Lacey Chabert Hallmark movies are some of the best made for TV films the Hallmark Channel has to offer. Like anything Hallmark, her Christmas movies are the ones my wife and (to a lesser extent) I look forward to the most each year.
Sad but true, we actually have some favorites of her Hallmark Christmas movies line up. Yes, very sad indeed.
Still, there is something to be said for the incredibly rout and utterly predictable plot point of pretty much any Hallmark Christmas movie (or any Hallmark movie for that matter). They pretty much just reuse the sets, scripts, and story ideas and give the characters fresh(ish) names, like Joy, Holly, etc., careers, and small towns to fall in love with both the atmosphere, and of course, Christmas.
I’ve taken the time to not only list all the Lacey Chabert Hallmark movies with a Christmas theme, I have ranked them too.
What's in this review
Who is Lacey Chabert?
Hallmark Channel is famous for about two things in my book:
- Crafting seasonally appropriate movies with pretty much the same plots, sets, characters, and scripts
- Providing a loving home for all has been’s and almost were’s that have that girl next store, down to earth vibe
Depending on your point of view and how you remember her, Lacey Chabert is either a has been or never quite was. Don’t get me wrong, she has starred or been in several movies and shows outside of Hallmark, but she’s likely not an “A lister” at this point.
And that’s OK because she has found her home in Hallmark movies where Chabert is the undeniable star. In fact, some even call her the Queen of Hallmark Movies.
Depending on your age, you may not remember Chabert from the same things. If you came of age in the mid to late 90s, you probably remember her as Claudia Salinger from Party of Five. Though not exactly her starting point, it certainly put her on the map of up and coming stars.
She went on to appear in a variety of movies in the later 90s and early 2000s, like the parody Not Another Teen Movie.
Arguably her most memorable role, particularly for my wife and myself, was her portrayal of Gretchen Wieners in Mean Girls. Yes, she was one of the three girls that made “On Wednesdays, we wear pink” a thing.
Sadly, I often use a scene from Mean Girls as a dad joke when handing out snacks or treats to our kids. When I get to the last child (or my wife in some cases), I’ll look into the box, bag, or tray, look at the victim, and say, “And none for Gretchen Wieners.” Because that’s the lame crap I do.
Needless to say, when a Lacey Chabert Hallmark movie comes on, we refer to it as a “new Gretchen Wieners movie” or “a Gretchen Wieners movie is on Hallmark.” Which, as I understand it, Chabert may appreciate since she told ET in a 2020 interview that playing Gretchen Wieners was one of her favorite roles.
Where can I watch Lacey Chabert Hallmark Movies with a Christmas theme?
Lacey Chabert Hallmark movies with a Christmas theme air on the Hallmark periodically throughout the Christmas season and Christmas in July “Celebration” they do each year. If you are Hallmark noob, the the Hallmark Christmas movie season goes from October to early January most years. They also run their holiday line up, often with new content, in July as part of their Christmas in July.
Of course, if you can’t wait that long, you can always sign up frndlyTV, which allows you to stream pretty much any Hallmark movie you like. Admittedly, I have not tried it, so it may have restrictions on when you can actually watch Christmas movies.
You can also rent them from services such as Amazon Prime Video.
For those less tech-savvy, you can often find video copies of all of Lacey Chabert Hallmark Movies in Walmart, Target, and other retailers starting around October. You can also find them on Amazon and other online retailers.
The Definitive List of Lacey Chabert Hallmark Movies – Christmas Edition Ranked
Lacey Chabert Hallmark Christmas movies are, in my wife’s and I humble opinion, some of the best you are going to get. As with any grouping, however, there is always a best, a worst, and everything in between.
With any luck, you can use this list to determine if that Lacey Chabert Hallmark Christmas movie is really worth watching, or if you want to skip it. The undeniable, mainly because I wrote it, ranking of Christmas Hallmark movies starring Lacey Chabert is as follows.
(Feel free to disagree or discuss. You are probably wrong, but you can still voice your incorrect opinion below in the comments.)
10. Family for Christmas (2015)
As far as my wife and I are concerned, A Family for Christmas is the absolute worst of Lacey Chabert’s long list of Hallmark Christmas movies.
The main issue is this one rocks the happy ending boat a bit too hard.
A Family for Christmas starts off as a lot of Hallmark Christmas movies do with a wish from a young lady who didn’t find true love and has lost some of the meaning of Christmas. So far so good.
In this movie’s twist, Lacey Chabert falls asleep and wakes up to discover that she had married her long lost college sweetheart. And they have a young, happy family in a busy suburban setting.
Aw yay! All the normal Hallmark cheese ensues with her confused, finding acceptance, and then falling love all over again with her new family.
But do you know what happens? (Seriously if you don’t, you should skip this part if you really don’t want to know.)
