Angel of Christmas (2015 TV Movie) User Reviews

The Angel is Watching...

[kz917-1 · 7/10 · 6 December 2017]

A woman is gifted a wooden Christmas Angel that has been passed from generations and sets to write a newspaper article about the history of it. The angel was originally made by her Great Grandfather for an actress that he loved, but their love never worked out.

The angel has had a hand in her grandparents meeting and also in her parents meeting. So her mother is hoping the same ending for her.

The potential love interests include an artist with a love of Christmas and a coworker who eschews Christmas and all it entails.

Cute concept and movie.

Haunted By An Angel

[boblipton · 6/10 · 1 December 2015]

Hallmark ends its first batch of Christmas romantic comedies for 2015 with this highly watchable effort. Jennifer Finnigan writes a story about her family's heirloom wooden angel. In talking to her relatives about legends that have accumulated around it, she comes to understand and accept the nature of faith and, this being a Hallmark TV movie, falls in love with laid-back artist Jonathan Scarfe.

Although the story is nicely handled with a pleasant bit of whimsy -- is the angel actually doing something or is it all coincidence? -- there are a couple of technical aspects that might have been better handled. Conversations between Ms. Finnigan and Mr. Scarfe are shot in a lot of short clips, when a slower cutting speed might have helped; and there is a lot of obvious and poorly executed dialogue looping during the tree-buying scene.

However, the loveliness of the story and the fine performances by the leads render those two complaints minor. This is the best of the batch of Hallmark Christmas romcoms and worth seeing on its own account.

Watchable but what an ugly angel

[luciabcn86 · 6/10 · 17 December 2019]

My main gripe is, if you're gonna make a movie based around an angel one of the characters has made, cant you at least make a pretty angel? She was probably the ugliest angel I've ever seen.

Also, the female lead made so many annoying faces, and the plot was fairly predictable.

But it wasn't all bad; a watchable TV movie.

Watch During The Holidays

[Christmas-Reviewer · 7/10 · 28 November 2017]

I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 400 (C H R I S T M A S ) MOVIES AND SPECIALS.

BEWARE OF SOME REVIEWERS THAT ONLY HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW. WHEN ITS A POSITIVE THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE PRODUCTION. NOW I HAVE NO AGENDA! I AM HONEST! I REVIEW MOVIES & SPECIALS AS A WAY TO KEEP TRACK OF WHAT I HAVE SEEN! I HAVE DISCOVERED MANY GEMS IN MY QUEST TO SEE AS MANY Christmas MOVIES AS I CAN.

In this movie a woman's life changes in unexpected ways when, in the process of writing a newspaper article about her family's heirloom Christmas ornament, she meets an enthusiastic artist. The heirloom seems to bring people together. Our protagonist is someone who isn't looking for love but is not against it either.

The film is one of those you should watch on a cold December Night. It is a very romantic but predictable.

This film however is better than the average Hallmark movie. It has some very pretty settings and a story that will spark something even in the most cynical viewer.

One of Hallmark's Better Ones

[docm-32304 · 7/10 · 6 December 2021]

I'm not a big fan of Hallmark pseudo-Christmas movies as they tend to be little more than sophomoric romances that just happen to be around Christmas time. This one is different. It is more adult in it's treatment of relationships, well acted for the most part and there is both mystery and Christmas magic in this film. The him turning the lead around. Character of the artist is well played and you really do root for.

Better than the average mystery

[MickyG333 · 7/10 · 9 January 2024]

7.3 stars.

What is lacking in overall entertainment quality and tension, is mostly compensated by a decent mystery and some not so bad romance. You don't see these two main actors in much these days, so it was a refreshing change from the usual people.

The story is about a woman who is very reluctant to change anything in her life. She is by-the-book, predictable, and practical. She is one of many editors at a NYC newspaper. She meets a couple of different eligible men, both are great looking. One is a co-worker, the other is an artist. She goes back and forth on which one she prefers, and in the end it's the mystery that helps her make the decision and brings them together.

This is a more intricate bit of writing than the usual. The mystery itself has more than the standard one or two layers of depth. I enjoyed the plot for that alone. There are some slow moving parts and the romance factor is not the familiar sort that keeps me wanting more, but it's pleasant and definitely deserves a very solid 7 stars, just not quite enough to squeak by as an 8.

