Bethany's Christmas Joy
Christmas is coming and life is getting chaotic for single mum Christine Eisley (Bethany Joy Lenz) as she has lost her job, on the verge of losing her home and now her ex husband is seeking custody of their children. It's not just the big things which are going wrong as a treasured locket which her father gave her before he disappeared when she was young has gone missing as well. Despite the problems piling up Christine keeps going and manages to find new work with a friendly bakery owner whilst also finding herself with some romantic attention from Jason (John Reardon), the grandson of a sweet, old couple who run a local shop. And maybe as a family secret begins to be uncovered maybe Christine's luck is going to change for the better once and for all.
"The Christmas Secret" is exactly the sort of Christmas movie I like because it mixes familiar with a sense of not sure where exactly this is going. What I mean is we have the cliche aspects such as the single mum struggling in the lead up to Christmas plus the cute grandson of a sweet old couple who provides the romantic aspect which you expect. On top of that we have a family secret involving an old locket which whilst giving us and element of mystery also provides the coincidence to link people together. All of which is expected and it has the familiar Christmas style of easy going drama, sweet comedy and cute romance.
But whilst there are certain elements to "The Christmas Secret" which are predictable there are certain aspects which are less predictable specifically the mystery surrounding the locket. I won't say how this pans out as it is what keeps you involved that need to know where this is going. In a way it is the same with the custody battle side of things as whilst you can predict a positive outcome the grim reality of this subplot gives it a different tone which you don't expect from this sort of movie.
What this all boils down to is that "The Christmas Secret" is an entertaining Christmas movie with a mix of the obvious, the cute, the predictable and all the other things you expect from a Christmas movie but with a mysterious side which keeps you watching as you wonder where certain parts of it are going.