User Reviews

This is Hallmark's second Christmas movie with a time travel twist this season; the first was A Timeless Christmas, which was excellent. Though this one was not as good, it still was a decent movie, nonetheless. At the center of the story is Cheryl Jenkins (played by Tamera Mowry-Housley), an astrophysicist and deputy director of the Federal Science Association. While visiting family and friends during the Christmas break in her hometown of Wellsboro, she starts thinking about the events that took place five years early, which lead her to where she is today, as she has become tired of admiration work as the deputy, and what she really wants is to do research again. One evening at the local Christmas carnival, a carousel appears, and Cheryl decides to take a ride. This is no ordinary carousel; the ride magically takes her back in time to five years earlier. And so, Cheryl's journey begins (and so does ours), her chance to address the 'what if' regrets of five years earlier and, just maybe, a second chance at love. One thing I enjoyed about this story/script was the focus on science. I don't think we see enough positive themes in popular culture around science, or rather, around being a scientist. That said, I did find the story, at times, to be a bit dull. Unlike A Timeless Christmas, I had a hard time engaging with the film; it did not pull me in. The carousel itself lacked a backstory really, and the viewer is left with questions. The ending was also quite rushed. The acting overall was pretty good. Mowry-Housley had a decent performance. However, I found her acting, at times, to be unconvincing, especially regarding her reactions to just having time-traveled five years into the past. I also thought her chemistry with Michael Xavier (playing George, who was also in Christmas on Wheels this season) was mediocre at best. Given the script, that is, the competitive back-and-forth between Cheryl and George, I would have thought the chemistry would be a 'slam dunk'. Instead, it was rather lacking, I felt. The supporting cast had a very strong performance. For example, I enjoyed watching Sheryl Lee Ralph (as Miss Nelson) on screen; she was great. Finally, the movie too is quite festive with some well-polished scenery, props, and sets. All in all, it is a decent Christmas movie. Not one of Hallmark's best this year nor one of their worse.

This movie is another time travel redo scenario. Some things are the usual. The ending might be predictable, and the 'ship certainly is, but I wasn't sure until almost the end how it was going to get there. Will she stay in her home town? Will she keep her job? I thought the possibilities were open either way.

I like the emphasis on science and I liked the make-it-fun approach.

Was it really so bad that there was no long Mr. Spock type explanation for the time travel? It kind of just happened and how wasn't important.

For me the big downside was Cheryl. I can't fault Tamera Mowry-Housley. She played what she was given. Unfortunately for me, Cheryl was an arrogant know-it-all jerk. And then suddenly she wasn't. I've seen it so often before. Some call it character development, but in these movies, including this one, it happens instantly. I checked the time and it was 1 hour 15 minutes in (commercial running time) and Cheryl was still being too smart for her own good. I didn't want George to get with her. Did Mowry-Housley and Michael Xavier have chemistry? I don't think there was enough screen time left to really tell.

Observation about science accuracy: You can't really see major constellations in a telescope. You don't look through a telescope through your bedroom window with the lights on. One thing they got really right - you do have to stay up (or get up) to really see a meteor shower. Prime viewing is always early AM.

I almost didn't watch it because of some of the bad reviews but I'm so glad I did! Honestly, I don't trust IMDB reviews that much because it seems the highest rated movies can be ones that I dislike and the lower rated movies seem to be the ones I like the most. This is mostly true regarding Hallmark movies. I've seen some movies given low ratings at first but as years go by, the ratings go up.

At the start of the movie, I felt Tamera Mowry-Housley's character was a bit silly but as the movie progressed, she became more likable and her character developed. I love time-travel plots in general and this didn't fail me. The ending wasn't as predictable as most Hallmark movies. Give this movie a chance. I think you'll be surprised at how enjoyable it is!!!

So I know that this wasn't a Christopher Nolan movie, but the time travel aspect of the story needed a little more science for me (especially considering that the main character was an astrophysicist). I feel that the writers could have developed that part of the story a lot more or tried to tie in the comet that is referred to throughout the movie. "Journey Back to Christmas" with Candace Cameron-Bure did a better job with it's time travel elements.

Also, the scenes on the carousel were very awkward. Could it have gone faster? Or could they have added in more special effects or whooshing sounds? Something was off there.

Having said all that, this was a pleasant, above average Hallmark offering and it's always nice to see Tamara Mowry-Housely on the screen. She is a good leading lady!

Nobody should watch Hallmark films with massively high expectations, their Christmas output particularly. If a Hallmark fan or wanting to see as many Christmas films as possible, expectations would understandably be higher. They are very formulaic with most of them being more of the same narratively and structurally, apart from sporadic attempts at changes of pace. There are a fair share of them though that are surprisingly above average and even good amidst the many average and less ones.

'Christmas Comes Twice' is one of the average ones, neither terrible or particularly good. It is not one of the worst Hallmark Christmas films of 2020, or of their 2020 output overall. It is also a long way from being one of the best on all counts. While not hating 'Christmas Comes Twice' and finding some good things about it, there for me wasn't that much to write home about and there are some significant issues here (even when trying to not expect too much, certainly not high art).

