It's Christmastime in modern-day Chicago, and sisters Ella (Erin Krakow) and Marianne Dashwood (Kimberley Sustad) are busy running their event planning business together. Ella, the free spirit who is trying to prove that she's ready to commit to the family business, wants to grow their business but faces opposition from Marianne, who is content with the status quo. To prove herself, Ella takes on a last minute Christmas party for toy company executive and fun-hater Edward Ferris (Luke Macfarlane). While sparks fly between Ella and Edward, Marianne is busy flirting awkwardly with the equally awkward Brandon Williams (Jason McKinnon), who is for some reason both Edward's cousin AND the Dashwoods' lawyer.
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| And there are intensely cozy Christmas vibes throughout. |
What's different
Some interesting choices were made for this movie, which is all it takes to get me excited at this point. Marianne and Elinor (Ella) seem to have traded personalities. In adaptation shorthand, Elinor = mature and Marianne = childish. In this movie, however, Marianne is down-to-earth and organized, and Ella is an irresponsible commitment-phobe and hopeless romantic. It feels like the sisters' names were assigned to the characters at random, and they didn't land right.
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| Feels like this should be Marianne, right? Nope, it's Ella, and she's eating Foot Loops. |
The two main relationships are also sort of flipped. Marianne and Brandon are clearly into each other from the get-go, while Ella and Edward spend the whole movie warming up to each other. It's strange to see Edward and Elinor portrayed as a will-they-won't-they, opposites attract sort of thing, while Marianne and Brandon are pretty much a sure thing.
Of course, many MANY characters are missing from this adaptation. We have Ella and Marianne, Edward and Brandon, and Lucy Steele. If you stretch, you might be able to argue that the Laurents (French toy store owners that Edward wants to sign a contract with) represent Mrs. Jennings and Sir John; they're older than the main characters, they love all festive activities (kind of like loving parties?), and their presence brings one of the couples together (if only because Edward uses Ella to make a good impression on them). Missing characters include: all the other Dashwoods, all the Middletons, Edward's brother, Lucy's sister, and Willoughby. Though, to be fair, Marianne reveals in the opening scenes that she and Willoughby have just broken up, so his character technically exists but plays no part in the story.
Of course, many MANY characters are missing from this adaptation. We have Ella and Marianne, Edward and Brandon, and Lucy Steele. If you stretch, you might be able to argue that the Laurents (French toy store owners that Edward wants to sign a contract with) represent Mrs. Jennings and Sir John; they're older than the main characters, they love all festive activities (kind of like loving parties?), and their presence brings one of the couples together (if only because Edward uses Ella to make a good impression on them). Missing characters include: all the other Dashwoods, all the Middletons, Edward's brother, Lucy's sister, and Willoughby. Though, to be fair, Marianne reveals in the opening scenes that she and Willoughby have just broken up, so his character technically exists but plays no part in the story.
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| Calm, cool, and collected: a very un-Marianne reaction to breaking up with Willoughby. |
What I liked
I liked that the characters are adults in this adaptation; no teenagers here! The romantic tension sometimes feels a bit too much like teen melodrama, but it's nice to see grown men and women living their best lives and finding love along the way. It reminds you that you don't have to find The One by the time you're 20, which is sometimes how Austen can make you feel.
I absolutely loved Marianne and Brandon's side plot romance. They're both adorably awkward, and I ate it up. They don't get nearly as much screentime as Ella and Edward, and their relationship happens mostly out of sight, but that just means there's less for me to nitpick. I'm free to enjoy every moment they're together and only occasionally wonder how a lawyer and a client justify hanging out in a coffeeshop in the middle of the day when they have no business to discuss and no one has asked anyone out on a date yet.
I absolutely loved Marianne and Brandon's side plot romance. They're both adorably awkward, and I ate it up. They don't get nearly as much screentime as Ella and Edward, and their relationship happens mostly out of sight, but that just means there's less for me to nitpick. I'm free to enjoy every moment they're together and only occasionally wonder how a lawyer and a client justify hanging out in a coffeeshop in the middle of the day when they have no business to discuss and no one has asked anyone out on a date yet.
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| Delicious awkwardness! |
Since most of this movie is predictable, I'm going to put a rare spoiler warning here because there is one unexpected plot twist, and I liked it. Skip ahead to the dislike section if you don't want spoilers!