Horrible

[linaalyaslami · 1/10 · 31 December 2019]

Starting with a super creepy angel, then an annoying artist who has about 0 chemistry with the main character and has paint on his face (yeah, artists walk around with paint on their faces just to let everyone know they paint!?), then that horrific painting and finally those letters that managed to stay hidden for sooo long just for her to find them. "Brady" looks at "susan" as if he is more in love with himself than her, so it really makes you wish they had never kissed!!!

One Great Angel Mystery Delight.

[gehewe · 9/10 · 31 December 2018]

Highly recommend watching this movie. The mystery behind the carved angel in the story exceeded my expectations. The summary indicated that the angel was a rather dull thing. The wooden angel linked events that occurred in 1926 with the current characters and that story was slowly revealed during the movie. Well done! The cast was great. I saw Jonathan Scarfe in "Love on the Air (2015)" and that is what got me to watch this one. Glad I did. He played a similar role here. First time I've seen Jennifer Finnigan and I enjoyed it. Wanda Cannon (Val Stanton on Heartland) played the mom and this was about the best role I've seen her in. She was very effective. This movie was a delight to watch. Not sure if I'll watch it again because I now know the 1926 story. Not quite a perfect 10 because of a few issues in revealing the 1926 story. Loved it though.

Creepy Angel

[dtdenver-987-925546 · 4/10 · 7 December 2018]

The subject of the movie - a wooden angel - looks alarmingly like Tori Spelling. I would think the movie people could have come up with something less hideous. The portrait the artist paints of the heroine - also hideous. It takes this girl 3 WEEKS to write an article? She seems to have no clue how to research - she just relies on the leading man to do the work for her. All in all - typical Hallmark.

The historical mystery sets this apart

[phd_travel · 8/10 · 23 February 2019]

Thank goodness there is no business to save in this Hallmark Christmas movie. An aspiring writer researches a story about her Great Grandfather and an actress. The historical element is quite interesting. In present day she has an artist chasing her. He wants to give up a huge career opportunity for her. But she has to make a choice. Things link up nicely.

Jennifer Finnigan is pretty and a good star for this kind of movie.

She Lives in New York??!??!!

[fishfryluv2 · 3/10 · 13 December 2015]

Christmas Angel is about a newspaper staffer who is trying to catch her big break by writing some story about her grandmother's wooden angel as this is apparently what the New York Times will run as their front page story. The angel kind of looks like a man in a woman's wig, but we won't focus on that aspect of the movie too much. I had a hard time believing that this newspaper staffer, who supposedly has not caught her big break, somehow lives in a giant apartment in Manhattan furnished by Jennifer Convertibles. The average rent in Manhattan topped $3,700/month this year; there is no way a struggling newspaper staffer would be able to afford her posh apartment in Soho. My wife also furiously pointed out that there is no way that she can come and go from her parent's house in the suburbs and be back in her huge Manhattan apartment on the night before her big article is due as if she was just driving down the block. How does she even own a car??? Parking alone would probably cost her annual salary. And then she goes to Murphysport, of all places, on Christmas Eve with no traffic! And this artist, who the movie established as someone who doesn't have his own studio somehow has this enormous cabin in Murphytown in upstate New York!! My wife and I were enraged at this beyond-belief fictional representation of New York City. I had supplemental rage at the fact that she was given something like two weeks to write this puff piece for the New York Times. That doesn't seem realistic. Her editor must have owed Struggling Susie a favor or something.

Also, this movie needed more Patrick Muldoon. Patrick Muldoon was not in this movie at all, and, as one of the great Christmas movie actors of our generation, he would have really provided the spark that this movie lacked. Though it was a close call, this movie, fortunately, did not ruin Christmas for my wife and me. My wife did threaten to kick the TV, but I talked her down with the promise of hot cocoa.

OMG! What a hideous angel.

[blownwideopen · 3/10 · 16 December 2018]

Realistically the movie is a 4 or 5. But I had to deduct points for the hideous and creepy angel and also for the horrifyingly ugly painting!!

