Maps and Mistletoe
Say hello to Emilia (Humberly Gonzalez), the most adorable cartographer who has ever lived. I assume. Admittedly, I have never met a cartographer, and this would be the first movie I've seen in my life which has a cartographer as its main character, or a movie that has a cartographer who was any character, but I'm pretty sure those cartographers can't be any more adorable than Emilia. It's the holidays in... I don't know... let's call it Crescent Ridge Illinois, or whatever small midwestern town Vancouver and these Canadians are pretending to be in this movie, and with Emilia's parents in New Zealand visiting her sister's family, Emilia has plans for a nice Christmas alone. But not so fast! There is somebody in Crescent Corner causing a stir, taking pictures of stuff. This would be famed TV explorer Drew Campbell and his next story has bought him to Crescent Oaks to get a feeling for an authentic small town Christmas.
What does this have to with Emilia? Well, her boss, upon seeing a colorful children's map she was making for her nephew, has the bright idea that she should create a similar Holiday themed map of the North Pole. Emilia is okay with this, as long as the map has real North Pole facts to go along with Santa's workshop, Candy Cane Lane, or whatever Christmas B.S. her boss wants on this map. And since Emilia wants authenticity, how about some first hand information from the explorer who's in town who has actually been to the North Pole?
Emilia really doesn't like that idea because she's met Drew and does not like this man. He doesn't seem to respect Crescent Pines, calling it 'simple', plus he's always smiling and happy, and Emilia doesn't like that either. Worst still, everybody likes him, which she also doesn't like. Orders or orders however, so Drew is going to help her get her map done. But Drew has his own requirements for this agreement, and that would be someone to guide him on the ins and outs of a small town Christmas.
It's a rocky start for these two good looking kids, Emilia completely impervious to Drew's charm and Drew upset that Emilia's is resistant to his charms, but eventually they come to a mutual agreement and decide to help each other. Well that simple arrangement right there was the end of both of their hearts. Now it's time for them to do stuff, have deep conversations about family, tradition, and adventures or Emilia's lack thereof. Drew opens up and tells Emilia about the tragic death of his parents and how he travels to keep from dealing with the pain of losing them, which makes him an orphan in my book even though it only happened a couple of years ago when he was like forty. Emilia would like to experience the world, but her sister is the adventurous one, not the super-organized, risk averse, borderline obsessive compulsive Emilia. They go tobogganing, which looked dangerous AF to be honest with you, they make gingerbread houses, they murder a Christmas tree and then decorate it, they drink an endless number of peppermint lattes and even have a snowy picnic. After a particularly fun event, control freak Emilia completely loses control and just kisses the guy. These two are now officially a couple.
But what's going to break them up? Well, that's the strange thing about this movie, nothing really. There appeared to be an understanding between the two that Drew would eventually leave town, and Emilia seemed okay with that. She was prepared to get her heart broken because it would've been worth it, for if you lose love, at least you knew love, know what I'm saying? And even if Drew did decide he wanted to stay, his concerned editor made a surprise visit to Crescent Falls, being as her star explorer was a little lack in getting his story done, to see what the problem was. Once she identified the problem, this being Emilia, she threw an irresistible exploration opportunity Drew's way just to make sure he'd leave town. Shenanigans!
Drew leaves town for his next assignment. It's over. NOT SO FAST!!! Amelia, through Drew, has learned that sitting at a desk mapping places isn't the same as visiting these places so it's time to quit her job and see the world, but not before Drew shows up at the Christmas Party. Earlier Emilia asked Drew, 'Where does he call home?' and Drew had no answer. He does now. Screw that assignment. Home, for Drew, is wherever Emilia is. Awwww..... And now they are making out on the dance floor. At Christmas.
So there are a lot of good things about Maps and Mistletoe, not the least of which is using the science of cartography as a launching point for romance, which is a welcome respite from the old standby of Marketing Executive. Our heroine literally speaks in longitudes and latitudes, just like most cartographers do, I'm sure. Also, we have a pair of leads who really seem to like each other. If Humberly and Ronnie started dating for real after this movie I would not be surprised. I mean they both probably have partners already and we certainly don't want to see any happy homes ruined, but if they do start dating, that's not on me.
As we pointed out in the above description most of the elements we expect to see in our Hallmarky Romance movies were intact, with the exception of something that was actually in the title of this movie, and that would be mistletoe. Now, there was a scene when Drew was at his nearby family home, with him and Emilia standing on the porch when they look up and see a Christmas ornament, and then were about kiss before being interrupted by some punk kid. Now I didn't get a good look at that ornament, and it might have had mistletoe on it, but having an ornament with an image of some mistletoe painted on it doesn't count as mistletoe. We had maps, but we didn't have mistletoe. What's up with that?
And just because one is a cartographer, doesn't mean one can't be sexy at the job. One look at Emilia and that stylish, hip hugging red skirt girlfriend was wearing, and rumor has it that she the hips to make that skirt sing, or a quick glance at her work bestie Megan (Justine Christensen) and her five inch stilettos, the are women who obviously play as hard as they work on making maps.
That nonsense aside, with cartography, magnetic leads, and riding a toboggan at dangerously high speeds, I think you may enjoy your time spent at Crescent Woods. Three Vomits!
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