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Keywords
A Carol for Two, Broadway, Hallmark movie, character analysis, musical performance, themes of deception, Christmas movie, plot summary, Nick and Leslie review
Summary
In this conversation, Nick and Leslie review the Hallmark movie 'A Carol for Two,' discussing its plot, character dynamics, and musical elements. They critique the film's reliance on stereotypes and deception, while also highlighting some enjoyable performances. The conversation culminates in a rating of the film, reflecting on its overall quality and entertainment value.
Nick And Leslie (00:02.286)
Nick and Leslie are back here and we are going to Broadway. Let's play the trailer for A Carol for Two. On Broadway. All right. What did you think? Always got sleepy towards the end. Got stoned towards the beginning. That as well. That as well.
wow. I, it was, it was middle of the road for me. some good, talented singers for who they are. But,
I don't think it's worth your time. It's like if you want the kind of Hallmark movie that does everything you expect with the most generic of female characters, if you don't even know or care what the Becktold test is, then this is the movie for you. The whole time I felt like, is this sexist? Just so our main character. Violet. Violet.
Come from a small town. Come from a small town, go into the big city to try and make it big as a singer. In New York City. She is as blonde as they come. Blonde as they come. And she is the dumbest character. I kept hoping for some kind of twist at the end where she's like, I've just been playing dumb. I know what's really going on. Also at that age, we're still lying. We're still lying. Yeah, that's right. Okay. That's exhausting. So, okay, plot. So, Violet.
It starts with her small town having a huge going away party for her. Break a leg, Violet. Yeah, big bandit. I thought it said log. Break a log, Violet. Break a log. Because she's going to New York City get a show on Broadway. She's so excited. It was an open casting call that she won. But as soon as she gets there, she finds out the show was canceled and nobody told her because she doesn't have an agent. So now she has nowhere to live because they were going to provide housing. Is that normal? Right. For Broadway? So then she goes to visit
Nick And Leslie (02:13.55)
Her aunt's friend, Hazel. Hazel Carter. Who has a restaurant off Broadway. That she inherited. It's like a jazz dinner supper club. Yeah. Hazel was a fun character. Hazel was... Hazel seemed to be the only character whose conversations did not revolve around the men in her life. my golly, Jesus. That's right. That's true. That's one of the points of the Bechtold test.
If women only talk about men, then it's a problem. They do make a point to say that her restaurant is cash only, but they don't say why. They don't say why. so they also make her kind of like gruff in a way. There's also a theme to this dinner theater besides like the Broadway theme. is like the, it reminds me of the dinner time
gosh, it's in Hollywood Studios. Primetime Cafe? Primetime Cafe. Where they're a little rude, you know? And so that's like what this is. And Violet is like too rude in the beginning because she decides to play along and work at this dinner club theater because she refuses to tell her dad and the community that like through her party that, the Broadway show was canceled. We didn't have funding for it.
So I'm just gonna stick it out here in the city and continue to audition What's wrong with that? To get other parts as well as continue to work at a well-known dinner theater Club that will that has scouts continually come to it Yeah, yeah, and she doesn't want to tell her dad that the shows canceled
It's just so... Hey, darling, everyone from the town wants to know when your show's gonna be coming to Ogden. We'll all rent a bus and head out the two hour drive to go see you. Yeah, also look, you have a dad that just calls to talk to you.
Nick And Leslie (04:12.558)
He seemed even dumber than her. You know, that's love, I guess. You're just, it's a, that's a, guess what they call a family. So Hazel says that she has to, since she's never waited tables, she has her shadowing with Alex, who also works at this dinner theater, is also a great singer. And also- He's a looker. He looks like a Disney prince.
Yes, he is the broadest of shoulders, the broadest of biggest of jaw, the biggest of jaws, the deepest of voice, the deepest of voice. Yeah, he was he was impressive. I'm like, he was he wasn't the greatest actor, but like he seems like Hallmark's beneath him. I was going to say, he probably knows he's not putting much forth a lot of effort. And if he does, he will go places. Yeah. You know, so he doesn't have to work hard. So take that when and you take Hallmark as an easy gig for you. Yeah.
He did good. Although we did like, I don't know who's on the pentatonics. yeah, we both were like, is he of the pentatonics? He looks like a pentatonic. He looks like he went to Christian school. I don't know, because the people are like, Christian school, you know what they look like. So he's also on his off time. He's a playwright. yeah. In the nicest of apartments. Yeah, he's very nice. Although they... In New York City. Although...
