The Book Connection...: Movie Review: Love's Christmas Journey (2011)

The last of the Love Comes Softly inspired original Hallmark Channel movies aired in 2011. Love's Christmas Journey finds recently widowed Ellie King (Natalie Hall) visiting her widower brother Aaron Davis (Greg Vaughn) and his two children, played by Ryan Wynott and Jada Facer, in the town of Harrington.

Mayor Wayne (Sean Astin) is hopeful the new railroad will come through town, so with the help of well-respected townsfolk like Mrs. Beatrice Thompson (JoBeth Williams) and Mr. Cunningham (Stephen Bridgewater), along with the mayor's wife, Adrienne (Amanda Foreman), they are putting together a special Christmas celebration.

However, the Scrooge-like Alex Weaver (Charles Shaughnessy) is more interested in buying up land around town. When the railroad comes through, he will reap the rewards of owning so much property.

Having heard of a potential buyer for land near his farm, Aaron decides to travel to the land office in Everettsville to purchase it first. Ellie agrees to stay with the children. Aaron's good friend and deputy, Michael (Dylan Bruce), agrees to check in on them from time to time. Sparks fly between the two at their introduction, but Ellie has already lost so much that she might not be ready to love again.

Meanwhile, Erik Johnson (Bobby Campo) was left in town by his no-good daddy years ago. He was taken in by Aaron to help on the farm. But the townsfolk remember his daddy's ways, and Erik can't seem to gain their trust. He's smitten with the mayor's daughter, Suzanna (Annika Noelle), but their sneaking around behind her parents' backs leads to disaster when a fire destroys the inside of the Waynes' barn and the railroad plans are stolen.

When Aaron doesn't arrive home when expected, the family fears the worst. Then a horrible storm blows through town, damaging property and threatening plans for the Christmas celebration. Can the town pull together to create a special Christmas? And will Aaron arrive home in time to spend Christmas with his children?

Love's Christmas Journey created a storyline around Aaron Davis--Marty and Aaron Claridge's baby boy born in Love Comes Softly. Raised by Marty and Clark, alongside Missie and Arnie Davis, he was absent from the series after Love's Enduring Promise. Ellie is the second child born to Clark and Marty in the books, even though we don't meet her in the previous films.

With commercial breaks, this movie clocks in at four hours, which is substantially longer than the other movies, and was broken into two parts when it aired. This is understandable because there are so many plots and subplots along the way.

It's hard to say where this falls in the Love Comes Softly timeline because of the last two movies focusing on Belinda. Aaron is probably in his 30s during Love's Christmas Journey, so maybe this takes place after the last movie.

For me, nothing compares to the acting between Katherine Heigl and Dale Midkiff in Love Comes Softly. Though some of the movies come close, and Love's Christmas Journey is a good movie in terms of content, I miss the strong chemistry between the two people meant to fall in love. Perhaps that's because so much else was happening while Ellie and Michael's and Erik and Suzanna's romances unfolded. Maybe the film was just too ambitious.

Just like in Love Takes Wing, this seasonal movie also had more of a focus on the harsher realities of a small town in the 1800s.

SPOILERS AHEAD in white

Erik's life is threatened by a man in town because his father had stolen everything he owned.
Ellie's husband and daughter are killed when a tornado hits their barn, which causes her to experience PTSD.
An armed robber steals from an unsuspecting husband and wife who were traveling; taking all their money and what he could carry, while sending them off in the woods to freeze.
That same armed robber shoots Aaron on his way back from Everettsville, leaving him for dead.
Christopher gets lost in the woods searching for his father and almost dies when he eats poisonous berries.

This is actually something I like to see because of its historical accuracy. But I feel like the romance storylines were lost and that certain scenes or subplots dragged on longer than necessary. Remember the scene in Love Comes Softly when a horrible snowstorm blows up unexpectedly and Clark must search for Marty in a whiteout? That scene was succinct. It created the necessary drama, but then Marty was safe and all was well until the next thing that happened. It's almost like they brought Ellie to Harrington too early, so that there were days and days that they had to fill with extraneous content. Despite that, I still enjoyed Love's Christmas Journey. I just fast-forwarded through the slower parts.

If you're looking for a western Christmas movie, Love's Christmas Journey would be worth checking out. And if you're a fan of the movie series, it's nice to see Aaron Davis again. This movie stays true to the faith, family, and community feel of the series, which is what is attractive to its target market. I simply wished the content was delivered in a tighter, more dramatic way.

Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.78:1
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.6 x 5.4 x 7.6 inches; 1.6 Ounces
Item model number ‏ : ‎ 115571
Director ‏ : ‎ David S. Cass Sr., David S. Cass, Sr.
Media Format ‏ : ‎ Multiple Formats, AC-3, NTSC, Dolby, Color, Subtitled, Widescreen
Run time ‏ : ‎ 2 hours and 51 minutes
Release date ‏ : ‎ October 30, 2012
Actors ‏ : ‎ Greg Vaughan, JoBeth Williams, Natalie Hall, Sean Astin, Ernest Borgnine
Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English, Spanish
Producers ‏ : ‎ Lincoln Lageson
Language ‏ : ‎ English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Studio ‏ : ‎ 20th Century Studios
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B009A9EMYM