Review: 'Christmas Pen Pals'

As much as I love a good (or even not-so-good) made-for-television Christmas movie, the truth is that acting isn't generally the factor that determines whether or not the movie ultimately is a success. Sure, terrible or awkward acting can kill the mood. But even an actor with modest talents can generally put together enough skills to believably fall in love and then kiss someone over the course of a couple of hours of screen time.

Sometimes you don't realize that's the case until you see an actor or actress bring magic into a movie. They are impossible to ignore, they bring a life and natural charm into every scene. They're stars and while it's impossible to precisely quantify that quality, the audience knows it when they see it.

Sarah Drew has a great deal of success as an actress, most notably for her long run on "Grey's Anatomy." She's obviously talented and knows how to deliver a line. But to be honest, I wasn't expecting the masterclass in acting she gives in "Christmas Pen Pals."

Drew plays Hannah Morris, a struggling tech mogul whose dating app is rapidly losing users. Following an unfortunately-timed break-up, she returns home to her small town in an effort to try and figure out what went wrong with her app and how she can fix it. And as if coming face-to-face with her high school sweetheart Sam (Niall Matter) wasn't uncomfortable enough, she's also roped into participating in the town's Christmas Cupid pen pal service. And you might imagine in a movie like this, she finds herself falling in love with both Sam and this mystery pen pal.

The premise of the movie is a cute one, and while the pen pal idea definitely fits the small town location that seems to be a requirement for all Christmas movies, it's done without resorting to the purposefully quirky small-town characters that seem to inhabit these towns. Every character is three-dimensional and there aren't a lot of details that seem unbelievable or made-up for the sake of a plot twist.

The ensemble cast is excellent, most notably Michael Gross. He is just effortless in his role as Hannah's somewhat lonely widowed father and it's a reminder just how talented he is when presented with a well-written role.

But Sarah Drew is just spectacular. Her Hannah Morris is believably awkward and detached in the early scenes. And she blossoms into this charming, funny and entirely believable woman who is rediscovering her small town roots. The scenes where she deals with the death of her mother are heartbreaking and there isn't one scene she's in that I would change.

Even if you're not a passionate lover of Christmas movies, I would still recommend "Christmas Pen Pals" just so you can watch Drew for two hours. After watching nearly 40 new Christmas movies so far in 2018, it's tough for me to pick a favorite. But this movie would be in the Top Three and seeing it makes me wish that CBS would have picked up that "Cagney & Lacey" reboot pilot Drew shot earlier this year. At this point, I'm all in for whatever she is doing next.

"Christmas Pen Pals" premiered Saturday, December 15th, 2018 on Lifetime.