User Reviews

I love Christmas movies and Hallmark makes some of the best. (I want to live in that alternate universe.) Few of them are truly great but they are usually a comforting break. But this one was more annoying than anything. Primarily because they made the female lead way over the top.

This is basically a rewrite of the 2015 Lifetime movie A Gift Wrapped Christmas, but that one was able to create an overly enthusiastic lead who also managed to be charming.

An attractive cast and simple story line make this a quiet wat to pass the time if you can tolerate the lead character. But given a choice, I would strongly recommend you track down A Gift. Wrapped Christmas instead.

The plotline of a personal shopper is not the most common one. Meghan Ory fills this role with a lot of positive energy. She certainly smiles a lot. When it comes to Christmas stories, I prefer the upbeat ones to those that sow doom and gloom through over half the movie. However, the story sets Bonnie up as being shallow.

There is nothing exceptional in this story. It is mostly about keeping Ory and Christopher Russell together as much as possible. There also isn't much tension beyond Patrick's resistance to being fancy and to social media.

There is a subplot where we see that Bonnie has a shopping addiction. The story doesn't really deal with this issue other than love conquers all. I am disappointed that for an issue like this that ruins some people's lives, it was treated, in my opinion, rather flippantly. It doesn't even add much tension to the overall story since there doesn't appear to be any ominous consequences threatening Bonnie.

As in many Christmas stories, the female lead bonds with the widower's daughter which always adds a little bit of positive flavor for me.

The acting is OK. There is some good dialogue.

Was the main character played by Meghan Ory contractually obligated to laugh every 10-30 seconds? Also, who did she anger in the costume department because the wardrobe was abysmal.

The concept was good, and I fully understand that this a fluffy Hallmark movie, but I really think it would have been a better movie if she had toned down the happy, happy, happy by about 100%.

Christopher Russell and Ellie Cluett as the father and daughter were good, and of course who couldn't benefit from a personal shopper, especially at Christmas!

The movie was fine, there's definitely been others this year that I've enjoyed much more.

This movie owes five of its seven stars to our lead, Meghan Ory, who looks remarkably like Jessica Pare (Mad Men). Yet, that's not her only positive quality. Ory just shines in every scene. She's a personal shopper, because apparently that's a thing. She never talks budget with her clients that we see, but that doesn't seem to be a concern for anyone. She meets a handsome construction guy and through gift giving, falls in love. Don't ask me how it works, but it does. This is a charming movie. I saw a few negative reviews, and I just don't get it. I'm as judgy as the next person, but this was a cute movie that was helped a lot by its leads.

This is a cute Christmas movie about a Christmas personal shopper who is hired by her new client's nephew. She surprises the new client, Patrick, by excitedly talking about shopping, what to buy, etc. Patrick is totally annoyed. She buys Patrick a sweater that is too small for him, so she suggests that he go shopping with her, so she can get the right size.

This is a good movie, but the other movies that I've seen them in (Megan Ory was in the hilarious "Dashing Through the Snow," and Christopher Russell was in "Love and Glamping" and "Chasing Waterfalls." Christopher Russell is at his best when he plays outdoorsy types). Cute movie; but I don't think I want to watch it again.

This movie is a knockoff of the enchanting "A Gift Wrapped Christmas". I enjoyed the original so much, I thought I would give this one a try. Boy, was I disappointed. There was zero chemistry between the leads. The script was largely uninspired. It was like the director took the story boards from the original and turned out a two-dimensional talk fest that echoes the movie on which it is based solely by its plot elements. There were times I could hear the cue cards in the actors' delivery. In particular, the lead actress turns in a performance so wooden, that I wondered if she had recently overdosed on Botox injections. Her constant smile never got to engaging and went right to creepy. If you have not seen "A Gift Wrapped Christmas", find a copy of that to watch rather than this garbage.

I gave this an 8.

I'm not sure it deserves an 8, but I'm so happy to see Meghan Ory back in a Christmas movie.

I never understood why she wasn't doing them. She's so perfect for them and after a fantastic movie in Dashing through the Snow, she vanished from the genre.

Well, she's back, here playing a bubbly personal shopper with a flamboyant style all her own, tasked with working her magic on a gruff building contractor played by Christopher Russel.

It seems like every other movie has had Russell in it this year, but he's really shown his development as an actor as all the roles are very diverse.

This movie was probably not the greatest Hallmark movie of all time, the chemistry maybe not the best, etc., but it was fun to watch, and I would definitely recommend it.

Welcome back Meghan.

I watched this movie as it was filmed in Halifax, NS, and I love to support local film and tv. Disappointed in the experience though.

The acting was poor and unbelievable. Several lines felt jumbled, like the actor forgot and filled in the blanks. Set design was awful. Several filming locations were reused and staged to be different places. Whoever designed the house construction set has never been to a construction site.

It's a shame, because the premise of the movie actually had some originality to differentiate it between other standard Hallmark/Christmas movies. So much wasted potential.

7.9 stars.

The first part of this film was like a train wreck for me. I couldn't stop watching as I was intrigued by what appeared to be a failure, but it was still kinda fun. I love the actors, that wasn't the problem, but the way she acted, so gaudy and odd, almost like she was the weird second cousin of Mary Poppins or something. Couldn't quite put a finger on the mannerisms and oddness. Anyways, she does become endearing after a while, then I still couldn't stop watching because it was so darn entertaining and I had to continue this movie. But I had to go eat supper, so I paused it for a while and then came back to finish, and mostly it was great. The twist at the end, or near the end, was a bit deflating, didn't like how things went. Maybe it was just a simple misunderstanding, but was too juvenile to fit into the high quality portrait of a narrative that had already been painted. Nevertheless, I wink at the apparently minute discrepancy in an otherwise wonderful love story between a flamboyant personal shopper and a handsome father.

