Nov 22

Nov 22 'Countdown to Christmas' movie review: 'A Cookie Cutter Christmas'

Steeped in festive holiday fare and driven by a great competitive edge, “A Cookie Cutter Christmas” (airing throughout Hallmark Channel's Countdown to Christmas) is kind of the quintessential 'Countdown' holiday flick.

In short: Lifelong rivals and schoolteachers Christie ("When Calls the Heart" star Erin Krakow) and Penny (Miranda Frigon) compete to win a holiday baking contest and the affections of a handsome single father James (David Haydn-Jones).

The heart of "Cookie Cutter" is the wonderful pairing of Krakow and Frigon as a pair of former childhood besties whose friendship turned to a pretty combative battle of one-upmanship. The subdued annoyance between Christie and Penny is so very apparent from the very start - and movie quickly and clearly establishes their contentious history. It's fun to Christie and Penny transparently but politely try to undermine each other on all most every front. The two share a real Betty and Veronica dynamic, with Christie being the more caring teacher while Penny is relentlessly aggressive in her attempts to win the cookie competition and James's affections.

Krakow instills a warm kindness in Christie - but one that doesn't detract from her firm determination. She's sweet and caring with her students, but she shows her edge as she strives to progress from total baking newbie to baking pro. For her part, Frigon completely throws herself into Penny, making her the story's great x-factor, constantly needling and prodding Christie. When Penny borders on obnoxious and annoying, Frigon keeps Penny quite grounded - even if she's clearly out to outdo Christie at every turn. Honestly Penny should be pretty unlikable, but Frigon pulls of the unlikely feat of making her the energetic dynamo of the story.

The story is driven by Christie and Penny's unyielding back-and-forth, yet "Cookie Cutter" still finds a way to weave in a lovely romance that moves with a light touch. The movie plays with the idea of Christie and Penny competing for James's attention, however, the story makes it pretty clear that there's no real competition here. It's pretty obvious which teacher James is interested in, yet the movie still finds a great way to root the romance back into the story's main theme: that the two teachers may have taken their rivalry too far.

Final verdict: Despite being released years ago, "Cookie Cutter" stands out amid the dozens of new Hallmark holiday movies released each year because of a pair of fun and lively performances, set against a sweet love story.