Almost passable, but not quite.
'The Christmas House' is cheesy and the actual plot is lame, I do appreciate the additional bit of depth to the story though - admittedly that's relatively-speaking as it's still a Hallmark movie, but there's slightly more to it than is usual for a festive flick of this sort. There is some same-sex couple representation, which is definitely something you don't usually get with these films, so minor (belated, after all) props for that.
As for the cast, they bring what's required. I watched Treat Williams in 'Rocky Mountain Christmas' last year and found him to be the standout, he's solid again - helped by a better cast around him here. Robert Buckley and Ana Ayora are decent, as are Sharon Lawrence and Jonathan Bennett.
I'm always intrigued when these television films get a sequel, so I'm up for checking out 'The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls' - even if I'm not expecting much from it, naturally.
U can tell not much effort went into creating this, cheesy story, above average acting, too much Christmas vibe, except for the hot actors there isn't much entertainment in this movie if you're older than 16
Shout by LknaroundBlockedParent2020-12-18T14:27:05Z
Advertised as Hallmark's first gay romance, it was anything but. This is standard Hallmark cheesy fare with the new addition of a sibling (in this case) or best friend being gay. This makes it just like the vast majority of movies and television out there with gay characters instead of something new. The only big deal here is that there is a male/male kiss between an existing gay couple. It felt very much like a "Look we're inclusive!!!" bid, but I'm not buying it. The only thing I'll give Hallmark props for doing is hiring gay actors to play the gay couple. If you really want to see a cheesy Hallmark-style romance with gay main characters then check out the Paramount Network's Dashing in December or Lifetime's The Christmas Setup.