Hallmark Review: 'A Gingerbread Romance'

Having spent much of her childhood through frequent moves, Taylor Scott (Tia Mowry-Hardrict) has carried that habit of never planting roots into adulthood through her work with an architecture firm. With Christmas around the corner, Taylor's boss Linda (Melissa Peterman) assigns her to represent their firm in a life-size gingerbread making competition. While wary of the task, Taylor agrees to the assignment, hoping it will increase her odds of being hired to head a new office in Paris.

When Taylor ends up losing her baking partner to her firm's rival company, however, Taylor ends up seeking out help from an unlikely source: Adam Dale (Duane Henry), a baker struggling to branch out on his own and who Taylor made a less-than-ideal first impression on when he arrived to bring cakes to her office's Christmas party. While Adam is at first uninterested, goading from his daughter Brooke (Melody Nosipho Niemann) and sister Jenny (Heather-Claire Nortey) lead Adam to join forces with Taylor for the competition in an effort to please Brooke. While Taylor and Adam initially butt heads over their differing work styles, the two eventually begin to come together and bond as they work to meet their deadline—all while Taylor comes to question if she would like a place to finally call a permanent home.

From its opening with Taylor's mother convincing her that no matter where she was, home was wherever she hung her stocking for Christmas, to the heartwarming ending that ties everything together with a bow (pun intended), A Gingerbread Romance is as sweet as a film can be (another intentional pun). While the plot is familiar to anyone familiar with the Hallmark channel and holds no surprises, the genuine heart and charm is enough to keep viewers engaged—and in a VERY Christmas-y spirit. And with a plot centered around gingerbread houses and baking, any sweet toothed viewers are in for a real delight.

Tia Mowry-Hardrict and Duane Henry, though, are what truly keep the festive mood going, as the chemistry between them is enduring and makes you really enjoy seeing them slowly grow attracted to each other through their budding friendship. Hardrict also shares the same level of chemistry with the young Melody Nosipho Niemann, with Taylor and Brooke's bond serving as a heartwarming parallel to Taylor's budding romance with Adam. Melissa Peterman is also a delight to see having a blast as Taylor's perky and supportive boss Linda and Julian Christopher surprised me with his portrayal of Adam's benevolent boss Ray.

Another surprising element came in the form of Taylor and Adam's competitors, who serve as a welcome subversion to these sort of "Christmas Contest" type movies. Annabelle Renard and Bradford Gilmore, as played by Jordana Lajoie and Giles Panton respectively, are never portrayed as antagonists in the film. Rather than antagonizing Taylor and Adam or trying to sabotage their work, Annabelle and Bradford simply compete with them and Bradford's work rivalry with Taylor never goes further than playful banter between each other. Along with Lojoie and Panton's natural charm as the characters, Annabelle and Bradford's sportsmanship proves that not all "Christmas Contest" films (and competition films in general) have to have an Evil Rival Team to have a compelling plot.

While A Gingerbread Romance's formulaic nature and lack of strong conflict may rub some the wrong way, the film's ultimate goal is met: to strike a holiday mood in the viewer through genuine charm and heart. With charming side characters and main protagonists whose relationship is well-developed and easy to root for, A Gingerbread Romance avoids becoming a boring slog and instead transforms into a film any Hallmark junkie will love.

Score: 7 out of 10 gingerbread high-rises.