I wasnt expecting much but this movie surpriced me. The acting by the female lead Meghan Ory was the main reason for this. She carried most of this production but supporting actors like the male lead, his daughter, the sister and others where also doing good.

The downside with these productions is they are cheap with lame stories and all the characters are made in the same mold. Everyone behave the same, always upbeat do gooders or just lame. No depth, just fake. This movie was better in these aspect, The story was slightly surprising and the acting story was less lame and more genuine than I expected.

With that said, its a tv-movie. So dont expect to be thrown off your seat, its cute however it got some miles to go before reaching the quality of cinematic productions.

This seemed to be a reboot of 'A Gift Wrapped Christmas' and boy did it fall short.

I generally don't mind Meghan Ory, but her performance was such a disappointment. Her high pitched, sing-songy voice was grating. Meredith Hagner's delivery was much more believable and I found her character more endearing in the original movie.

The romantic relationship between Ory and Christopher Russell was a stretch. Where was the chemistry? Also, the feel-good, sisterly bond between Ory and Aria Publicover felt so forced.

Lastly, Costumes was a huge letdown, right along with Hair. YIKES! Meghan is quite beautiful, but they did her dirty.

I'm glad to be able to cross this off my list, but that's the only positive take-away. Skip this and watch the original Hallmark movie if you still can!

There is some good chemistry between the leads in this Hallmark holiday romance. The beautiful Meghan Ory stars as Bonnie Parker, a personal shopper who loves her job but has no romance in her life. Opposite her is hunky Christopher Russell, who plays Patrick Armstrong, a widowed contractor whose schedule allows him little time with his daughter.

When Bonnie goes to work for Patrick, her optimism clashes with his pragmatism, and she has to work hard to alter his perceptions of style, fatherhood, and life in general. Working against her is Fiona Appleby (Jenn Grant), who plots passive-aggressively to win Patrick for herself. Fiona is the voice teacher of Patrick's daughter, Phoebe, who is portrayed brilliantly by Ellie Cluett.

This is a feel-good film that relies heavily on its actors, who deliver an enjoyable romance with heart.

This review is far overdue but I watched this movie over the holidays n found it absolutely delightful.

Everything about this movie was fun.

It was heart felt and beautiful.

Meghan Ory is absolutely delightful to watch, beautiful n always has such a kind smile that lights up.

I have watched her in Chesapeake Shores n I loved her in it!

I must have watched that show a hundred times n it never gets boring.

The clothes that Meghan wears are absolutely gorgeous n stylish.

I loved all her coats n dresses in this movie.

I hope she does more series and movies like this.

Her and her real life husband John Reardon are kind and cute couple.

He's in the show Hudson and Rex, Meghan has also guest starred in it.

Hope Meghan does more movies like this for Hallmark.

She's sweet n kind and a very good actress.

I really enjoyed this movie and put me right into the Christmas mood. A great simple story but one character that stood out was the assistant Bernard who I believe was played by Henry Keefe. Boy oh boy can he put on a performance, I couldn't get enough of him! I believe it was his first acting role too, and he came out swinging. Only thing I didn't like about the movie was how Bernard wasn't in it more. He gives hints of a young Al Pichino or Robert De Niro, and he's nothing short of a handsome fella. Anyways, just thought I give credit where credit is due. Hats off to you kid, you got a bright future ahead of you.

"The Secret Gift of Christmas" (2023)

Some reviewers compared this film to "A Gift-Wrapped Christmas" (2015), calling that one "the original." Well, there are not really many "original" romance stories, as any fan of this genre knows. In this case, Hallmark also released "The 12 Gifts of Christmas," another personal shopper film in 2015--so there you go. Rather than compare a new film to one's old favorite(s), I'd rather simply review the film at hand.

"The Secret Gifts of Christmas" stars the beautiful Meghan Ory with another well-known rom-com veteran, Christopher Russell. Both actors did a very good job in their respective roles. Ory plays a vivacious personal Christmas shopper hired by a construction boss (and single father) with no time to shop for his clients and employees at Christmas. I'm not going to reveal the film's entire story here. Suffice it to say that both Ory and Russell do a fine job in their respective roles. Some reviewers criticized Ory for her bright Christmasy wardrobe, but that simply struck me as appropriate for her role--and to match her character's enthusiastic personality.

The supporting cast here was quite good as well. Aria Publicover plays Ory's sister. They are very believable as sisters. In the only negative scene, which I classed as Hallmark relying on a bit of a tired trope, Publicover sets up her sister with an at-home date under the pretense of the fellow being a new shopping client, only to admit once it was too late to get out of it that the man sitting in their kitchen was a "date" for Ory's character. Of course he turns out to be a real dipsqueek. On the other hand, Publicover later helps Ory deal with some issues Ory has with their father, so the sisterly relationship works both ways. No one is perfect in every way, eh?

Another stand-out actor was Ellie Cluett, who plays Russell's young daughter--she and Ory develop a touching bond. And If there is a "bad guy" in the film it's played by Jenn Grant, who is the music teacher for Russel's daughter. Again, I'll leave you to see how that all plays out. I'll just say that the obligatory, late-in-the-film "misunderstanding" between Ory and Russell, mandatory in all romance movies, of course, was somewhat poorly done in this one. As good as the rest of the film was, this surely could have been handled much better. But perhaps the filmmakers thought they were being subtle?

All in all however, the story here was quite good. The various characters all listened to one another, and listening is, of course, required for stories to work out as they should. The other aspects of the movie, scenery, etc., were nothing to complain about. I think if you watch this one, you might well enjoy it!