She wakes up and the kids, her husband, and her new life are all gone.
They are gone.
What sort of non-Christmas spirit nonsense is that?
Why Hallmark, why?
We spent an entire movie learning about these kids and the happy life Grechen Wieners built for herself only to find out, oops, this was all a Scrooge-like warning dream that she better make changes before it is too late.
It’s kind of depressing, though, surprisingly, upbeat. She ends up reconnecting with her ex-boyfriend from college to presumably live happily ever after. Still, the annoyance of not finding out Santa permanently altered the fabric of reality to keep the kids alive and well stings almost as much as watching Wanda’s family’s fate in WandaVision.
9. Time for Us to Come Home for Christmas (2020)
Let’s just say, 2020 was a year we all wish we forgot, and this gem of a movie found on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries is certainly something worth forgetting.
Sure, its about a year old at the time I write this, which means it has not been shown countless times. Repeated showings can help you warm up to something over time after all. And yes, 2020 was a crap storm of bad events, so maybe my view on this one is tainted some.
Despite the overall need for something new, but predictable, in an otherwise terrible year, its odd to say this one just didn’t really impress. The freaking Tiger King ranks higher in my book, and that is definitely a show that would have crashed and burned into obscurity if it hadn’t been for the lock down.
Since this failed to impress, even on one of the worst collective years of recent times, I have to put this near the bottom of the list of Lacey Chabert Hallmark Christmas movies.
8. Pride, Prejudice and Mistletoe (2018)
Well, at least this movie isn’t just a rehash of another story – er, wait…
In one of her few Christmas Hallmark movies where she plays the power hungry corporate type who lost the true meaning of Christmas, Lacey Chabert plays a power hungry corporate type who needs to go back home to help her mother with some charity event. In the process, she finds herself, love, and the true meaning of Christmas.
Yeah, it’s definitely predictable, which is part of what makes Hallmark movies overall tolerable, but it lacks something. Like it’s forgettable maybe?
Forgettable, as it turns out, is probably a pretty common complaint about most Hallmark Christmas movies. After all, you have a 99% chance of being able to guess the outcome of a movie, even if all you know is: “Hallmark Christmas…”
Oddly enough, probably the best critique of this one was it was, overall, forgettable, and when it comes on the air, half the time my wife and I wonder if it is a new Gretchen Wiener’s movie. Sadly, it’s not, it’s just good old, forgettable Pride, Prejudice, and Mistletoe.
7. The Christmas Waltz (2020)
If you like the dissed and dismissed right before Christmas story line, Hallmark’s The Christmas Waltz is a must see. Of course, if you want something original, I have to ask, why the heck are you watching Hallmark to begin with?
The Christmas Waltz uses the ditched before Christmas storyline to help Lacey Chabert find true love. So yeah, you can, as with all stories Hallmark produces, predict exactly what will happen.
Yeah, this story was just OK, and for a Lacey Chabert movie, that’s saying something… maybe not much but still something. Though, if you like tearing apart poor dancing techniques, as my wife does, you might place this higher on the list.
6. Christmas in Rome (2019)
In a stunning turn of events, Hallmark decided to buck all tradition in making this movie. Did they come up with an original idea, script, and character development?
No, of course not. Let’s not get crazy here.
What makes this somewhat unique is that they actually shot at least most of this movie on location in Rome. No tired old sets for this Lacey Chabert Hallmark movie!
Don’t worry, they kept the same damn character and plot developments, using their grab bag of plot points to fill in the details, as always.
Down to earth girl down on her luck? Check.
Rich business dude who needs to learn about the true value of Christmas yada yada yada? Check.
Girl who gets both her big career move and love? Check mate.
What lost this movie for me was the main love interest. A few years earlier, he appeared in another movie where he played a prince. In it, he took on a ridiculous “foreign” accent that was cringe worthy at best.
I couldn’t picture the dude as anything but that lame prince character with the messed up accent.
Still, for a change of setting, Christmas in Rome may be the right movie for you.
5. A Wish For Christmas (2016)
Oh no! Lacey Chabert plays a push over, girl next store who gets passed up for promotions because she can’t stand up for herself. So as any self-respecting Hallmark character would, she makes a wish to Santa that she will finally develop a backbone to stand up to others.
And wouldn’t you know it? She starts to speak her mind and get ahead at work. Of course, that’s not all. She also catches the attention of her love interest, which means she’ll get it all in the end.
Fundamentally, there is nothing wrong with this particular Christmas movie. It’ pretty cheesy, predictable, and doesn’t rock their narrative boat. It was just sort of ‘meh’ as far as Lacey Chabert Hallmark Christmas movies go.
4. The Sweetest Christmas (2017)
This movie, as all Hallmark Christmas movies, has potential – potential to be the same plot as every other movie. In this halfway decent story, Chabert plays a struggling pastry chef who enters a baking contest to win money for her big chance to open up her own pastry shop or bakery.
