Signed, Sealed, Delivered for Christmas: A Night at the Movies (Christmas In July Edition)

I am a huge fan of the Hallmark original series Signed, Sealed, Delivered. I was dismayed when I heard that it was moving to Hallmark Movies and Mysteries because my cable sadly doesn’t provide me with that channel. So I was really psyched when I won my coworker Tony Rossi’s giveaway of the movie.

So for some “Christmas in July” fun, I’m going to recap and review this movie. If you don’t have Hallmark Movies and Mysteries, the movie is available to rent or own on VUDU. Without further ado, let’s go! (And bear with me, this review will be in rhyme.)

A few days before Christmas, all the Postables were busy. Mailing presents from Santa, they were all in a tizzy. A new “troubleshooter” arrives on the scene. Meet Jordan Marley, from the Powers that Be. Oliver O’Toole is out delivering mail and comes back in time to hear Shane’s singing fail. Shane doesn’t like Christmas, but gets Rita a dress. When they show up at the party, both their boys are impressed. Shy little Oliver hides behind the punch, but seeing Shane dance with Jordan makes him almost lose his lunch. He goes out to the dance floor and asks to cut in, regarding her rumba with Jordan a kind of venial sin. They exchange witty banter while sizzling in their dance.

When they’re all eating dinner, Shane hints for Rita’s chance. Then she realizes her necklace is missing. Jordan finds it and Oliver is hissing. Oliver grits his teeth at the new competition while Shane wryly “humbugs” in a sarcastic admission. Jordan gives them a letter that someone wrote to God so it’s back to the office to assemble the squad.

The letter’s from a girl who’s mommy is sick so they search for the hospital as quick as St. Nick. Shane scoffs while she searches for plazas, not believing in a God or in secondary causes. They go to Denver Mercy and sing down the halls, posing as carolers, and encounter some stalls. They meet a kind nurse who shows them the room with the girl and the sick mom and her dad all in gloom. The mission they chose is to make a Christmas play so that Hannah can be a shepherd and have hope for the day.

Back in the office, over a nice game of chess, Oliver tells Jordan of how his ex-wife left. Jordan gives him a letter by a girl whose dad left alone, asking the Lord to bring him back home.

The Postables all prep for the Christmas Eve play. Oliver meets his old teacher from his Sunday School days. Shane talks to Marley about her dark and troubled past, which began with her dad making one Christmas his last. Oliver tells his teacher of a time when he was a child and encountered an angel who helped him to smile. He lost his grandfather and decorated a tree that grew out of a rock that looked out to the sea.

Shane helps the girl learn her lines for the skit but the mother’s health falters, so the two of them split. She calls up Oliver because the situation is bad and he hurries on back and they talk to the dad. In a chapel, he confides of his failure to to deliver. Jordan helps Oliver to realize he was still a good giver. He reminds Oliver that he is still good when he was helping others like a good Christian should. There’s a hint of another show that will leave you feeling “Touched,” but I don’t want to spoil the movie too much.

The play’s about to start, but they still need a sheep. A taxi has a sheepskin, but the cost is too steep. Shane gives her necklace as a reluctant trade and meets up with Oliver and the letter mislaid. Shane tells her friend about her abandonment issues which lead to “bah humbug” and her current atheism. Oliver realize that Shane’s the girl in question and pleads with her to just stop and listen. He tells her that she has a new family with Rita and Norman and himself, all three. They embrace and Shane gives a kiss, then she leaves for the play with Oliver in bliss.

Meanwhile, Rita asks Norman to tell her the truth and her friend admits that she’s a very bad cook. Everyone is ready, but there’s something they’re forgetting: the little Lord Jesus! But it’s not quite upsetting. Hannah gets a brother and her mother’s okay. And thank God for that, cuz it’s time for the play!

It was quite a success, but it’s time to go home, but not before Norman has an encounter of his own. An owl appears, saying “Woo! Woo!” and gives Rita and Norman a sweet moment or two. Shane leaves for Phoenix with Rita in tow while Oliver takes a cab to the office alone. He returns to find a familiar tree and he starts decorating, his heart filled with glee.

He turns around and finds that his friends chose to stay, so it’s time for a party with dancing and play. Norman gets his own stocking and Shane starts to hope, especially when she sees her necklace, hanging on the tree like a rope.

So this movie is fun and heartwarming as well. But what makes it special? It’s easy to tell. Unlike other movies that skirt around the reason, this film includes Jesus in the holiday season. It’s about hope and miracles instead of romance and even the cynics can give God a chance.

I hope you give it a watch come Christmas time, and this will hopefully be the last time I write a blog in rhyme!

All images are copyright to Hallmark and Martha Williamson and are used for editorial purposes only.