USS Christmas (TV Movie 2020)

USS Christmas: Directed by Steven R. Monroe. With Jen Lilley, Trevor Donovan, Barbara Niven, Stefanie Butler. Maddie, a reporter for a Norfolk newspaper, embarks on a Tiger Cruise during Christmastime where she meets a handsome naval officer and stumbles upon a mystery in the ship’s archive room

“This is a warm and gentle Christmas movie. It is a bit slow at times, but, overall, a decent film. It is a romance, mystery movie, which makes sense as it is a Hallmark Movies u0026amp; Mysteries Channel original. The plot has been done often before: i.e., the lead or leads find love letters, photos, a ring, or some other object from a past great love, which they then try to solve. That said, there is a unique element to this story: the movie is set on an aircraft carrier (which I enjoyed). There are some very nice shots of the crafts and ship; I especially like the ship lit up in Christmas lights. I did not know what a Tiger cruise was; it is a very nice concept. Hallmark always has at least one military-focused Christmas movie each year; I read in the news that they have a good standing relationship with the military, meaning, I think, they got to use their ship in this one. As another reviewer on here discussed, this one has some similarities to those past military-focused Christmas films. The acting was good. Jen Lilley, a Hallmark regular, performs well in this genre of film. She had a very convincing performance here as Maddie. Trevor Donovanu0026#39;s portrayal of Lt. Billy Jenkins (aka the Grinch) was decent. To be honest, I sometimes find his performances to a bit stiff. That said, he has had some very good performances in, e.g., Love on a Limb and Love, Fall u0026amp; Order. Here he was a bit stiff as well, but his character was a military man with the call-sign the Grinch. So, it worked for me. The chemistry between the two was underdeveloped, I thought. The writer could have done more in this regard; I think, Donovan too could have given a bit more, romance wise, in his performance. The scenery, props, and sets were well-polished and festive; the latter is toned down a bit in this one. Overall, it is a fairly good movie. It might not be for everyone, but fans of Hallmarku0026#39;s mystery movies and movie series will no doubt enjoy this new edition to the 2020 Christmas movie lineup.”