‘Queen Lacey’ is back to headline Christmas movie season

Christmas movie lovers are having “double the pleasure” this holiday season, clicking between their traditional Hallmark channels and the relatively new Great American Family programming to view a plethora of “feel-good” holiday flicks.

 

It seems there’s been a virtual explosion in the inventory of holly, jolly, “mistletoe magic” romantic films.

The mostly friendly competition between the venerable Hallmark operation and the upstart Great American Family organization has created a lot of buzz within the entertainment industry as well as confusion.

For instance, who exactly is the “Queen of Christmas Movies?”

Most film critics will cast their vote for Lacey Nicole Chabert, 43, of Hattiesburg, Miss., who has starred in more than 40 Hallmark holiday movies, beginning in 2012 with “Matchmaker Santa.”

 

Lacey’s most recent Hallmark Christmas film is “She’s Making a List,” which airs Dec. 6. Her co-star is rAndrew Walker. Lacey plays the part of Isabel, a “Naughty or Nice List” inspector who has been retained by the North Pole to assist Santa evaluate children. A mischievous 11-year-old girl leads Isabel into the heart of the girl’s widowed father.

 

Haleigh Foutch of TheWrap, a digital news organization that specializes in coverage of the entertainment industry, has selected her top five Lacy Chabert Christmas movies.

“Christmas Waltz” (2020) heads the list. Will Kemp plays the dance instructor that heals the heart of Lacey after her dream Christmas wedding is called off. “Chabert and Kemp have such good chemistry, they’ve starred in three Hallmark films together, and their dynamic in ‘Christmas Waltz’ is cute to boot with a bit of silliness,” Foutch wrote.

 

“Haul Out the Holly” (2023) is a Christmas comedy in which Lacey’s character makes a holiday trip back home to visit her parents only to discover they’re leaving for vacation – and leaving it up to her to deliver the extravagant holiday decorations their “Christmas-crazed” neighborhood requires.  

 

“Chabert fights and flirts with the pedantic, slightly deranged homeowners’ association president played by Wes Brown, one of Hallmark’s go-to leading men,” Foutch said.

In “A Royal Christmas” (2014), Lacey plays the role of Emily, a working-class seamstress. Her boyfriend, portrayed by Stephen Hagan, turns out to be Prince Leopold, heir to the throne of Cordinia, a small sovereign country in Europe.

 

Spending the Christmas holidays in the grand castle doesn’t go well, as the wicked Queen Isadora (Jane Seymour) detests the thought of her princely son falling in love with a commoner. The queen “makes Emily feel anything but welcome, leaving Emily to feel more at home among the staff of butlers and housemaids.”

 

The film is a classic Hallmark rollercoaster of emotions with a happy ending.

“A Merry Scottish Christmas” (2023) features Lacey and Scott Wolf as estranged siblings who travel to Scotland to visit their mother and dig up some family secrets along the way.

 

“Naturally, Chabert also sparks up a connection with a charming local Scotsman. It’s all rather sweet, and the sibling focus gives it a refreshing change of pace from most romance-centric Hallmark Christmas movies,” Foutch wrote.

“Winter in Vail” (2020) makes viewers feel like they “just stepped into a wintery snow globe,” Foutch said. Set in the spectacular ski resort town of Vail, Colo., this film features Lacey as a woman who inherits a home there and connects with a handsome local (Tyler Hynes) who helps her put on a Strudelfest.

 

“This one has more majestic alpine scenery, strudel baking and wintery luxury than outright Christmas vibes, which makes it a great early season pick for anyone who’s not ready to make the full Christmas pivot yet,” Foutch said.