I enjoy a good, cheesy, silly Christmas movie. Sadly, this one really falls flat by the end.
The initial concept itself could have worked: Cynical woman who needs to regain a love of Christmas, has romance with adult who somehow believes in Santa Claus.
To make that truly work, you need something like a twist at the end where it turns out he's a retired elf, or one of Santa's sons or something.
What we end up with is a man-child character who feels totally out of place in an adult relationship. Not only that, but a man-child who is so shallow that their love of Christmas is based around only the most surface aspects of it. The sparkly lights, the over-the-top decorations, going on sleigh rides etc.
Sure, by the end he is supposed to have 'learnt his lesson' and realise it's about family and those we love, but he comes over as so selfish, childish and idiotic, it's too late by then.
To top it all off, for a movie about the spirit of Christmas, we actually get the message pushed that it transcends religion and never once are its origins mentioned (and the only religion briefly mentioned isn't related to Christmas!). Sure, plenty of Christmas movies avoid the religious aspect, but they _also_ don't go out of their way to say its irrelevant. In this case, they're actually trying to exclude and divorce Christmas from its origins. Umm... Sorry, the clue is in the name, whether or not you are religious. I'm not especially, but neither am I afraid to acknowledge and appreciate its origins, either. Heck, even if you somehow reduce Christmas to Santa Claus, you still have to acknowledge the origins of St. Nick!!
Ultimately, the movie falls flat due to the lack of chemistry between the leads (despite apparently being married in real life), and the utter shallowness and childishness of the male lead who shouldn't be in an adult relationship.
Christina Moore, as Lisa, is actually not bad as the lead, but her character should have run a mile... Most especially after the moment when Tom (John Ducey) would rather turn down a romantic evening with the woman he (supposedly) loves, and break up their relationship, to go on a sleigh ride on his own, all because he loves the shallow trappings of Christmas so much, without understanding any of it...
Sadly, I have to say avoid this one!!
The initial concept itself could have worked: Cynical woman who needs to regain a love of Christmas, has romance with adult who somehow believes in Santa Claus.
To make that truly work, you need something like a twist at the end where it turns out he's a retired elf, or one of Santa's sons or something.
What we end up with is a man-child character who feels totally out of place in an adult relationship. Not only that, but a man-child who is so shallow that their love of Christmas is based around only the most surface aspects of it. The sparkly lights, the over-the-top decorations, going on sleigh rides etc.
Sure, by the end he is supposed to have 'learnt his lesson' and realise it's about family and those we love, but he comes over as so selfish, childish and idiotic, it's too late by then.
To top it all off, for a movie about the spirit of Christmas, we actually get the message pushed that it transcends religion and never once are its origins mentioned (and the only religion briefly mentioned isn't related to Christmas!). Sure, plenty of Christmas movies avoid the religious aspect, but they _also_ don't go out of their way to say its irrelevant. In this case, they're actually trying to exclude and divorce Christmas from its origins. Umm... Sorry, the clue is in the name, whether or not you are religious. I'm not especially, but neither am I afraid to acknowledge and appreciate its origins, either. Heck, even if you somehow reduce Christmas to Santa Claus, you still have to acknowledge the origins of St. Nick!!
Ultimately, the movie falls flat due to the lack of chemistry between the leads (despite apparently being married in real life), and the utter shallowness and childishness of the male lead who shouldn't be in an adult relationship.
Christina Moore, as Lisa, is actually not bad as the lead, but her character should have run a mile... Most especially after the moment when Tom (John Ducey) would rather turn down a romantic evening with the woman he (supposedly) loves, and break up their relationship, to go on a sleigh ride on his own, all because he loves the shallow trappings of Christmas so much, without understanding any of it...
Sadly, I have to say avoid this one!!