlier.

It's a Hallmark Christmas fantasy. It's a fun opening premise. The train is nice and it has Doc Brown. What it needs is a dramatic plot. It needs a story. It's actually quite simple. There should be an obvious sliding-door incident which would keep her parents together. It obviously can't be her marriage proposal. This should shot for Back to the Future. Instead, this can't stop being Hallmark. It's all about having a girlie romance.

In addition, can somebody explain the writing credits for me? There are four names and three of them says concept. It seems like these three people pitched a concept to Hallmark and they gave it to this veteran writer to spit out a script. I'd rather have the concept trio write the story they want and have the fourth guy clean it up a little. Despite the weak story, I still like Fonseca and the train concept. Quite frankly, it could be a Hallmark series where the train takes a different person in every movie.

Time travel, and Christmas? Oh, yeah.

[dankolbet · 8/10 · 7 November 2021]

Very nice time travel movie to find love. Not a cheesy Hallmark Christmas movie, but you might get all the feels anyway. I always enjoy a surprise ending and this one wasn't predictable (maybe a little) until the last 10 minutes.

Where's the blood

[Andthisismrsr · 6/10 · 25 October 2022]

In the opening scene, you see two doctors/surgeons walking back into the prep room(whatever it's called) taking their gloves off, there is no blood anywhere-not on the scrubs, not on the gloves. Come on, make it authentic looking. It's not that hard.

Like another reviewer mentioned the ending was lacking. Overall the movie is okay. I enjoyed seeing the folks from back to the future. The movie had that time travel feel of back to the future, along with a nod to The Lakehouse( when she tells him to meet her at a restaurant 10 years) why so long??? It wasn't a total waste of time.

Just disappointed in the lack of authenticity.

BEST Hallmark movie yet!!!

[mstexn · 10/10 · 12 November 2021]

I absolutely LOVE this movie and keep watching it. The main actress REALLY takes the movie to the next level; LOVE her acting!!! And to top it off...Christopher Lloyd being the conductor in a Christmas past movie....couldn't do better. Hats off to the director of casting 👏 👌. This movie will be very hard to top.

Better than usual Hallmark that is

[jmgimbel · 6/10 · 29 November 2021]

I typically have hallmark in background not sting attention, as many are so boring, but this one, while superficial, is kind of fun. The acting is better than most which creates a warm feeling. The little boy is darling w long fashionable hair, never seen in these types of movies, instead of cloyingly sweet usual kid actors. The sister is an actual character with feelings. The love interest is not particularly alluring though, nor do they have any chemistry, I'm not sure why every one of these can't just be about a family? The forced romance is tired.

Next Stop, Christmas

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 21 November 2022]

With Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson in the cast. We are going Back to the Future Hallmark style.

Angie (Lyndsy Fonseca) is a busy surgeon in New York who has no time for her family back home in Connecticut.

However a train journey takes her back to Connecticut, 10 years earlier courtesy of a magical train conductor (Christopher Lloyd.)

Angie thinks that accepting a marriage proposal from an old boyfriend who went on to become a well known sportscaster might bring her back to the future.

In the meantime she connects with her sister, saves her parents marriage and reminiscence with a childhood best friend who she drifted apart from.

The question for Angie, who is the Mr Right for her?

It is a schmaltzy Hallmark Christmas movie but the concept makes this above average. Lloyd looks a lot like Tom Hanks from The Polar Express.

A Great time travel movie

[ejlucy-77023 · 10/10 · 7 November 2021]

Okay, yes, I'm a Hallmark Christmas movie junkie but some are better than others. I always love the unique stories, like this one!! And without giving anything away, it was so fun to see Christopher Lloyd in this!!!

Silly and fun adventure with Fonseca

[MickyG333 · 7/10 · 5 December 2022]

7.0 stars.

During the holidays a woman is offered a chance to go back in time and change her life.

It was entertaining, it was fun, and the interactions were light and refreshing. The acting is good, the theme is good, and the story has been done a million times.

I've always loved Fonseca, way back in the Nikita days. I even liked her before that. She had a brain dead part in HIMYM, not worth mentioning. Her acting skills have seemed to improve, and she hasn't aged a day. I was excited to see this movie because of her. Must I remind you I am a red-blooded heterosexual male? Who isn't enamored with her?

This is basically in the same imaginary universe as 'Just in Time for Christmas'. It's no coincidence they aired it the same day. It's probably a sequel of sorts, although the writers and director are not the same. Also, it shares the same nod to 'Back to the Future', Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, (why isn't she listed in the top cast?) the similar motif, some of the same props, and sets, maybe the same train, and a very similar time travel experience. What I would love to see is multiple Fonsecas trying not to come in contact with each other so as to avoid total annihilation of the universe... I digress.

The presentation and timing of storyline is clumsy, it is certainly not seamless, and was just oddly put together at times. I felt a disconnect with the leads, as if she did not enjoy either one of them. She sort of brushes off Ben like he's not important, not even worth her time, and with Tyler, there is no fondness in her eyes, not a spark of attraction. If she was trying to act that way, she succeeded. When she blindsides him with bad news and there's no sympathy, no emotion; It seemed a bit too distant. Hard to pin it down, just saying that something was off, maybe just bad chemistry. It might be by design, because she's not in the present, she's experiencing all of this through a time warp, so maybe the idea was for it to seem surreal; however I feel it minimizes the emotional impact. Ben's portrayal is more genuine, he has a yearning for her that's not reciprocated. She lacks female intuition, and totally misses his subtle hints time and time again. Tyler did great with his role, which is basically to be a narcissist. I like her sister in this, she has a soulful charm about her. Lea Thompson is herself, generally the same character in all of her roles.

The ending was strange, but satisfying, and there is slight shift from the usual pattern.

More Career-bashing Propaganda

[domer-88239 · 2/10 · 9 December 2021]

The beginning is full of Hallmark's propaganda that the time and effort needed for a woman to succeed in a career (here, as a doctor!) deserves shaming because she doesn't see her family enough. The ending is ridiculous, that she delays her relationship with her True Love for a decade???

The best Hallmark Christmas movie thus far (November 6, 2021)

[kirbyditko · 9/10 · 23 November 2021]

Writing is sharp, not lazy. Pace is brisk, not uneven. No loud, overbearing music masking dialogue. Direction is competent. Everyone in the cast is on point, no hammy supporting actors. Old hands Lloyd and Thompson are a delight to watch. Best of all is the female lead, Lyndsy Fonseca. This is the first time I've seen her yet her face, her mannerisms, are just so very familiar. Three-quarters into the movie it hit me. She is an amalgam of Zooey Deschanel and Bethany Joy Lenz. No wonder she's so likeable.

As one reviewer says, if care and thought-and yes, creativity-are put by Hallmark into their new Christmas movies like the Hallmark movies of old, then the result is magical.