Based on a short story by the acclaimed author of Little Women, Louisa May Alcott, comes a holiday story of family and forgiveness. Recently widowed Mary Bassett (Helene Joy) and her three children have hit difficult times on their farm. Suddenly, Mary’s wealthy and estranged mother Isabella (Jacqueline Bisset) comes to visit upon receiving a devious letter from the eldest daughter. Mary resents her mother’s attempts to help them out of their financial difficulties. In the end, more than money will be needed to heal deep wounds and rampant scarlet fever of this period drama.

A parent’s colorful history can taint the next generation, and here we find a scheming mother, Isabella, who got what she wanted financially but at the huge cost of being an absent mother. Yet Isabella’s age and experience has wounded her with regrets, loss and worldly knowledge that help her to easily spin off the verbal assaults of her daughter and grandchildren. She knows that tenacity will get her what she wants. But she does need to lighten up and quit being the queen.

The film mostly revolves around the eldest daughter’s (Tatiana Maslany) coming of age, but it is the character of Isabella that proves most interesting. And Jacqueline Bisset’s every beat is pitch perfect given her rich character of Isabella. It is she that kept me most interested. In a reversal, she is ultimately the prodigal son from the Bible. But in this case, she is actually the prodigal grandmother.

An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving is reasonably directed by Graeme Campbell with careful, if uninspired lighting by cinematographer Mitchell T. Ness. Production designer Tim Bider brings us right into the period of this New England story from the 1800s, though it was filmed in Toronto for the Hallmark Channel. The film looks good and I had a pleasant time watching it for the most part. But all can seem too perfect.

Most of my frustrations with these kinds of productions is that they appear very well posed and composed. Despite hardships collapsing around this family, the children are plump and rosy with a great amount of beautiful clothing. The mother Mary (Helene Joy) is just a knockout beauty, and their house is solid, large and in fine shape. They even have a sweet maintenance man. Huh?

So we’re told that they are low on money for food and rent, but…the pretty and cozy atmosphere diminish the rugged, ruddy conditions – everyone seems too safe. Incidental flaws of desperation are needed to pump more blood into this story. How about ragged clothing, home repair crises, sparse furniture, dirty or scratched faces, a shocking burglary, or more fighting?

While I appreciated the journeys of these strong-willed women trying to reconcile their relationships, their supposed foundation of economical hardship is poorly realized, which is always the damned weak-link in these Hallmark films. Nothing feels genuinely threatening. Then again, when I watched this film I actually ate a whole bag of Twix Minis (intended for Halloween trick-or-treaters in a few days), so maybe my spiked insulin and sugar-high nausea has me in a foul mood. Not to mention having to buy another bag tomorrow.

With some clever dialogue, atonement of past neglect and good acting, this is a respectable film to which many can relate, and I actually enjoyed it, overall. I just wish the writers and directors would toughen up the crises, or strip the story of comforts to infuse the tale with more compelling moments. Hallmark plays it safe once again. And maybe that’s what most people want.