Great American Family Movies

Image:  Great American Media A Lot Like Christmas Plot Summary A woman's Christmas tree farm must learn to compete against a big box chain store that threatens her family's livelihood when it begins selling trees too. Starring:  Maggie Lawson and Christopher Russell My movie grade:  A Christopher Russell's Best Role Christopher Russell has appeared in several Hallmark movies, but he's usually stereotyped as a handsome hunk who just stands around looking HOT.  It never seems to matter to Hallmark whether he has the best script or not, as long viewers swoon when he appears on screen. GAF actually taps into his skill set and allows Russell to show us what he can do.     Russell plays Clay, a very competitive marketing executive for a large corporation.  His job is to make Harvest Garden Supply (HGS) thrive in a small town known for only supporting local, small businesses.  Residents don't trust big chains, so they initially avoid patronizing HGS.  To win them over, Cl

  Image:  GAC Family Media The Winter Palace Plot Summary A novelist takes the opportunity to care for an empty winter chateau and uses the isolation to finish her book--until the prince who owns the property arrives. Starring:  Danica McKellar and Neal Bledsoe My Movie Rating:  A- McKellar & Bledsoe Create Sparks You may remember seeing McKellar and Bledsoe in Hallmark's 2017 Coming Home for Christmas and GAF's  Christmas at the Drive-In  in 2022.    Both actors generate the wonderful, on-screen chemistry viewers love. As in many royal romcoms, Emily (McKellar) isn't unduly intimidated by Henry's (Bledsoe) social status.  She manages to show respect to his position while still treating him like an ordinary person, and it's one of the things that attracts him to her.  She's open and refreshingly honest because she's not trying to "get" anything from him, like many people he's accustomed to encountering. One of the funniest scenes is when Em

Image:  GAC Family Media An Autumn Romance Plot Summary When a librarian loses her job, she visits her brother's family in Montana.  While she's there, she joins the town's effort to save the historical Graff Hotel from being renovated by a tech tycoon into an upscale tourist destination.  The goal is to unearth a historically significant event that took place at the hotel to qualify it for landmark status, but she only has a week to put her research skills to the test. Starring:  Jessica Lowndes and Chad Michael Murray Movie Grade:  C+ GAC Launches Network with a Weak Movie Romcom fans looking for an alternative to Hallmark Channel and its progressive turn were thrilled when former CEO, Bill Abbott, purchased GAC with the intent of working his movie magic to create the traditional movies they loved and that Hallmark had abandoned for woke programming. While Abbott may have felt the heat to capitalize on this hunger for clean, family-friendly movies before people grew impa

  Image:  GAC Family Media Royally Wrapped for Christmas Plot Summary The director of a charity organization travels to a kingdom to unwittingly be assessed for a position with the royal family's philanthropic efforts and falls in love with the prince. Starring:  Jen Lilley and Brendan Fehr My movie grade:  A+ Festive Heart Foundation At Christmas time, movies about generosity resonate with viewers, and in this story, Jen Lilley plays Lindsay Peterson--the ultimate do-gooder. Lindsay feels like a nobody who is never good enough, so she hides behinds the scenes at the charity organization she runs in Brooklyn, despite being the most successful director for the global outreach.   Festive Heart Foundation is based in the kingdom of Veronia, and it was founded by Queen Helena 100 years previously.  It all started when Helena visited a local orphanage and gave her first gift to a child in need.  The joy of helping children experience Christmas inspired her to start the foundation, and

Image:  GAC Family Media Jingle Bell Princess Plot Summary A princess finds herself stranded in Maine during the holidays and takes shelter with a handsome widowed father and his mother. Starring:  Merritt Patterson and Trevor Donovan My Rating:  A+ You Can't Go Wrong with Royal! No matter how old we get, we never ceased to be charmed by fairytale stories about a princess finding her happily-ever-after.  Jingle Bell Princess doesn't disappoint, and for those who think GAC original movies aren't as good as Hallmark, they might think twice after watching this gem. Merritt Patterson (Princess Amelia) manages to maintain a semi-convincing-yet-forced English accent throughout the movie--we expect royals to have one--and it lends itself to the regal aura of the story. Unlike most elitists, Amelia isn't afraid to get her hands dirty.  She paints, runs errands, and even washes a dog!  She spends time with Sam's (Trevor Donovan) daughter crafting and building a snowman.  S