The Christmas movie watching has officially commenced, and one of the very first new Christmas flicks to grab my attention is on Netflix.
Oh and here’s the best part – it stars Justin Hartley — aka Kevin Pearson from This Is Us.
The show is about a professional author, Jacob Turner, who’s mom has recently passed away.
When he goes to tackle the tough job of cleaning out his mom’s things from her house — she is a hoarder — he is surprised by a knock on the door.
In walks Rachel.
She is searching for her birth mother, whom she believes might have been the live-in nanny of Jacob when he was a kid.
That is the gist of the plot — kind of.
There are so many different avenues this film takes, it kind of leaves you wondering where the film is going.
There Are Going To Be Spoilers Ahead. Proceed With Caution.
So, there is the plot at the beginning — Jacob’s mom has passed, and Rachel is looking for her birthmother.
Then we segue into Jacob’s story. He decides to go meet with his estranged father — with Rachel in tow — who might hold the key to finding Rachel’s mother.
While there, Rachel confirms the name of her birth mother — Noel, hence the title of the film.
We kind of wrap up that segment, and then head into the love story between Jacob and Rachel.
I bet you didn’t see that one coming. *Eye Roll Emoji*
We find out it is actually Rachel’s birthday. The two celebrate with a kiss — maybe more.
But, then the film takes a turn, yet again.
Rachel decides she has had all the adoption closure she needs, so she leaves while Jacob is asleep.
With Rachel gone, Jacob decides to go meet Noel, to thank her for helping him through the death of his brother (yes, another subplot).
All of a sudden, Jacob appears at Rachel’s house, where he has tracked her down to profess his love — but not the fact that he found her birth mom?
SURPRISE, Rachel has decided to stay with her fiancé, so she tells Jacob that she doesn’t love him.
The movie concludes with Rachel coming back to Jacob’s mom’s house. We assume she is there to profess her reciprocal love.
We never actually find out if Jacob tells her about Noel. Which, I don’t know, seems pretty important to the story, IMHO.
So, should you watch The Noel Diary?
The acting is better than most generic Christmas movies, but the storyline just seems a bit convoluted.
It’s not hard to follow, but there are a LOT of different rabbit holes we have to go down to reach the end of the film.
I’m going to say, yes. Watch The Noel Diary.
Is it good? Kind of.
Is it going to be a Christmas classic? No.
