Hatcher and Payle are divorced, and we wonder whether McRae is attempting a Parent Trap. This fear is promptly dispelled when Hatcher arrives at the chalet and has her first adorable conversation with its taciturn owner-manager, William deVry. There's no room at the inn, but no matter, Hatcher is willing to stay in the servant's quarters and perform "chalet girl" duties to earn her keep. Because it's a movie, her vlogs demonstrating how to fold napkins and clean toilets revive the star of the faded celebrity of her character, a former television reporter.
How others will see it. marykeesha, in an imdb.com user review, notes small problems with the film. Hatcher's "chalet girl" room is as luxurious as a suite, Hatcher's magic suitcase provides no end of clothing for her during her stay, and two "chalet girls" would hardly provide sufficient staff to maintain the chalet during its peak season.
cynet-52332 notes that Hatcher is too old to play the mother of twenty-ish model-actor Brendan McRae, unless she proved the canard "life begins at forty" by having her first and only child at that age.
Though the age difference between those two is not nearly as suspect as that between William deVry and child model-actress Mila Jones. I missed the part where her presence was explained. Perhaps she was left in a basket on the front step as an infant. It worked for Moses.
How I felt about it. Teri Hatcher, costar of the hit television series "Desperate Housewives", won both an Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award in 2005 for her performances. Those trophies first graced her fireplace mantle upwards of 20 years ago, but she still has acting chops. If you don't see her in movies anymore, it's because she is pushing 60, has crinkly skin about her eyes, and is in need of a neck tuck.
She is no longer a remarkable beauty, but her acting is as good as ever. Which is what matters here. Given the number of Xmas movies that Lifetime pumps out each year, Hatcher may have had her choice of scripts to choose from. She probably chose the right one.
Alas, the formula of a television Christmas romance movie ensures that the second half of the movie will be less interesting, and more predictable, than the first half. The jerk ex-husband may beg Hatcher to take him back, even when the clueless blonde girlfriend half his age is sitting beside him. And of course Hatcher will say no to the tall jerk ex with the big chest, and she would say no even if the inevitable romance with the conveniently unattached chalet owner wasn't already brewing.
Yes, there will be a misunderstanding between Hatcher and the chalet owner that will briefly delay their long-anticipated romantic triumph. But only briefly. The romance-hungry audience gets a two-for-one when Hatcher's cute and conveniently unattached son falls for cute and conveniently unattached "chalet girl" Aleksandra Cross and her immaculate dark perm.
Because it is a movie, Hatcher faces no repercussions for dumping a plate of hot wet food in the lap of her ex-husband while serving him. Methinks this is assault, a crime more prosecutable than the mere offer of a drink, but it barely raises the eyebrows of her ostensible boss, William deVry.
Hatcher also starred in a another 2023 Christimas television movie, How to Fall in Love by Christmas. As fate would have it, the man she falls in love with in that movie is the same actor, Dan Payne, that plays her none-too-bright ex-hubby in the present movie.