**This review is contributed by Super Channel—a channel dedicated to providing integrity and accountability in today’s entertainment.
A sweet movie about the virtues of starting out with a self-centered life plan, but happily derailing it for the sake of that special someone who enhances your life’s dream more than you could ever imagine. And you will love the precocious and confident young Abi, played by Bianca Sas, who makes her ideas known without hesitation and adds so much to her family unit. A good script, great cast, believable storyline, and Dove-approved for all ages.
Julia Wilson (Cory Lee) is warmly welcomed by Publisher Delphine (Maria Syrgiannis), who gushes over Julia’s cookbook contents only to be stopped short as Julia asks for more time to add one more recipe, that of the perfect gingerbread cookie like her mom used to make.
As Julia and her baker, AJ (Vas Saranga) taste test all the recipe contest submissions, Julia’s eyes light up as she bites into “the perfect one” and it’s off to small-town Wisconsin to meet with the bakery owner, Kris Thompson (Yannick Bisson). Who wouldn’t be pleased to have their recipe published in a Christmas cookbook? A piece of cake … or cookie? What could go wrong?
As Kris arrives at his bakery, he tosses his mail on the counter with a visible “PAST DUE” stamped on the envelope … the new fancy bakery across the street has hurt his sales.
When Julia arrives at Kris’s bakery, he knows nothing about a sample basket of cookies that Julia claims was entered in her contest, and he flatly refuses to allow his recipe to be exploited in a national cookbook that would only diminish his sales if everyone could bake them at home. Julia can’t believe what she is hearing and is taken aback by the outright snub. Who had the audacity to enter his prize gingerbread without permission? Kris is not happy…
In Julia’s determination to publish Kris’s recipe she wildly promises to increase his sales by 50% prior to Christmas in exchange for the recipe, an offer Kris cannot refuse. As they brainstorm together, Kris is seeing an honesty and caring quality in Julia who is not just using exploitive tactics for her own purposes… until her publisher calls. When Julia packs up to leave, Kris is blindsided and disbelieving. Julia is shaken after discovering how important the recipe is to Kris’s family but the commitment to her cookbook and publisher must take precedence.
Kris is angry with himself for trusting Julia. Julia is upset for allowing herself to be pushed by the publisher, and for pursuing her cookbook dream at the expense of Kris’s family memories. But when Irene (Jayne Eastwood) reveals the real story behind the gingerbread cookie recipe, the true meaning of sharing and caring jolts Kris and Julia into listening to their hearts and to what will ultimately make them happiest.
The Dove Take
It feels good to share. If you can share something you love with somebody you care about, it creates a whole new level of joy. Don’t miss out on those special times that make life enjoyable… and you may just find true love in the (cookie) mix!
