Navigating Christmas

7.4 stars. This is about a career driven woman who is recently divorced and her son who is not a happy teenager at the moment. His father cancels a snowboarding excursion with him over the holidays, so he's stuck with his mom. She is not happy that the dad canceled, so she has to come up with something last minute. They are not getting along very well, so the holidays may be a struggle and they end up staying at a lighthouse that people book for a different sort of getaway, something new and exciting. They don't realize what they've gotten themselves into. The owner is a bah humbug man, but he's got a good heart and both she and her son very much like him. The son also meets the mayor's daughter and they have a nice little teenage romance. Of course mom and lighthouse guy are the main romance. There are some inconsistencies and production problems. The script is either faulty, or they had to limit the scenes due to runtime. Either way, some fell a bit flat, but overall it's a good film.

The title and cover would have you believe "Navigating Christmas" is about romance, with the lighthouse central to the story, and it is... But, not just as the meeting place of our primary couple, the lighthouse owner, Peter (Stephen Huszar👍) and the divorced, single -mom, Melanie (Chelsea Hobbs). It's a metaphor for Melanie, her son (Jason), and Peter to "navigate" their way through the pain of divorce, its effect on children, and the difficulty, from both sides, of single-parenthood. Once you get to the core of the movie (past a bit of shaky acting by Melanie and Jason, which kept my rating from 9.5), their back histories fold into the story - Melanie makes a rash (without planning or research) decision to stay at the lighthouse to appease her son's heartache, over a missed opportunity to spend time with his dad. Peter has waited too long to deal with his guilt of avoiding his dad (now deceased), so long, that he must return to settle the mounting debt of the estate, or risk losing the lighthouse to a heartless developer. Of course, Christmas traditions (especially from a tight-knit small town) are instrumental in stirring up the good feelings from the past, and distract Jason from his teenage angst by leading him to a crush with the mayor's daughter. Melanie is distrustful and harsh on Peter, a few times, despite his connection to Jason. He reads what Jason is experiencing, perhaps better than Melanie, because he sees similarities to his own life-experience. The film-directing is also complimentary to the storyline. There's a feeling of true magnetism between Peter and Melanie and there is good timing (ie. Tension) with eye gazes and the kisses (not obligatory). There is also some clever use, a few times, of foreshadowing, that is meaningful. Hallmark lost many of their stars to Great American, but fortunately, kept Stephen Huszar, whose steadiness benefitted this cast, immensely, and led to a pleasantly rewarding watch....

I did not like this actress as a mom. Part of the problem is the script. At the beginning she suddenly yells at her teenager that it's a bed time? Like he's 2? Are you kidding me? Why don't you just bend him over your lap and spank him while you're at it? She's not a good actress at all. Not very pleasant to watch. Problem could be the script again. The meet cute was terrible. I did like how neither of them seem to wanted to decorate for Christmas at first. While the Scrooge spirit is not appealing to me, it is realistic and a change of pace for Hallmark. The kid's not a great actor either, but it's okay. He's young. Stephen Huszar is not likable in this movie. I don't know what it is. If the teenagers are going to be a secondary romance, they need to be better actors. Same ole story. Yawn. Neither of them has enjoyed the holidays as much as this year with each other. I can't decide if I like their first kiss or not. I kind of like how she came back for it, but it also seemed forced. Not well acted.

Full marks to Hallmark for the originality in their 2023 Christmas movies. Stephen Huszar bounces back after his uneven performance in 'A Royal Christmas Crush', playing a lighthouse owner named Peter who rents his property out to guests who, aside from sleeping there, get to help carry out the duties of the lighthouse. That's where Melanie (Chelsea Hobbs) goes with her son Jason (Everett Andres) when her ex-husband cancels his Christmas plans with Jason at the very last minute. I bet you can guess what happens between Melanie and Peter... Some of the old Hallmark Christmas tropes appear, but even those scenes are refreshing. I enjoyed the mother-son relationship between Melanie and Jason and the way Jason bonded with Huszar's Peter.