Why continue to retread tradional big-city meets small-town holiday themes when you can "borrow" from highly-regarded Hollywood productions? It works, well, here, leaving you with an enjoyable 85 minutes, and most-likely, the desire to add this to your "re-watchable" collection. It starts with a great cast-ensemble. You have one of Hallmark's finest leads, Lacey Chabert 👍(Emily), complimented by Wes Brown (Jared), and believably antagonized by Jennifer Aspen (Jane Johnson). The supporting cast is led by veterans, Ellen Travolta and Stephen Tobolowsky. Although primarily a humor-driven story, it does what most great comedies effectively accomplish - poke fun at the human "condition". Firstly, you have the core of the film, HOA's. They initially begin with good-intentions, but inevitably the rigid-rules, power-trips of the board, and unforgiving citations begin to sour many of its constituents. Then, there are the egotistical bullies, the Johnsons, who believe their celebrity as reality-TV stars excludes them from the rules. The disgruntled neighbors see their opportunity to rebel against the HOA and this sets up for a "war". This escalates, uncontrollably, until.... Emily steps up...Lacey Chabert, who were accustomed to always being so charming...She shows her fierce determination (yes!) to take the battle into her own hands. It takes the innocence of children to finally wake up the immature adults te realize they have lost sight of the true meaning of the season. Ironically, in a comedy, Emily's and Jared's relationship is a much deeper love than what has been commonly depicted in this Hallmark holiday season. Well done!