There was the scene where they're sleeping together, not sexually. Sorry, Alex and his cousin. They're both on couches facing each other. That cousin was on some sort of stimulant. He was a lot. That character was a lot, but I get it. He did a good job playing this character, the cousin, because the cousin was always in the way. When I say medical sales rep,
Medical sales rep energy so Alex's cousin has been staying with him because he just broke up with his girlfriend Chanel Chanel his fiance and lost deposit on now. She's fiance to someone else are you and and so he's a lot and he's staying with Alex and He sees violet at the bar. He asked Alex introduce her he's like, sure and while they're talking
Nick And Leslie (06:29.354)
Violet's talking a lot about things that she would do in her hometown for her Christmas and she's missing those things and she's feeling homesick and things like Brad the cousin father would make a yule log. Yeah, a yule log and so Brad the cousin he he thinks she's hot in The Great Singer, but he doesn't give a shit about what she's talking about. No, he forgets all of it and then Alex
keeps telling Brad, hey, why don't you get her a Yule log? Why don't you do this for her? Why don't you take her on a date for these things? Because he was paying attention to everything Viola was saying, which was sweet. Which actually, I just realized, I didn't make a note of it, but it was actually cute. The artist's enclaves should do this, a tree decorating thing. So back in the day, I remember we could decorate trees and they would be auctioned off, but that was the sense of what was going on here.
Was it the first Hallmark movie without a fundraising event? That actually is something, cause that's something I'm to later talk about. anyway. No, there was the fundraising when they did the tree decorating contest. What were they fundraising for? Or was that just artists selling their stuff? Well, okay. All right. There might've been a charity involved. There might've been a charity involved. Okay.
Well, it was actually cute instead of it being like a gala or whatever. It was a, we decorated Christmas trees and one of them was, you know, hand blown ornaments that ended up breaking because the cousin is annoying and trips everything and just is a cluster. By the way, I thought it was cute doing a little walkthrough at a Christmas tree decorating thing. Yeah, that was fun. was cute. It a little different, a little different, but still not worth saying. They're at this competition because Brad
inadvertently said that Alex's neighbor is his girlfriend. And he begged Alex to keep playing along with the ruse. And all of this, it's weird. It's like, so the whole premise of this movie is everybody is lying to Violet. They're all little white lies, but they keep piling up. It's exhausting. And then it eventually becomes they are emotionally manipulating her to sleep with Brad. Yes. Violet is completely unaware of the whole thing. Yeah. And it's like, don't they know that she's our main character?
Nick And Leslie (08:42.786)
That's not a girl's girl, the neighbor that was pretending to be, no. Even though she was like, we need to tell, but still not a girl's girl. Like, come on. Yeah. And it's interesting though, because this, I do want to give the movie credit for this, because this is not something I have seen in movies a lot, where our main characters are hero, but we're spending a lot of time with people backstabbing her. And- Mark, it was a lot to keep track of, kind of.
Yeah. It just seemed like more advanced of a plot than they were prepared to deal with. In such a short amount of time, like an hour, 24 minutes. Because like the movie just, it, as time goes on, we start to hate everybody. We hate Violet for being dumb. Dumb. And we hate these characters for hurting Violet. So it's like Hallmark, you're losing us. And at least they put some really pretty duets in there. Yeah. Yeah. So the actors who played Violet.
was one of the Bellas in Pitch Perfect.
I'm sorry, state that again? Isn't she one of the Bella's from Pitch Perfect? No. Are sure? I'm pretty confident that it's not one my phone, so I can't look it up. But she was in the Rockettes Christmas movie from Yeah, she was in the Rockettes Christmas movie Which I don't think she sang in. No, she just kicked a leg.
Nick And Leslie (10:08.718)
Yeah, you're probably right. Because I feel like I looked her up when we watched the Rockettes movie last year. All So you might be thinking of like Britney Snow.
