Movie Review: In Merry Measure (2022)

Synopsis: When still a teenager, Darcy found fame and fortune as a world-known pop singer. Now in her 40s, she is struggling to remain relevant in the music industry with an ever-shrinking fan base. When her widowed sister invites her to spend Christmas with her and her teenage niece, Megan, she accepts and returns to her hometown.  Then, when Megan becomes upset over not gaining a spot on a prestigious caroling team, she decides to create a competing team to show up the teacher who rejected her niece, her former high school rival, Adam. However, at the kids' insistence, teams up with him instead.

Who's in it? The movie stars Patti Murin, Brendan Penny, Jennifer Robertson, Cassidy Reichman and Garfield Wilson.

Review: After spending most of Christmas Day with family, my wife and I settled down yesterday evening with one more Hallmark Christmas movie. Since none of the newer ones we hadn't seen before stood out, we picked this one and, unfortunately, it wasn't anything special.

Every so often, we find a hidden gem in a sea of movies that all seem similar to each other, and this one definitely was not one of those. It was a good attempt, but the film just didn't click with either me or my wife.

Part of the problem is I think the movie gave up on the initial premise a little too soon. The idea of a high school principal undermining a successful teacher by allowing a former student to form a competing team seemed a little flimsy. However, it at least gave the movie some potential for drama and a surprise ending.

Once that idea was abruptly ended by the teams combining instead, the film became a predictable snooze fest. Darcy (Murin) and Adam team up. Of course, they will become a couple. Darcy gets offered a recording contract. Of course, there will be some off-the-wall request that will prevent her from seeing her niece's performance, but it won't matter because Darcy will still find a way to do both and not offend anyone.

I couldn't even say the caroling competition was the bright spot in the film because, while Megan (Reichman) is a good singer, it's not like the overall performance really popped out as anything special. Plus, like the rest of the movie, there was zero drama because they were declared the winners before they even got off the stage. The only way the judges tallied the scores that fast is if they were adding up the bribe money Adam paid them.

Final Opinion: This has been a fairly disappointing holiday season as far as Hallmark Christmas movies are concerned and this film didn't do anything to change my opinion of that. It wasn't a terrible movie but wasn't anything overly memorable either.

My Grade: C-