This well-acted romantic drama -- based on Richard Paul Evans' novel -- offers a welcome change from the usual frothy fare released for the holiday season.
Justin Hartley and Barrett Doss make a handsome and enticing couple in The Noel Diary. Their interactions feel refreshingly mature as they connect over jazz music and reckon with their own life choices.
The film wanders into melodrama at times, giving off a soap opera vibe, like
in an unnecessary slow-mo flashback to a child's death.
But, as a whole, both the drama and the romance work, and if the original novelist's success is any measure, this film will find a broad audience.
Read the full review at Common Sense Media.
Image courtesy of Netflix.
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