Great Fab Unique Story

[kgunner-967-105156 · 10/10 · 2 January 2016]

During the holiday season tons of Christmas movies come out. They are purposely made to be feel good movies They are great to have on while you are putting decorations up - making cookies or anything to assist with that magical time of year. Which is a great thing especially that time of year. However you can only watch X amount of very expected guidelines with predictable repetitive story endings. Sometimes regardless of it being the holidays you want some substance. This offers just that. It is a great storyline that you really have to follow. Don't get me wrong it is still a feel good movie but part of that feel good you get is from when you walk away thinking wow!!! - That really was a great well thought nurtured storyline with an interesting story told!!! That is just my opinion - I say well worth watching & deciding yourself!!!

"Annabelle" of angels! Haha

[ginasharp · 3/10 · 8 November 2020]

Whoever was responsible for finding and / or deciding what angel was used in this film, should have been fired! Lol The Angel in this movie is hideous looking! It was like the "Annabelle" movies except she was an angel. Haha The storyline seemed like it missed the mark for me. This was not one of my favorite HM movies. I felt like the main girl was not likeable, I was unable to understand why the main guy would have actually pursued a girl like her. She was not at all interested and seemed mean to him but he kept pursuing her. They didn't seem like they would become a couple in real life. Hallmark can do better.

Good, fun movie. Jennifer Finnigan is cute as a button.

[tridotter · 8/10 · 28 October 2021]

Hallmark formula done well. Fun movie. We giggled a bit when it looked like Jonathan Scarfe was going to eat Jennifer's lips every time they kissed, but all's good.

Hallmark should put Jennifer Finnigan in literally everything.

Christmas angel

[TheLittleSongbird · 4/10 · 19 May 2020]

Really liked the premise for 'Angel of Christmas'. It sounded like it could be intriguing in its mystery element and be as heart-warming as one expects from a Christmas film (well certainly me anywhow). Also the concept for the film was quite different, well in the main plot line at least, from the usual premises for a Hallmark festive film, which tend to follow a certain formula with the odd variation every now and again. Despite how the rest of the review is going to sound, not all Hallmark festive films are bad, enough of them far from it.

'Angel of Christmas' is not a my definition of a terrible film either. It is though towards the bottom end of the spectrum when it comes to ratings and one of the mediocre ones. The concept is a great one, 'Angel of Christmas' is sadly a case of not doing enough with it. Outside of everything to do with the angel, which actually could have been done much better, it's pretty much standard Hallmark fare so not as original as it sounded on paper sadly.

There are good things here. Some of the photography is attractive and the scenery likewise. Really liked the character of Grandpa James, the most likeable and most interesting character by far due to being the source of the bouts of warmth and charm the film has. Some of the soundtrack is pleasant. There are moments of charm and heart.

Did find some of the acting quite good. Jonathan Scarfe is amiable as Brady and makes a real effort to make an initially not so likeable character easier to warm to. The best performance comes from a twinkling Francis X. McCarthy.

Jennifer Finnegan is less successful though. Did find Susan an obnoxious, over the top and unrealistic character, despite promise on paper, and Finnegan tries too hard, some of her performance is borderline mugging. There is not enough discernible chemistry between her and Scarfe, the relationship between them building too slowly and then developed hastily in a slightly choppy manner. Too much of the rest of the music is like other Hallmark films too loud and too constant.

A good deal of the dialogue is very corny and awkward, with a fair share of over-sentimentality. The story as said had a good and quite different premise but executed it too ordinarily. Found everything with the angel too unintentionally creepy in alternative to heart-warming, the mystery element is too slow paced and under-explored to intrigue and the rest is very formulaic with nothing new. Also found everything to do with Susan's job pretty unrealistic and the ending doesn't ring true either. Some of the photography was nice but there were other parts where it was fairly choppy.

So in a nutshell, mediocre and could have been so much more. 4/10

Convoluted story

[Jackbv123 · 4/10 · 7 December 2017]

I usually avoid spoilers. This review has massive ***SPOILERS***

I have to give the story some props because the premise of a writer doing a story on the history of a piece of art (the angel) is kind of unique. But a lot of what goes with that premise is ridiculous. And once we find out about Brady's tree on the roof, bingo, we know the ending.

But that ending makes so little sense. The purpose of the angel was not to bring great-grandma and great-grandpa together but to bring Susan and Brady together??? Great-grandpa built the cabin in Murphysburg but lived in Bethlehem and then gave it to great-grandma even after she rejected him??? Susan, the copy-editor and wannabe writer has a month to write ONE story which will qualify her to be a staff writer??? (Is that all she was doing for a month? Because that's what it looked like.)

