This story had good potential. Add one key element to the usual widow with a son breaks in the new boss plot-line. That element is that the son is in a wheelchair, injured in the accident that killed his dad. I also give this movie some small creativity points that Nick didn't come in trying to make Mia's life miserable by changing everything without asking.I thought the execution was choppy. I expected more from Hayie Duff. At times she was OK, but at other times she seemed clumsy in her role. I got tired of seeing her tilt her head down in her humility pose. And she was clumsy at times with Antonio Cupo. They didn't seem to have chemistry and it sure didn't seem like Mia wanted to give Nick a chance. Most of the courting going on seemed to be Nick courting Scott, not his mom. There just wasn't enough of Mia and Nick connecting.The company in trouble theme was also executed clumsily. (You don't leave your conference room door open when you are discussing ideas for cost cutting that affects employees.) On the other hand, there were definitely some good moments especially toward the end. But they seemed like items checked off on someone's list of plot devices. Overall though, I guess there were enough positives that I give this movie a thumbs up, but barely.

With the exciting title and the interesting previews, once again my imagination was expecting a really good Hallmark Christmas movie...but once again, I was very, very disappointed. I did not find anything likable about this movie...............Plot as I saw it: "Mia" believed that she was privy to suddenly becoming the manager of the failing business where she worked...but she quickly became disgruntled learning that the owner's competent son was going to manage it instead......."Mia" eventually became familiar with the son and changed her unfavorable attitude towards him. Why?.......... Because she saw personal, selfish gain in having a "relationship" with him.....From then on, she gave nothing more than a profound impression that she only wanted a "relationship" with the guy primarily for him to be a "big brother" and then probably be a father for her son......After all, her employment family health benefits might be discontinued!....With her repeated pouting, she practically demanded him to invest all of his free time in her son.........Every time she thought he was interested in another woman (an old friend) because he spent some time with her,..."Mia" instantly showed her disgruntled jealousy and possessiveness....as if he was not allowed to his life's choice.

Here's the good news: the acting by the two romantic leads (Haylie Duff and Antonio Cupo) is good and they are assisted by a strong acting performance by veteran actor Jay Brazeau in the role of the business owner and father of the male lead. This movie would have been a total train-wreck without these actors.Now the bad news: Hats Off to Christmas suffers from terrible writing. It goes beyond scenes that are so poorly written that they damage the 'suspension of disbelief;' the film relies on cheap and cheesy plot devices that are unrealistic but intended to manipulate the emotions of the viewer. Many Hallmark romance movies are guilty of this, but Hats Off is the Al Capone of "cheap and cheesy." This Hallmark movie has it all, doled out in the most unrealistic and clumsy scenes imaginable:a backstory involving a dead husband (and father)a young son who is wheelchair-bound. Doctors think he is medically capable of walking, but emotional issues from the trauma of his car accident are suspected to be the real issue preventing him from walking again. Anyone want to guess where this plot-line is going?a female lead character, Mia, who overhears a fragment of a conversation about plans to address her employer's business problems and misunderstands what she has heard. Mia doesn't seek to confirm anything or wait for an announcement - instead she ends her relationship with the man she is starting to love and submits a letter resigning her job. Its hard to like characters who over-react in such unrealistic ways.a short scene where the male romantic interest, Nick, organizes a football game for the boy in the wheelchair. The boy makes a pass that goes about five feet and it is declared a touchdown. Then the boy is handed the football, and Nick pushes the boy's wheelchair downfield while everyone pretends that they can't catch him. This scene was intended to be uplifting, but is so deeply insulting to "wheelchair athletes" in the real world that Hallmark should be ashamed.so many "changes of heart" that it keeps your head-spinning. Not only do the romantic leads run hot and cold on each other repeatedly, but the major adversary in the film inexplicably "changes heart" and offers up some terms that resolve a lot of difficulties.supernaturally intelligent kids that advise their parents on their relationship issues (a core Hallmark plot device.)scenes where kids say something for about 30 seconds that advances the plot and are then told "Time to go to bed now. Its past your bedtime" leading to a scene where the adults talk between themselves. If you're a kid in a Hallmark movie, it is seemingly always your bedtime.-completely unrealistic depictions of financial analysts and business operations and decision-making. Some of these plot-devices might have worked in a movie that developed these situations adequately. In Hats Off, they are briefly introduced, and amateurishly disposed of as mere devices along the road to getting the romantic leads to realize they love each other and finally, to kiss. This move has such lazy manipulative writing and is so cheap and cheesy that I took no joy in the events that it showed.

While I wouldn't call this one amazing, it's certainly a nice one to watch for the winter season. I've watched A LOT of Hallmark holiday films and this one isn't as cheesy as some of the others airing this time of year. The acting is good to start with, at least by all the main actors. Some of the supporting could use a few more acting classes. Unlike other Hallmarks where the main couple seem to fall in love with a few days to a few weeks, this one has a more logical time-line, which makes the story a little more believable. The only question i have is how quickly the main male lead changes his tune. You'll understand when you watch.All in all, cute and simple, something to watch while decorating for the holidays or while waiting for the holiday meal to be done cooking.