LET IT SNOW: Candace Cameron Bure Finds Christmas

I think Candace Cameron Bure is planning to make a Hallmark holiday movie every year now that she’s back to acting, and I am a-OK with that.

In Let It Snow, she finds herself tangled up with a family resort at Christmastime again (see also: Moonlight and Mistletoe), but this time she’s the one threatening to shut it all down.

Bure stars as Stephanie Beck, an ambitious executive sent from sunny Arizona to frigid Maine to evaluate how to convert a charming old lodge into the singles resort her company is known for (think Sandals). Stephanie works for her father, Ted (Alan Thicke), head of Falcon Resorts and, of course, a man not at all interested in Christmas or family since his wife died when Stephanie was just 6 years old.

Determined to be all business, Stephanie immediately gets off on the wrong foot with the son of the retiring resort owners, Brady Lewis (Jesse Hutch), clearly doesn’t know how to dress for the frigid climate, and rejects attempts to include her in the lodge’s Christmas traditions. Gradually, Stephanie’s childhood wish for a real Christmas breaks through and meets the Lewis’ inclusive, family-style holiday. Of course now she must decide whether to give her father the report he wants – bulldoze the place and start from the ground up – or defy him and recommend that tradition be honored.

Romance is at the forefront of Let It Snow, but there are some complicated father-child relationships being explored as well, and Stephanie finds a mother figure she never expected. Stephanie’s transformation from Grinch to wide-eyed wonder as she finally experiences a traditional Christmas is sweet and organic in the hands of Bure. Her absolute delight in a couple of scenes is palpable. Bonus: I learned several new traditions and Scandanavian holiday treats thanks to Mrs. Lewis!

Let It Snow premieres Saturday, November 30 at 8/7c on Hallmark Channel.