One December Night

This just could be one the best movies that Hallmark Hall of Fame has put their trademark on. Quin (Eloise Mumford) is a promising music manager that is ordered to oversee a live telecast reunion of the legendary musical duo, Bedford & Sullivan. One of the two artists is her estranged father , Mike Sullivan (Peter Gallagher). Mike's former bandmate , Steve Bedford (Bruce Campbell), still has flashbacks of a strong public breakup several years ago. Quin must navigate her relationship with Steve's son and manager (Brett Dalton) to negotiate peace between the former duo and convince them to do the lucrative Christmas Telecast reunion. Gallagher performs "One December Night", an original song for the movie.

It was better than that. This might be the best Christmas movie Hallmark has ever produced. At the center are two phenomenal, multi-layered performances by Campbell and Gallagher. The supporting cast is excellent and the story of two aging, feuding rock stars trying to find their way through painful memories back to healing is at times contentious, humorous, and touching. It's directed by Clare Niederpruem, who also directed Holiday for Heroes and The Christmas Bow. I've never given a ten before, but I can't recommend this enough. Excellent movie.

Moviecut—One December Night

source: One December Night

This is really well done mostly because the story is different and unique from the stable of Hallmark Christmas movies. There are no bake-offs, searches for the perfect Christmas tree, family businesses to be saved, or any other typical Hallmark dilemmas. It is about human relationships during the Christmas season as children of a Hall and Oates type music act find themselves thrown together as they work to re-unite their fathers, both of whom have personal issues that the children are unaware of. The writing, direction, and production values are rich and very professional. And the acting is top notch. Eloise Mumford and Brett Dalton are extremely effective as the children, as are Peter Gallagher and Bruce Campbell as the fathers. These four actors give realistic performances that are very natural and heartfelt. And all of the supporting players are very good, too, and have their moments to shine, particularly Jenna Stern as Mumford's employer and Jasmine Forsberg as an up-and-coming singer. Plus, there's Didi Conn, who is always a pleasure to see, and adds some nostalgia to the story. For a different but totally engaging new Hallmark movie this season, this is the one to watch.

This movie was different from the usual theme of a typical Hallmark movie and it was enjoyable . It was filmed mostly in Goshen NY which was great; my wife's chance to appear in it was washed out by a rainstorm which wasn't so great. The characters were named Bedford and Sullivan (and I too am a Sullivan ) so I was wondering if this has any resemblance to the intersection of Bedford and Sullivan in Brooklyn ( I too am from Brooklyn originally ) . Bedford and Sullivan was the address of Ebbets Field , home of the Brooklyn Dodgers . Just wondering if this was intentional or merely coincidence .

This was so much better than the syrupy, mediocre holiday movies being turned out on the Hallmark assembly line for Christmas. Peter Gallagher and Bruce Campbell are excellent. The story moves well and there are quite a few surprises along the way. The story is not "Christmas", but uses the season and the power of understanding and forgiveness to make it very much a holiday movie. It's staying on my dvr until January, at least.

I really wanted to love this one given all the actors in it and the story but there were too many underlying issues for the aging fathers. I did not come away from this feeling very happy. I get the need to add some reality to Hallmark movies but this felt like a bit too much. I expect Hallmark Christmas movies to be uplifting and feel good. While this was a good movie, it was not very uplifting. That said, Peter Gallagher and Bruce Campbell were terrific, the love story between their kids was believable, and the song One December Night is still in my head. A wonderful treat to see Didi Conn as well. I will absolutely watch this again-just felt more Lifetime than Hallmark. And even Lifetime Christmas movies are more uplifting than this.

A broken friendship in need of mending, grief for losses in need of closure, aging with failing health, a rekindled youth friendship, good music, and Christmas time. Here, all you need for a rich story to tell in a movie. What makes the movie enjoyable is that all the ingredients are honestly dosed well, with gentle touch, and rendered credible. What could have gone, as often happens, pretentious or garbled with cheap emotions, becomes, here, a captivating and moving production. The acting is good, the pace is just right, the pathos is real. Kudos to Hallmark for choosing a different and thoughtful pathway.

I've been a fan of Hallmark Christmas movies since they did few enough titles a year that they didn't all look the same. "One December Night," thankfully, doesn't follow the recent formula. I was curious to see how Peter Gallagher had matured; my image of him is from another favorite Christmas movie where he plays the immature brother, "While You Were Sleeping." Age has been kind to Gallagher, and his acting proved he's more than just a pretty face. While the plot still contains a few too many, "Will they or won't they?" (when we all know they will), it's nice to see a story that revolves around older actors in this bromance. The young folks in this case are the side story. While it's no "Christmas Card" or "Snow Bride," still, nice job Hallmark.