After leaving her job, Megan (Laura Osnes) pays a surprise visit to her sister Sarah (Amy Groening) and niece Erica (Zoe Fish) at Christmas. Dreaming about landing a job at a foodie start-up, Megan enlists the help of handsome baker Aaron (Christopher Russell) to teach her the basics. As Megan spends more time with Aaron, she inadvertently finds herself teaming up with him for a Christmas Bakeoff competition and the chemistry between the pair begins to sizzle.
‘A Dash of Christmas’ follows a very familiar formula as it puts Megan in a fish-out-of-water situation that is clearly going to end up with her falling in love. After unexpectedly arriving on her sister’s doorstep, Megan is determined to put work to one side and enjoy being with her family. That quickly goes out of the window when her dream job needs a video sending to them of Megan baking before Christmas in order for her to be considered for the role. With no baking skills to speak of, Megan has an initial panic but a recent meet-cute with baker Aaron gives her an idea.
Enrolling into his class, and getting pretty much everything wrong, Megan learns the basics of baking and as she does so, she falls for the easy-on-the-eye baker teaching her the ropes. It’s a nice little twist to throw in the Christmas Bakeoff competition, which ups the stakes for Megan in terms of her learning and it puts her in a pressure cooker-like environment with Aaron. Will Megan land her dream job? And will she land her dream man? You can probably guess the answers to both of these before you even see the film but it won’t spoil your enjoyment of watching the events unfold.
Laura Osnes and Christopher Russell make for a fantastic couple on-screen. They have an easy natural chemistry that helps to elevate this film above the formulaic plot. While it may not offer anything particularly new or innovative, ‘A Dash of Christmas’ will draw viewers in for the romance (and that’s what they’re here for anyway right?). Osnes and Russell flirt shamelessly as Megan and Aaron, and of course there are a few hurdles and misunderstandings on the way to true love.
There’s nothing particularly wrong with ‘A Dash of Christmas’. It’s a nice enough movie that has some sweet moments. Compared to some of the other films on the Great American Family slate this Christmas, it doesn’t stand out as much but it’s a perfectly pleasant way to while away 85 minutes of your time. If baking and love at Christmas is your thing, you could do a lot worse than picking this movie to watch!
Cast: Laura Osnes, Christopher Russell, Amy Groening, Adam Hurtig, Zoe Fish Director: Robin Dunn Writers: Bob Sáenz & Guy Yosub Certificate: Unrated Duration: 85 mins Released by: Great American Family Release date: 4th November 2023
For more information about ‘A Dash of Christmas’ head over to https://www.greatamericanfamily.com/movie/a-dash-of-christmas/.