Lucy and Edward are actually just friends the whole time, and Ella misinterprets it as a romantic relationship. Maybe someone else would see that coming, but it was a pleasant surprise to me! I didn't expect to find a wholesome platonic friendship in a Hallmark adaptation of a Jane Austen novel, but I'm into it. I love seeing those kinds of relationships in movies because of how rarely they're portrayed.
Lucy and Edward are actually just friends the whole time, and Ella misinterprets it as a romantic relationship. Maybe someone else would see that coming, but it was a pleasant surprise to me! I didn't expect to find a wholesome platonic friendship in a Hallmark adaptation of a Jane Austen novel, but I'm into it. I love seeing those kinds of relationships in movies because of how rarely they're portrayed.
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| Though I'm not really clear on why Lucy hangs out with Edward's dad. |
What I disliked
Most of my issues are with the suspension of disbelief required by this movie. They certainly don't make it easy for me. For example, I don't think either of the French characters in this movie were played by actual French people. This movie was mostly filmed in Canada, and they couldn't even get Canadian French actors for those parts? The fake accents are not great, so to make up for it, they just pepper in the occasional French phrase.
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| "Hon hon hon, I am definitely French! Oui oui!" |
I also don't understand why this adaptation has Edward and Brandon as cousins. Isn't it weirder to hang out with your cousin all the time than just having a close male friend? Are they just trying to mimic some of the claustrophobic, quasi-incestuous feeling of the book? (I'm referring, of course, to Edward being the brother of Elinor's sister-in-law. You know that would feel weird in real life.)
In order to manufacture conflict with Marianne and Ella, we have to pretend that streaming services don't exist. Ella makes a mistake that results in the musicians not showing up for an event, but thank goodness their coworker John has painstakingly ripped some vinyl albums of classical music onto his phone and can play them over the venue's speakers! Praise be! But wait — what's that you say? He didn't lovingly record these tracks from his personal album collection? He's just streaming from his Spotify Premium account? Whatever, he's still a miracle worker in Marianne's eyes!
My last example is Ella's hot-and-cold commitment phobia. It only ever comes up when Marianne is trying to make a point, but when it does rear its head, it is so over the top. When Marianne asks why Ella still hasn't found an apartment, Ella complains about having to sign a lease.
I don't know where Ella was living before she moved to Chicago, but a one year lease is absolutely standard. Has she spent her entire adult life subletting and couch surfing? She's gotta be 30 at least, right??
In order to manufacture conflict with Marianne and Ella, we have to pretend that streaming services don't exist. Ella makes a mistake that results in the musicians not showing up for an event, but thank goodness their coworker John has painstakingly ripped some vinyl albums of classical music onto his phone and can play them over the venue's speakers! Praise be! But wait — what's that you say? He didn't lovingly record these tracks from his personal album collection? He's just streaming from his Spotify Premium account? Whatever, he's still a miracle worker in Marianne's eyes!
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| Three cheers for John! My hero! |
My last example is Ella's hot-and-cold commitment phobia. It only ever comes up when Marianne is trying to make a point, but when it does rear its head, it is so over the top. When Marianne asks why Ella still hasn't found an apartment, Ella complains about having to sign a lease.
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| A one year lease?! Outrageous! |
I don't know where Ella was living before she moved to Chicago, but a one year lease is absolutely standard. Has she spent her entire adult life subletting and couch surfing? She's gotta be 30 at least, right??
Adaptation wish list
- Is it funny? — A bit.
- Is it bitchy? — Not at all.
- Is Brandon less pathetic? — Yes, he's great, and I love him.
- Is Marianne more believable? — Yes, though I'm not quite sure which character she is...
This doesn't feel like an adaptation to me, it's more like a totally different story that just nods and winks toward Sense and Sensibility. I'm not mad about it, though. I had never seen a Hallmark Christmas movie before, and now I feel like I've been missing out. Are they all like this? It felt so cozy and Christmassy and made me want to move to Chicago!
As an S&S adaptation, this movie is not faithful to the book at all, but for anyone who loves both S&S and Christmas, this movie is a fun, cozy, fluffy way to spend two hours.
As an S&S adaptation, this movie is not faithful to the book at all, but for anyone who loves both S&S and Christmas, this movie is a fun, cozy, fluffy way to spend two hours.
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