The Hallmark Channel kicked the festivities off this year with The Thanksgiving House, the story of a holiday-hating lawyer who inherits a house built on the land where the first Thanksgiving (possibly) took place.
I wasn't blown away by the female lead; her character came across a little cold to me, but that could just be my bias against characters who hate the holiday season. But, her name is Emily Rose, which sounds like an old-lady perfume, so I'm not going to hold it against her.
This movie compensated for its icy heroine with Justin Bruening, known in the movie as Everett Mather, which sounds like a law firm. Last year Justin assumed the role of Teddy Lawrence in the TV Christmas version of Little Women, The March Sisters at Christmas. I made fun of him then for donning a toga, but this year his autumnal wardrobe redeems him of his former fashion sins.
I criticized Everett at first when I suspected that his passion for Pilgrim-era archaeology meant he was a jobless late-twentysomething living with his parents. Even though those parents are the Bionic Woman and Tron. But, he proved me wrong, working as a high school history teacher who holds down his own apartment. What a catch!
Emily Rose, aka Mary Ross, needs three-quarters of the movie to realize she should ditch her tricky boyfriend with a bad accent for nice-guy Everett. But, when she does, baddie boyfriend delivers the movie's most quotable line: "Color me gone."
The Thanksgiving House earns points for having a creative premise, but none of the interaction between our bickering lovebirds had an equal level of creativity. You always know who's going to fall in love in these movies, but at the conclusion of this one I wasn't sold that they shared more than a warm affection and a desire to date through, say, St. Patrick's Day.
Still, I give the movie points for relying on plausible legal battles and emotional growth to create a plot instead of orphaned children and magical North Pole dwellers.
All in all, The Thanksgiving House was a pleasant way to kick off the TV Christmas movie season for 2013. I much prefer last year's Teddy Lawrence as this year's high school history teacher, and the scenes of Boston in the fall make this movie worth a watch.
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