There are good things here. Michael Xavier plays his role with understated confidence and honesty and comes over as very likeable. Sheryl Lee Ralph brings a lot of spark whenever she appears and her presence was refreshing. The supporting cast in general were well above average despite the material not being great.

Production values are pleasing, with the scenery being especially beautiful. There are some pleasant moments in the soundtrack.

However, 'Christmas Comes Twice' could have been better and has quite a lot of problems. The idea here was good and interesting, it is just too safely and conventionally executed with little imagination. The story never really comes to life either, too much of it is slight and drags and motivations and everything with the science are not very well fleshed out at all. The ending is very rushed and leaves more questions than answers. Too much of the script is awkward sounding and lacks spark.

Furthermore, Tamera Mowry-Housley tries her best with what she's given but she never looks completely comfortable and instead flat and neurotic. Really disliked her character too, very arrogant and snobbish and she never really grows as a character. Neither does the chemistry between her and Xavier, which is very muted and that is being generous. The direction is routine.

All in all, worth one time watch but pretty average. 5/10.

Wow what happened with most white W. A. S. P. tv network in america?

Kudos for trying, but you really need to hire new writers and not use reshuffle program of stories.

I really wanted to like this movie since I really like Tamara Mowry-Hously, but it was really slow and I gave up after about 30 minutes.

Liked this one, especially how a number of characters grow personally as a result of the time travelling twist.

You name it the forced love interest the bad partner the unnecessary drama oh I missed what was right in front of me this whole time bull crap and im glad most people agree this shouldn't have been a tv movie it should have been straight to DVD bargain bin dollar tree

Love this talented actor! So happy to find another film with him as the star! He is quite believable in this part and makes it a much better film! Please use his talents more often! He really rounds out a cast with his sincerity and appeal! We both look forward to finding one of his films scheduled!

Not too bad of a plot but could not stand Tamera Mowry-Housley's voice! It just grated on me and distracted me from the movie. Voice coaching for her???

6/10 - cheesy and tired plotline makes for a Christmas movie that shouldn't be at the top of your list

Not really, but it seems if you don't say this movie is the greatest ever your review won't get approved.

We have MIT, astrophysicist, renewable energy, and more. Is it possible for Hallmark to have the lead actress profession a tad bit more relatable? My favorite part is she was one of the top people in her field, but takes a Greyhound bus home, lmao! If you're that well off, you have a car service. What happened to you Hallmark?

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I always like a time travel type of story and this was done very well. Well cast and great acting from all. Highly recommend.

Word is that is the budget for these Christmas flicks...Seems they didn't spend it on actors, writers, or overall production value...BUT I suspect they have THE best craft tent in all of Canadian film dom with beyond stellar gourmet grub...That has to be where the production monies travel...So grab a fork and dig in if you are hankering to BLOW two hours of your precious life...Oh, and have a VERY Merry Christmas...TWICE...

Now pass me the salt...

The movi was okay but too predictable and the time traveling stuff did not make sense but overall had a good message

Was this a Hallmark movie or a Lifetime movie? Hallmark has fallen from the top with most of this years garbage movies!! These have been worse than last years!! Instead of Hallmark focusing on the right casting director, they have moved on to the Hollywood formula & it's not working!! Never go woke!!

'T'is the season to be jolly and also to fill up a cold rainy December day with blandly entertaining TV movies with a festive theme.

These movies usually involve a combination of romance with a little seasonal fantasy and this one is no exception. A young single woman with a bent for science and particularly astronomy has seen her career working for a prestigious professor sidetracked in Washington. She reaches her nadir when learning the improbable news that the existence of a new comet she first sighted years ago has now been officially claimed by another country.

With Christmas approaching, she decides to get away from it all and returns to her hometown of Wellsboro. There she reconnects with her family and revisits her old school where she worked as a teacher and mourns the loss of her kindly science-professor mentor. There is also, naturally, love interest for her in the form of one that got away, an aspiring arrow-straight local politician and the other a fellow teacher with whom she always had a spiky, competitive relationship. Guess which one she ends up with?!

The movie turns on the town's Christmas carnival when she steps onto a magical carousel which magically appears and whisks her back five years to enable her to revisit the family, career and of course romantic decisions she made before which have left her unfulfilled in all these things in her current life.

Everywhere you look in the cast, diversity is apparent which is okay, if just a little over-obvious at times. The different narrative strands are neatly intertwined with the only surprise being that the biggest historical rewrite of all which you half-expect doesn't actually happen at all.

The little-known cast engage well with the somewhat saccharine material but there's plenty of snow and Christmas decorations around, even if unfortunately we also get a turgid, oversung Christmas ballad, but even that can't mar too much the pleasant, feelgood vibe of this slightly above-average movie of its type.

You know I love unhinged Christmas stories as much as the next sentient being, but this movie had one single line that has TrUlY had me spiraling for the last 20 minutes since it ended. It had to do with someone claiming they got into teaching full time because it gave them time to do some pretty significant and time consuming thing. Umm tell me you have no idea what teachers do or how they live without telling me!!!! Especially if you're a good one like this character is suppose to! Just a very wild thing to say and I won't get over it period lmaooo. Other than that, Tamera is adorable and the plot is very cute and easy.