Nick And Leslie (10:29.486)
So it's not anyway, we were looking at Pitch Perfect Cast from 2012. All right, I wrote Alex is very rude to the manager. But like Alex has, know, Alex is clearly calling out nepotism on Hazel because we don't know how long Alex has been working at this at the Jazz Cafe. Each of these servers gets a chance. We don't know if it's throughout the week or what, but to actually perform at the
Supper Club, but there's a big show on Christmas Eve and there's like some extra big scouts that will be going on. I feel like it's kind of based off of the Comedy Cellar in New York City, where like people who want to be comics have to work there for like years before they get a shot at like a decent time slot to perform. I'm sure. Yeah. And so of course, nepotism comes in and there is or there are, you know, Broadway.
supper, I don't want to say supper club, but restaurants where they're performing all around you. And I'm sure there's also the concept from that. I don't know how often scouts go in there to actually look for talent or even an agent, but you know, that's what this is saying anyway. So Alex calls out nepotism on Hazel and Violet, which is very understandable, but then Violet gives, I'm sorry, Hazel gives Violet and Alex a duet for Christmas Eve show. they are just excited to close out the show.
but they just can't get their act together to do a duet together. But yet all along this entire time they're doing duets together. And of course, don't even know it. Yeah. And of course Alex keeps falling deeper in love with her. We end up at a senior retirement home for Broadway show. We were like, where are we at? Why all of a sudden are there some spunky seasoned people? And the songs that they do saying they're
It seems like they're almost all public domain Christmas songs. all very There is one song, the Christmas song. That's the one that they do, right? The chestnuts roasting. And that one they performed three times throughout the movie. Three times. So I feel like they paid for the rights to that one song. So they're like, we're going to use the fuck out But to play it once. So we're only going to do certain sections each time will be a little different. And I'm like, I think they finally finished the entire song on the fourth take.
Nick And Leslie (12:51.02)
And then the final song that they ended up doing performing is an original song, so they don't have to pay for anything from there. yes, that Alex wrote. There was also a subplot of... What do you call it when you pick on an ethnicity?
that Christians love to... There's a subplot of like, woe is me, I'm Christian and the big city doesn't want me to be Christian. my gosh. You know what word I'm trying to say. Yes. Whatever. Because, like, when she goes to her open casting call, she's like, I'm gonna perform A Christmas Carol. they're like, Come tell it on the mountain. yeah. And they're like, honey, I'm Jewish. I'm Jewish. Which is very understandable, because I'm like, why are you doing it? And she's like, and they're like, done. Good.
you didn't get it? you're going to a Broadway audition why would you sing Come Tell It on a Ma... right why not a Broadway song? Why not a Broadway song? Have you heard... memories? Or what is it Taylor the Latte Boy?
It's a song that people, from the little I know about Broadway, when people audition for Broadway stuff, one of the most common songs being performed is Taylor the Latte Boy. I feel like you have told me that before, actually. yeah, this vaguely sounds familiar. Taylor the Latte Boy. Something like that. We were having a moment. OK. There was a scene, though, in the very beginning, I was kind of touching on it earlier. It just cracked me up. Still not fully worth watching, but
This one scene in the early third of the first part of the movie where Violet is learning how to serve. And again, the theme of this dinner, supper theater is that also besides singing, they're kind of rude to you. Like someone asked about plant, like, do you have any plant-based food? And they're like, all of it's plant-based. Like clearly not. Also some of our tummies get upset when we eat red meat. So we don't always want meat as an option. Anyway.
Nick And Leslie (14:55.982)
Alex is showing Hazel how to serve and Violet how to serve. So Violet has these two big plates full of food, slams them down on the table like, here's the grub you freaking ass for and eat up you dude dirty hooligans. I don't know something of that manner. And it was just, I felt like no one was prepared for the amount of effort she was going to put up. So like everyone was just a little caught off guard and it made it
It made me laugh, but also, yeah, I was high. So we were in the giggles. It's funny too that most of the food was fake prop food. Yes, lot of plastic food. The milkshakes were all like they weighed too little and they didn't slosh around. They didn't slosh around at And it seems like this restaurant only serves steaks, mashed potatoes, and milkshakes. But the biggest slap of butter on the steak. We talk about crazy background, Santa.
my goodness. I don't even remember the premise of it. There's a scene where they're having a conversation outside. was like one of the scouts. I think he was just a homeless guy that they put in a Santa suit. And they're like, want 20 bucks and a hot meal? Stand behind these characters.
