"The Nine Lives of Christmas" - SPOILER ALERT

A Hallmark movie featuring cats?! Yes, please!

The very first scene shows a cat without any humans around. It's a very quick scene, but this captured my attention and heart right away and let me know that at least one cat was going to be the true star of this movie. Without the cats, this is just your typical Hallmark romance where boy meets girl, they are attracted to each other, they get to know each other a bit, there is tension between them, they become better friends and realize they're not so bad after all, there's a hint of romance to come, but whoops! Someone (usually the girl) misunderstands something that the other (usually the guy) does, and she decides she needs to leave. But wait! They find each other again, clear up any and all misunderstandings, and presumably live happily ever after. And, oh yes. As is Hallmark's trademark, this movie does end with a kiss. Well sort of. The cats actually (and brilliantly) are given the very last scene in the movie.

The movie was released in 2014, but being a newcomer to the network, I watched it for the first time this holiday season. I am so glad they re-aired it (just for me?!). So often dogs are portrayed as the lovable and loyal pets (and they certainly can be), but not so much cats. So when I found out cats would have their time to shine in the limelight, I just had to watch this one. 

The cats in this movie are not magical, which I appreciated, but they certainly communicate with their humans. The story begins when a handsome firefighter rescues a cat who is cornered by a dog. The firefighter insists that the cat cannot stay in his house. However, the cat has other plans. He sneaks into the house before Zachary, the handsome firefighter, can shut the door. We soon learn that the cat belonged to someone who has recently passed away and the feline's name is Ambrose.

And so begins a true love story in this movie. The relationship between Ambrose and Zachary echoes the kind of relationship Hallmark tends to portray with humans - they meet and there is tension between them. Yet, there is also an obvious connection.

Not being "a cat person" and not being someone who is interested in a commitment, Zachary insists that the cat cannot stay for more than one night. Yeah, right! As you can probably imagine, the cat ends up staying MUCH longer than that. The cat is a typical...well...cat and makes his intentions clear. Basically, that he is staying and Zachary will grow to love him. There's one scene where the cat wants to get on the bed, but Zachary says nope! He takes the cat off the bed and locks him out of the room, but it's obvious the cat won't be going anywhere. In the very next scene, the cat is relaxing comfortably on the bed with Zachary. (I can just visualize the off camera antics where the cat scratches profusely on the door until Zachary opens his heart and lets Zachary back in.) During the day, Ambrose spends the day at the firehouse where Zachary works. The guys love having a firehouse cat. Even the firefighter who prefers dogs over cats doesn't mind.

Meanwhile, Marilee, a single woman, is a student studying to become a veterinarian. She is very involved in her studies and makes no time for a life outside of that. Well, except that she has a very fluffy cat named Queenie. If the landlady finds out Marilee has a cat, she and Queenie will be evicted because pets are not allowed.

Marilee's first encounter with Zachary is when her car and the fire engine he's riding in almost collide. Some time after that, they have a chance meeting at the store where Marilee is buying an enormous tub of ice cream for herself and Zachary is buying cat food for Ambrose. They have a discussion about cat food...and about the enormous tub of ice cream in Marilee's cart. It is clear that Marilee already has a crush on Zachary. He makes her nervous in a giddy kind of way. I like this side of her personality. It makes her "human".

Zachary has a girlfriend who is an over-the-top stuck up model. Oh, and by the way, she hates cats. So, she is mortified to learn that Zachary has taken in Ambrose and that he actually seems to like the cat. How dare he has soft spot for his newfound feline friend! Although the character of Zachary's girlfriend is a snob, she provides much comic relief in this film. She's so snobbish that she's hilarious!

Zachary's girlfriend insists that he put the cat up for adoption. And he obliges. At first. So they go to the store the next day where Marilee happens to work. They try to give the cat to Marilee, but she cannot take in another cat. Zachary's girlfriend is rude to Marilee and Marilee gives her a taste of her own medicine. Unfortunately for Marilee, Zachary's girlfriend, whose dad is Marilee's boss, talks her dad into firing Marilee. On Marilee's birthday. Last year, she received a raise on her birthday. This year, she was fired.

One day, Zachary's girlfriend is at his house preparing dinner. (It was actually take-out. This was a funny scene because she told Zachary she made dinner, but that was impossible because the new stove was not yet hooked up. Plus he saw the takeout containers in the trash. Duh.) He comes home to find out his beloved Ambrose is missing. His girlfriend has NO IDEA what happened to his feline friend...and she doesn't care. Of course, Zachary does care and he breaks up with her on the spot. She can't believe he is breaking up with her, a model!

Zachary stops by the store days later, hoping to apologize to Marilee for his girlfriend's attitude, not realizing Marilee had already been fired. Eventually, Marilee finds Ambrose and brings him to the fire station where Zachary works. Zachary is happily reunited with his feline friend and sparks begin to fly between Zachary and Marilee. 

They hang out and get to know each other. One day, Marilee arrives home to find out that the landlady found out about Queenie. Marilee and her cat are evicted, but thankfully, she can stay at Zachary's house where cats are not only accepted, they are "required"! There is a separate entrance to the section of the house where Marilee and Queenie end up staying.  Marilee has no job at this point, so she has plenty of time to help out around the house. She does so in a way that impresses Zachary. She decorates for Christmas and she even hooks up the stove for him!

Everything is going smoothly for Zachary and Marilee (and for their feline friends who get along very well), until one day, Marilee sees Zachary with another woman. Marilee wrongly assumes this is Zachary's new girlfriend, so she decides it's time to up and leave. She goes to a friend's house. Zachary does not realize why Marilee left. She gave no reason.

So, it's Christmas and Zachary is depressed. But then Ambrose reminds him where Marilee had told him she would be that day. Ambrose pointed to the advertisement in the newspaper and the light bulb in Zachary's head went on. So, he drives his fire engine to the event with the siren on (is that legal?) and meets Marilee there. They clear they air, kiss, and presumably live happily ever after. The final scene in the movie shows Ambrose sitting contentedly with his feline friend, Queenie.

I didn't say much about the supporting cast in my summary, but they were all equally delightful. Zachary's fire station buddies were a fun addition to the cast. The conversations they had were amusing and it was touching to learn that one of the senior firefighters at the station rescued Zachary from a burning house when he was a teenager and that was when he decided he wanted to become a firefighter.

This is one of Hallmark's best movies that I've seen and I can see myself watching it again in the future. It is based on a book, but I have no intention of reading it anytime soon. All the reviews I've read tell me that the movie is so much better than the book, which is not typical. So I'd rather just leave it at that, at least for now.

I'll leave you with a little teaser...there is a sequel to "The Nine Lives of Christmas" that premiered last month on Thanksgiving Day. That one also features cats...or are they kittens?? Stay tuned!