Tom Cavanaugh

It’s fun to recommend Christmas movies I have watched, and I have recommended this one — Trading Christmas — in compilation posts other years but thought I’d break it out for a separate post this year.

Trading Christmas is an older Hallmark movie (2011) and I know I might be scolded for this but I find the older Hallmark movies so much better than the more modern ones.

The movie is based on the book of the same title by Debbie Macomber.

I stumbled onto this one by accident about four years ago and have watched it every Christmas season since then.

It stars Tom Cavanaugh and Faith Ford and it has humor, sweet moments, romance, and it’s about a writer so you know it interested me.

Like I said, it is a Hallmark movie and (again) I know that they have a reputation for being poorly written and cheesy but this, like Signed, Sealed, Delivered holds up pretty well and is worth the watch. Will there be a trope or two you roll your eyes at? Yeah, probably, but I think Tom Cavanaugh’s sarcasm and snarkyness (a new word?) will help heal those wounds.

The premise behind the movie is that Emily (Faith Ford) was expecting her daughter Heather (Emma Lahana) to come home from college for Christmas, but Heather wants to go somewhere else with her boyfriend this year. She doesn’t tell Emily she’s going to be traveling with her boyfriend, though, just that she’s staying in Boston, where she attends college. With that news, Emily must decide what to do with herself.

She doesn’t want to stay in her small town and Christmas-centric house alone. After all, her husband passed away six years ago, and she’s always had her daughter home with her. Her friend Faith (Gabriella Miller) calls to talk and when Emily talks about how sad she is that Heather isn’t coming home, Faith tells her she should do something bold this year for Christmas and let her daughter grow up on her own.

Faith takes this advice to heart but still wants to see her daughter, so she signs up for a house trade with a man named Charles (Tom Cavanaugh) who lives in Boston. Emily lives in a beautiful house in a tiny town and Charles lives in a studio apartment in Boston. A small town away from everything is exactly where Charles wants to be because he’s trying to rewrite his latest novel.

Emily and Charles both run into their own snags once they arrive at their swaps. First, Emily’s daughter isn’t in Boston when she arrives, but instead has gone to Arizona with her boyfriend. Second, Tom’s brother Ray (Gil Bellows) calls the police on Emily because he thinks she has broken into his brother’s apartment. He’s the one that suggested Charles swap houses with someone, but suggested Charles not tell anyone where he was going. He didn’t know Charles wouldn’t tell him either.

Ray, by the way, is a perfect gentleman after he accidentally almost has Emily arrested.

Charles, however, is not a perfect gentleman when Faith shows up at Emily’s house thinking she will surprise Emily for Christmas (because Faith didn’t tell her about the trading houses thing either). This creates some hilarious interactions and arguments during which Charles tries to send Faith home but can’t because there are no buses leaving the little town until Christmas Day.

As I mentioned above, this is one I really enjoy watching each year.

I own this one, but I just found out yesterday that it is currently free on YouTube (that’s as I am writing this in December 2024). You can also watch it on Amazon with a premium subscription, Apple TV for purchase, The Roku Channel, Vudu, and YouTube Premium.

*This post is part of the Comfy, Cozy Christmas Link Up for 2024. If you have a Christmas/holiday post you would like to share you can find the link HERE or at the top of the page here on my blog.

Here are three movies I am recommending you watch to keep yourself in the Christmas spirit this weekend.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered For Christmas

I watched this one a week before last and I enjoyed it as much as I did the first time I watched it two years ago. Now, is this movie a bit cheesy like most Hallmark movies? Yes, but it also has some of the most poignant, beautiful, and touching moments I’ve seen in a movie not produced by a Christian company. There are messages in this movie that so clearly point to Christ and redemption it is mind-blowing.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered was a show for a brief time on the Hallmark Channel and follows the lives of four people who work for the old letter office in the United States Postal Service. The characters in the show take a letter or package and try to reunite it with its owner, no matter how many years have passed since it was lost.

Sometimes the show is unbelievable and maybe a little silly but I fell in love with the characters so I continued to watch it when they made the show into TV movies instead. There are several (sorry, I didn’t stop to count before I wrote this) 90-minute movies featuring the characters and I believe I’ve watched all of them now.

I watched this on Peacock this year but you can also watch it through the Hallmark Channel on Amazon or the Hallmark Channel app, I believe, but don’t quote me on that.

Trading Christmas

I have watched this movie at least once every Christmas since finding it four years ago. It stars Tom Cavanaugh and Faith Ford and it has humor, sweet moments, romance, and it’s about a writer so you know it interested me.

It is a Hallmark movie (again) and (again) I know they have a reputation for being poorly written and cheesy but this, like Signed, Sealed, Delivered holds up pretty well and is worth the watch. Will there be a trope or two you roll your eyes at? Yeah, probably, but I think Tom Cavanaugh’s sarcasm and snarkiness will help heal those wounds.

The premise behind the movie is that Faith Ford was expecting her daughter to come home from college for Christmas but the daughter wants to go somewhere else with her boyfriend so Faith’s character has to decide what to do with herself. Her husband passed away six years ago but she’s always had her daughter home with her. Her friend (Gabriella Miller) tells her on the phone she should do something bold this year for Christmas and let her daughter grow up on her own. Faith takes this advice to heart and signs up for a Christmas trade with Tom Cavanaugh’s character. Faith lives in a little tiny and Tom lives in New York City so he comes to the tiny town to finish his novel and Faith goes to NYC to have a new experience. While there she meets Tom’s brother played by Gil Bellows and – well, no spoilers here but he is a perfect gentleman.

Tom on the other hand is not a perfect gentleman when Faith’s friend shows up at her house, thinking she will surprise Faith for Christmas (because Faith didn’t tell her about the trading houses thing).

I own this one but you can watch it on Amazon with a premium subscription, Apple TV for purchase, The Roku Channel, Vudu, and YouTube Premium. I also found it free on YouTube with captions in another language but I can’t vouch for it being the full movie.

One Special Night

This movie is for us oldies – it features two well-known actors – James Gardner and Julie Andrews – who are stranded together in a cabin in the woods. Yes, it is that old trope but it is a very subtle and sweet use of it and not a raunchy one. Julie’s character lost her husband a year earlier but is visiting the staff at the nursing home and James’ character is visiting his ill wife.

A storm is coming and Julie offers James a ride home. Her car crashes in the snow and they start walking and find an old cabin. They spend the night there and end up getting to know each other. There are a series of miscommunications and misunderstandings after that, including the complication of James’ wife still being alive. Lest you think this is a movie about cheating, it is not. It is all very tastefully addressed and the relationship between James and Julie remains a friendship throughout most of the movie.

I found this one a bit predictable but still sweet especially because the main actors were such legendary ones.

I watched this one on Amazon but I see it is now streaming for free on several streaming services including Peacock, The Roku Channel, Tubi, Pluto, Plex, Vudu, and Amazon with an Amazon Prime Video subscription.