The Good Witch's Gift (2010) Catherine Bell, Chris Potter, Catherine Disher, Peter MacNeill Movie Review

The Good Witch's Gift (2010)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Catherine Bell in The Good Witch's Gift (2010)

A Christmas Wedding Bell

"The Good Witch's Gift" is the third movie in "The Good Witch ..." series which at the time of writing is up to part 6, but at this time it is the first one which I have seen. Now that put me at a disadvantage because we have characters which have been established over the previous two movies as well as their relationships and whilst you can quickly work out what is what that connection with the characters is not quite there. But even if you haven't watched the previous "The Good Witch ..." movies you can get away with watching "The Good Witch's Gift" as a standalone movie and enjoy the cute little Christmas drama of a rushed wedding and all the things which go wrong.

With Christmas just 7 days away Sheriff Jake Russell (Chris Potter - The Perfect Assistant) decides that the best gift he could give his fiancee Cassie (Catherine Bell - Bruce Almighty) is to get married on Christmas Eve so she can wake up on Christmas day with the family she always wished for. But trying to arrange a wedding in just six days is no small feat even for the magical Cassie who takes everything in her stride from Jake's daughter Lori (Hannah Endicott-Douglas) misplacing the ring to Grandpa George (Peter MacNeill) feeling like he may not have a place in the family once their married. But to make matters worse Leon Deeks (Graham Abbey), a bank robber, is out of jail having served his time and returned to Middleton which makes Jake rather uneasy.

Chris Potter in The Good Witch's Gift (2010)

So as already mentioned as of writing I have not seen either of the previous movies and so as "The Good Witch's Gift" starts it takes a few moments to work out who is who and what the connections are between Chris Potter's Jake and Catherine Bell's Cassie. Thankfully it's not difficult to put two and two together and director Craig Pryce does a nice job of this because he doesn't spoon feed it and make it too easy to catch up but weaves it nicely into the first 10 minutes of the movie. The only negative is that coming into this third movie cold leaves you with out the warmth and connection to Jake and Cassie which would have been established in the first two "The Good Witch ..." movies.

Any way after that "The Good Witch's Gift" is a very simple movie to follow as on one hand we have Leon Deeks who is back in town and as we find out is after the money he hid following the bank robbery and then on the other we have Jake and Cassie hurriedly preparing for their wedding. It is the Christmas wedding which is the main focus as various issues crop up from difficulties with a marriage licence to the Mayor's wife Martha deciding to take it upon herself to be their wedding planner and hijacking their plans. Add to this some magical meddling as Cassie slyly solves various issues from Grandpa George feeling like a spare peg to Deputy Derek wanting a girlfriend. But basically it is all cute fun with a lot of happy ever after endings which feel a little cheesy but then it is also the sort of Christmas movie which makes the cheese strangely acceptable.

What is nice is that both Chris Potter as Jake and Catherine Bell as Cassie have a really relaxed, laid back style which makes them incredibly easy to watch and like. In fact by the time "The Good Witch's Gift" was over I had grown quite fond of them, giving me that connection which I am sure for others would have been established during the first two movies.

What this all boils down to is that "The Good Witch's Gift" is a pleasant little TV movie with a touch of Christmas about it, although it is not the focus of the movie. It is part of a series of movies and so whilst you can watch it with out previous knowledge as I did I am sure that watching the first two "The Good Witch ..." movies would have made it a little bit more than just cute and enjoyable.

Tags: TV Christmas Movies, Christmas Movies


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