Got it. She’s a girl next store (I don’t think she really does anything else really, we’ll just ignore Pride, Prejudice, and Mistletoe) with big dreams.
But wouldn’t you know it? Her ex-boyfriend from culinary school, who parted ways with her years ago, has to help her out.
Yup, you can pretty much predict the ho-hum romance of a rekindled love that follows.
What it does well is that it doesn’t try to stray too far from the Hallmark Christmas movie path. There won’t be a bitter sweet ending or any real curves that a person with a 5 year old’s emotional IQ couldn’t solve.
In other words, if it is on, it may be worth watching for an escape from reality.
3. A Christmas Melody (2015)
It’s Hallmark Christmas movie season, which can mean only one thing. Its time to unfreeze Mariah Carey so she can sing her one Christmas song and appear in A Christmas Melody on Hallmark.
A Christmas Melody is definitely a contender for one of Lacey Chabert’s best Hallmark Christmas movies, but it misses the mark in a few important ways. Like Matchmaker Santa, it has a meddling Santa who grants a Christmas wish for a little girl and all who ask for something.
Why it misses the mark:
- There are B list actors, C list actors, run of the mill Hallmark extras, and then Mariah Carey. Sure she can sing, but she acts like a wooden robot and really just doesn’t suck me into the story.
- The signature song was terrible, but does feature a dancing Santa, so its not all bad.
- The main male lead reveals he has had a crush on Lacey Chabert since they were young and uses her daughter to seduce her. He’s kind of creepy in that regard.
What it does well is the standard predictability that all Hallmark movies have. There is conflict, non-sexual-sexual tension, and the lead up to the big moment aka kiss.
2. Matchmaker Santa (2012)
I have to say, this one is a close runner up to first place for Hallmark Christmas movies starring Lacey Chabert. Hallmark writers out did themselves dreaming up how Santa would fulfill a young girl’s wish for true love about 15 or so years after her oddly specific wish as a young child. And leave it to Santa to make sure that even the cold, corporate boyfriend gets a happy ending.
Match Maker Santa features:
- a meddling Santa that basically traps two pairs of perfectly matched, non-romantic friends in a romantic setting around Christmas
- quite possibly the first on Hallmark closet lesbian couple (pay attention to the two older blonde ladies, they seem to be an item though the film never addresses it because, at the time, Hallmark was pretty conservative)
- a happy ending for both Lacey Chabert’s character and her original boyfriend, who is so corporate it hurts
- a small town that can really make anyone find their hidden spirit of Christmas even if:
- their parents died on Christmas
- their fiancée left them around Christmas
- fiancée left them on Christmas
- their dog died
- their dog died on Christmas
- someone looked at them funny around the holidays and it made them sad
- parents were cold and calculating
- work got in the way
- any of the above mixed together
The classic Hallmark Christmas movie storyline is in full effect in Match Maker Santa. A sweet, female, fiancee or serious girlfriend gets stuck in a small town around Christmas. As part of her character arch, she realizes the corporate boyfriend is too obsessed with his business, she loves Christmas, and a mostly attractive, down to Earth guy is her soulmate.
Yeah, Match Maker Santa has all that, just remixed to be a “fresh” story.
What makes it somewhat unique, for those of you who like happy endings, is that Santa doesn’t forget the corporate boyfriend in his meddling. Instead, he makes sure he is also taken care of and finds the perfect girl for him who is also obsessed with business, numbers, and algorithms.
1. A Royal Christmas (2014)
A Royal Christmas tops the list when it comes to Lacey Chabert Hallmark Christmas movies. And actually, it may just top the list of any Chabert Hallmark movie out there regardless of season.
This movie features:
- a prince with mommy issues who just wants to fall in love on his own terms
- a meddling queen mother who won’t have her son buck centuries of royal traditions to marry – gasp – a tailor literally with the surname Taylor
- a sweet, unassuming girl next store who was clueless about her long term boyfriend’s royal heritage
- action that occurs in a small, made up kingdom in Europe, complete with orphanage because what small kingdom doesn’t have one of those complete with adorable children that are perfectly adjusted to being orphaned and just looking for a forever home
When the writers cooked this one up over a lunch break, they really just pulled out all the stops.
And perhaps best of all, none other than Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman (Jane Seymour) plays the queen mother. For an added bonus, her biological daughter plays the rival love interest, so it’s like two Dr Quinns for the price of one. Combined with everyone who counts favorite, Lacey Chabert, and you have the makings of one of the best Hallmark Christmas movies ever.
Of all Chabert’s Christmas movies on Hallmark, this one shines in cheesy, over-the-top splendor that many of the other adaptations of the same story just sort of fall short on.
If you have a favorite Lacey Chabert Hallmark Christmas movie, let me know in the comments below.
