RECAP: Hallmark Channel’s The Christmas Cure

As is custom with the Hallmark Channel, the network airs Christmas movies all throughout July. For the most part the movies that the network runs during the month are re-airs of the countless holiday movies they have in their collection. But the network also debuts at least one new movie during their summer salute to Christmas. That new movie aired last night and it was called The Christmas Cure.

The movie focused on an emergency room doctor, Vanessa Turner (Brooke Nevin from Scorpion and Breakout Kings), who returned to her East Coast home for Christmas after many years. She quickly learned that her father (Dallas alum Patrick Duffy) has decided to retire. After reuniting with her high school sweetheart Mitch (Steve Byers from Reign and The Man in the High Castle) and spending an emotional holiday with her family, she must decide if she will stay in her hometown, taking over her father’s practice or return to Los Angeles in the hopes of landing a major promotion.

As the telefilm opened, we saw Vanessa at her job at St. Ambrose Hospital, where she is obviously an over-worked doctor, who hasn’t been able to get time off for the holidays in a very long time. And naturally because of her dedication to her job, she is now on the short list for Head of Trauma at the hospital. Right after she got the great news about her potential promotion, she also learned that she finally landed a holiday vacation, being able to head home for Christmas.

She traveled 3,000 miles to her cozy hometown somewhere on the East Coast [it’s convenient that most of these movies don’t always say exactly where the characters are visiting for the holidays] only to be greeted by her high school boyfriend, who “volunteered” to give her a ride home from the airport.

Shortly after arriving home, Vanessa quickly learned that her father planned to retire, closing down the family clinic that had been a staple in the community and conveniently attached to the family’s home. Enter former boyfriend Mitch – now a contractor – who was hired by Vanessa’s dad to renovate the clinic into guest rooms.

As the movie played out, it became clear that her family wanted her to stay – but were accepting of the fact that she didn’t want to live in her father’s shadow – and that Mitch still held a torch for her. Halfway through the film, Mitch takes a tumble from a ladder while performing some renovations on the clinic, ending up with a sprained arm as well as some cuts and bruises. While his injuries were minor, to say the least, Vanessa put a temporary kibosh on her panel review – basically her interview for that big work promotion. It was quite obvious that Vanessa still had feelings for Mitch, but what was she going to do about that.

The rest of the movie focused on the family celebrating the holidays together, which included a visit from Santa Claus, who came to see some of the neighborhood kids who were part of the town’s annual toy charity drive, overseen by Vanessa’s mother; Vanessa’s younger brother Kyle pining over a girl from school and the family packing up the practice as they prepare for the elder Dr. Turner’s final day with patients.

Just as Vanessa prepared to leave her hometown for Los Angeles, she opened a gift from Mitch – something he’d been holding onto for the past 10 years (can you call that pining a long time for a girl?) – finding a star halo encased inside a snow globe – a salute to the town’s Christmas pageant that cemented their friendship, which seemed to turn the tide for her in deciding to stay, keeping her father’s practice open and seemingly reigniting her relationship with Mitch.

Did you watch The Christmas Cure on Hallmark Channel? If so, what are your thoughts on the latest Christmas in July movie? Please share your thoughts in our comments section below.