'Countdown to Christmas' movie review: 'A Timeless Christmas'
The charming time travel romance 'A Timeless Christmas' (premiering Nov. 15 as part of the Hallmark Channel's Countdown to Christmas) is an absolute showcase for Hallmark favorite Ryan Paevey.
In short: Inventor Charles Whitley (Paevey, 'A Summer Romance') unexpectedly time travels from 1903 to 2020 where he meets Megan Turner (Erin Cahill, 'The Secret Ingredient') and experiences a 21st Century Christmas.
The fact that Charles isn't constantly freaking out about all the new fangled technology around him works to the credit of 'Timeless.' The script establishes Charles as an even-keeled, sensible man who is practical almost to the point of being stuffy. He's no nonsense but not to the point of being rude or brusque. Paevey is the consummate gentleman out of time - and it's impossible to imagine anyone else cast in the role of Charles Whitley.
The subtle undercurrent of 'Timeless' is how a gentleman like Charles Whitley is totally out of place in the early 21st century ... and maybe that's not a great thing. The world has changed all about his former mansion, but supporting characters always seem most thrown by Whitley's chivalrous manners.
'Timeless' has its requisite fun with the anachronistic Charles trying to wrap his 1903 head around TV and cat memes, but the movie doesn't lose focus on what the time jump means to Charles. Arguably, the movie prioritizes his emotions related to losing his entire world in a moment above all else in the movie - as it should be. A lazier movie would have allowed the plot-centric "Megan helps Charles return to 1903" to eclipse all else - but the script only sparingly relies on that element to push the movie forward.
Instead, 'Timeless' allows Charles Whitley to truly let the shock of what happened to him wash over him - and lets him take in his new reality. A movie like this always boils down to "will he stay or will he go," but this choice only works when the script firmly cements what the conflicted protagonist lost and what he's found. And 'Timeless' succeeds wonderfully, by really digging into how much he valued those around him in the past and finding new connections in the 21st century.
Final verdict: Paevey steps into a crazy, high-concept time travel romance - and he completely grounds an otherwise fantastic story in one gentleman's journey.
Score: 4 calling birds (out of 5)
'A Timeless Christmas' is rated TV-G and has a running time of 90 minutes. The movie premieres on The Hallmark Channel on Nov. 15.