He was skinny, he was unshaven. we're talking about two different people. yes. Yeah. Yes, that one. That one was very dirty. Not a white beard. It was like a was taken into account. then when they had these outside scenes, I swore.
the background characters kept cycling through. my gosh. It's like they walked in the behind them, then they'd walk in front of them. This was very budget friendly. And you could, yes, obviously tell. And we get it. Budget's a budget. You know, we got to follow it sometimes. Not. Hello, your hallmark. But they had eight, maybe eight actors that were changing out hats, glasses and scarves.
Nick And Leslie (16:58.538)
literally walking in a circle as these two are having a conversation. Like it's the busiest street way. It was hilarious. That was funny. That was funny. the background jazz performers on the stage. Fantastic. Do you think they were miming on those instruments? I don't know, but they were good there. Like I can still hear it.
Well, like the vocals were definitely pre-recorded in like a stage. no, I meant like, you know, right when they're like, OK, next or in between. Not like I would enjoy this dinner theater if there were no singers. Yes. Yeah. Not that the singers were bad, but right. I don't want like a Broadway style singer. Yeah. And they were just so starstruck when Violet sang and like, was she good? Yes. But am I going to stop eating? No. Yeah. It was funny, too, that like everyone stopped to watch her sing.
And I'm like, you can listen to her sing and still keep doing your job. It's a dumb thing to point out, but I did like this moment when Violet was on the phone with Alex. So Reggie has his little ball stuck. need to go save him. So there is this really sweet moment when Alex was on the phone with Violet and they're talking about Brad, Alex's cousin who
has been lying. Again, everyone manipulating her. And she's like, Brad's a really good guy. And Alex is like, Yeah, he is. And she says, I just don't know if he's my guy. I thought that was a cute line. yeah, there's something. no. And now I don't recall the ending. But when, when Violet and Alice get together, was Brad okay with it? Because no one would be unhappy in the end of a Hallmark.
Are you telling me neither of us remember the ending that we watched? I remember you asked me, did you take notes? And I'm like, yep. the duets were cute. And the final song they played, which is one that Alex's character wrote was called, who knew it'd be you this Christmas? And I thought it was a cute song. We might listen to it later on in between Casey Musgraves Christmas show, on Spotify. This is not a sponsored event.
Nick And Leslie (19:13.046)
Maybe we'll see. Will it be a present without a bow? No, but you know, it's unlicensed. It's new. might learn it. Yeah. If I mean, I assume Hallmark has it up on Spotify. I'm giving this for writing a three out of 10 acting a four out of 10 because as annoying as Brad was, he was a fun character. Yeah, he did his part. He did his role. He did a lot. And it's like you worked on that one.
character. Alex was just barely performing his character and Violet if she was supposed to be playing like a brain dead 50s bimbo she did a great job. She was not a believable human being. She didn't seem like a woman who was born and raised in the 90s or 2000s. But yeah she's nice to look at for those time frames. know. Can we just put her in like a 50s Christmas like give me a period. The Rockettes one.
that's right. Okay. But I want, I don't want to say housewives, but I want like, like that, that I want a mid-century modern one with her, but I want her as a single gal. Like the show we watched about the why women kill murder. Yeah. That is well, but anyway, those directing, I'm giving it a four. I did like the, the duet scenes are beautifully shot.
The director went very heavy or the cinematographer went very heavy on the mist filter on the lenses. All the lights on the tables were so glowy. And I don't know that was because they were trying to blur back, know, blur out the background that is not decorated well enough compared to just the Christmas trees that are in the like the foreground of it all of the scene. So it was it was frosty heavy. All right. Well, that was
a Carol for two. Do we want to put together like a ranking for you or something? I don't think so. Leave a comment if you would like us to go with the ranking for me. Okay. But know, is bottom, bottom half. no, no, no, not worst, but it's, it could, if there are worse ones, it could be pumped, bumped up to the bottom half of the top, but or else it's middle of road, but it is leaning more towards.
Nick And Leslie (21:38.478)
bottom because I am hoping there are still better to come. Okay. Well, how about this? Since I'm like ranking my stuff across all the movies I see all year, what if you just rank it on a one to 10 hallmark scale? Why do we have to peer pressure it? okay. Fine. Two. three. Is one, 10 is the best, guess. So I'm going say this is a three. This is a number three. I if something hits a five up,
you should watch it, but this is a three. Okay. Okay. All right. We watch it so you don't have to. Yeah. All right. Well, thank you very much and we'll see you for the next one. Cheerio.
