Nicole learns to deal with grief, with the help of her grandfather and a carpenter she hires to renovate the home once meant for her and her fiancé.

Starring:  Torrey DeVitto, Dylan Bruce, and Patrick Duffy

Hallmark hasn’t been doing the greatest job in 2021 when it comes to casting, mainly because their decisions are based on affirmative action and woke progressivism instead of talent and chemistry.

The Christmas Promise finally takes us back to how storytelling used to be at Hallmark before Woke Wonya Lucas took the helm at Crown Media.

This is the first movie in a long time that includes diversity in a way that seems natural instead of contrived.  God made us all–red and yellow, black and white, and we are precious in His sight, but not every color of the rainbow has to be ramrodded into every movie, like we saw in Boyfriends of Christams Past  and several other recent movies.

The cast in The Christmas Promise is stellar.  Torrey DeVitto is actually a talented actress, not some newbie who stinks like we’ve seen of late.  DeVitto has starred previously in Best Christmas Party Ever in 2014 and Write Before Christmas in 2019.

Dylan Bruce isn’t the hunkiest Hallmark leading man, but he is upbeat, witty, and fun.  He’s starred in previous Hallmark movies dating back to 2011 in Love’s Christmas Journey and A Novel Romance in 2015.

Veteran actor best known for playing Bobby Ewing in Dallas, Patrick Duffy is a rich addition to any Hallmark movie.  He’s played in The Christmas Cure and The Mistletoe Secret.

Giles Panton, the actor who plays Nicole’s fiancé Henry, has been in scads of Hallmark movies including, It’s Christmas, Eve, Christmas on Holly Lane, A Godwink Christmas, A Gingerbread Romance, Over the Moon in Love, and It Was Always You.

Jesse Moss is always a top-performing supporting Hallmark actor, and in this movie, he plays Teddy–the guy Nicole ultimately sells her toy shop to.  Moss has been in Hallmark mystery shows and most notably, the movies Moonlight in Vermont and Sweet Carolina, both headlined by Lacey Chabert.

Matthew James Dowden is a serious Hallmark hunk!  You’ve seen him in too many Hallmark movies and mysteries to mention, though he stands out the most in Raise a Glass to Love.  He could easily hold his own as a leading love interest, so let’s hope Hallmark will recognize that soon.

With such a powerhouse of a cast, it’s no wonder The Christmas Promise rates high with fans during the 2021 holiday movie season.

Heart is something many Hallmark movies are in short supply of these days, so this movie is reminiscent of holidays of yore when Hallmark focused more on moving stories than political correctness.

Nicole plays the scene of Henry volunteering to go out for ice over and over in her mind; she’s plagued by “what ifs?” Most of us have been in those shoes at some point, maybe not concerning the death of a loved one, but other situations where what we do or say creates lasting consequences.  Life doesn’t often offer “re-dos.”

Nicole continues to hang with her same friends, work in the same toy store she co-owned with Henry, and deal with the house they planned to live in once they got married.  All of it feels empty without him.  She is flooded with memories of being in all of those same places with Henry; it’s unbelievable how much life can change in just one year.  Everything she used to enjoy has become a painful memory reflecting her deep loss–this isn’t how it was supposed to be.

In a strange twist of fate, Joe Roberts ends up with Henry’s old cell number, so when Nicole sends him texts as a form of therapy, he helps her heal, though neither initially realize they already know each other.  It’s very similar to a “Godwink” moment. Nicole finds that past the pain, there is a good life waiting to be lived.

Let’s hope Hallmark will keep making more movies like this one!