OK, it's a love story. Actually two. And a Christmas story. There's a magic angel involved. I should just go along for the ride, right? I did, for the most part, but the acting wasn't good either. I usually like Jennifer Finnigan, but I thought her performance was stiff and shallow. Jonathan Scarfe had moments, but I also thought he was shallow. Tahmoh Penikett should have been a smooth player, but he was just a creepy stalker.

True Christmas story lovers may find this movie OK, but there are so many better ones.

Love this movie

[jewhitmer25 · 10/10 · 23 July 2021]

On my own rating scale, I gave this 5/5.

Such great chemestry between Jennifer Finnigan (Susan) and Jonathan Scarfe (Brady) from the very first scene

Not your average Hallmark Christmas movie, intriguing mystery about the family Christmas angel.

Holly Robinson Peete as Yvette was great, just enough the boss with a touch of irony and humor.

Christy Laing as Hayley, the best friend and co-worker was just the right mixture of cheer leader/encourager and relationship advisor. I'd want her as a best friend.

Tahmoh Penikett as Derek did a great job, from the first scene he gave me the creeps, the way he was pursuing Susan with little encouragement from her. He even tells her that she is on his to do list as the woman of his dreams, without having a single date.

The script was a nice mixture of Hallmark Christmas movie and mystery Great grandpa Owen carved a Christmas Angel for the beautiful actress he fell in love with. But he never married her. Who was she? Why did they never marry? What happened to her?

After they found the letters, Brady says "Looks like that angel knew what she was doing after all. Susan: " I think she still does. She whacked the heck out of Derek," Brady: "All right, that's my kind of angel"

Just a couple complaints: 1. That angel was ugly and seriously creepy, they could have made or found a prettier angel.

2. When Susan's grandfather calls her she says "Spring cleaning, in the summer." It's December.

I wish I owned this movie so I could watch it more. I have to rely on checking it out at the library. Currently it is unavailable for less than $85.00

My advice: Watch this movie.

A movie that didn't know what it wanted to be

[tampasaint · 2/10 · 5 January 2016]

While this wasn't the worst of Hallmark's Christmas movies in 2015, it was still below average and disappointing. It's not a spoiler, but lets just say the "twist" of the ending was no surprise.

While I give props to making the main character a newspaper copy editor -- a different occupation than usual -- these unbelievable newspaper details were just silly:

* She's never actually seen editing, only writing. * She's given about a month to write one story. * This is technical, but newspapers have been shrinking in physical size for several years. The paper she is holding at the newsstand looked almost twice as wide as today's newspapers. * Trust me, no newspaper report types "The End" * The editor assessing her first story is holding a printout of the story. It's 2015. At a major metro newspaper, it would all be done on computer.

Pretty good movie, but....

[mbiv · 8/10 · 8 November 2018]

Someone help me out: how did the guy's great grandmother wind up with the cabin when she broke it off with the girls great grandfather before he built it? Also, that angel looks more like Chris Cyborg than Jennifer Rose....😏

Disaster

[shannontohearn · 2/10 · 8 December 2019]

The unwarranted arrogance of the main character, let alone her complete incompetence as a journalist, was enough to turn me off both Christmas and dating for the foreseeable future.

Christmas boredom

[DogePelis2015 · 4/10 · 16 November 2020]

Another movie of the lot, boring and with bad performances, I do not recommend it.

Good

[jewelch · 8/10 · 13 November 2020]

I thought this was well worth watching. James Welch Henderson,Arkansas 11/ 11/ 2020

Creepy Christmas Angel

[tracyholley-89934 · 10/10 · 19 November 2020]

I agree with some of the other reviewers here about the Angel being very creepy looking but I don't agree on it being a horrible movie either. I really love most Hallmark movies and in my opinion it is one of the best. And the Angel just adds mystery to the story. If you love Hallmark movies then this is for you and well worth the watch.

Wonderful story!

[jennyelaine-03685 · 10/10 · 3 November 2020]

I thought this was an unusually good Hallmark movie - in my opinion it was one of the best! I liked both main characters and the storyline was very good with a surprising twist in the end!