Ed's Review Dot Com

Autumn Mannitoba Productions, Cartel Pictures, The Cartel,

Brooke Burns, Steve Pacaud, Gino Anania, Erik Athavale, Tom Everett Scott, Pilar Floyd, Kristen Harris, Adam Hurtig, Emily Muir, Sophie Neudorf

Sydney (Brooke Burns) is a global hopping flight attendant who loves the life of glamor and visiting far away places. She’s looking for a wonderful tropical Christmas, but on her last flight she meets a charming little girl name Leah (Sophie Neudorf) who is flying alone to meet her Father. But when they arrive, her father Jonathan (Tom Everett Scott) is nowhere to be seen. Sydney misses her flight, but waits until Jonathan arrives and Leah is delivered to him in good spirits. She still has time to make the next flight, but after Leah and her Dad leave, Sydney sees that Leah left an important package behind. Sydney delivers it and is invited in for some Christmas activity. As time passes, Sydney finds it harder and harder to remember why a holiday in the tropics sounded so appealing as she learns the advantage of missing her flight and spending so time with her new found friends.

This was a really touching film, and a real pleasure to watch. The story was so very well written, and all the primary actors were very good. IT has just the right amount of sentiment to make it a wonderful new Christmas movie, and Sophie Neudorf does such a wonderful job as the little girl that she steals the whole movie. This film was very well done, and I really did enjoy it, and was a real pleasure to watch. Hallmark has once again done such a fabulous job bringing the Holidays to us, and I must say it is appreciated.

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Hallmark Movies & Mysteries,

Jill Wagner, Luke Macfarlane, Lauren Guci

When Maggie (Jill Wagner) was a girl, her father walked out on them at Christmas breaking her mother’s heart. Now Maggie is a single Mom who is a divorce attorney with a little boy, Jordon (Lauren Guci) who is anxious for Christmas to arrive. But Maggie’s husband also chose Christmas to walk out on them, so Maggie has very little interest in Christmas, to say the least. Jordon is having trouble in school however, so Maggie and her mom decide it might be best to hire a tutor for Jordan and the principal recommends Casey (Luke Macfarlane) who runs the local eatery but also tutors students. Cases and Jordan get along well, but Maggie is a very hard nut to crack until a major unexpected bit of knowledge turns everything upside down.

This is a really wonderful Christmas tale and one that is very touching. I guess I’m a sucker for interesting plot twists and turns, and this is a really great story which makes it easier to build a great movie when the starting point is so well done. Jill Wagner is very proper and uptight, though she can fight for the right, and believes in marriage even though it turned bad both to her mother and herself. Lauren Guci is a really good Jordon, trying to survive and hoping that his Mom can somehow be happy again. But Luke Macfarlane really nails it is his role as Casey, the gentle teacher who shows kindness and concern from the bottom of his heart. He is very touching in his role and was a pleasure to watch. All in all, this is an amazing mystery story heavy into fate and chances and is a very good entry into this years batch of Holiday films. Try not to miss this one.

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Leif Films,

Jesse Metcalfe, Fiona Gubelmann

Eric Redford (Jesse metcalfe) is a well known author of books about the bachelor lifestyle. His aunt contacts him just before Christmas to let him know that his niece and nephew are on their way for a short visit as their parents are out of the country and his Aunt is suffering from the flu and can’t take care of them. The kids are a handful, and way out of his wheelhouse, and things look bleak as the days stretch on and he is not ready or willing to Christmas up his life. Fortunately, two doors down, April Stewart (Fiona Gubelmann) lives who is a huge fan of Christmas and falls for the children and agrees to help him out. As the days go on, Eric begins to enjoy the excitement that the holidays brings. As the kids grown on him he finds that he is also interested to look closer at April as well, though she is not a fan of the nature of his writing. When the family all show up on Christmas, things all come to a head, and all the secrets and misunderstandings come to light.

Another new film for this Christmas with a fun cast, and another Scrooge like transformation. But unlike others, it’s not an 180 degree turn that is far beyond inevitability. Jesse Metcalfe does a really good job playing a real life character who is not a cardboard cutout but expresses real emotions, and Fiona is bubbly and charming as a lover of the holidays, but also has a very serious side to her that makes her seem much more real life than many of these types of characters. No one here is one sided, and that’s a very good thing. The depth of the characters is what adds so much to this film, and that is one major reason why I enjoyed it more than most. I think they did a really good job handling the subject and it was quite a refreshing holiday film in my opinion. Good job, this one is pretty good.

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Hallmark Movies & Mysteries,

Maggie Lawson, Brennan Elliott, Art Hindle, Tracey Hoyt, Mercedes de la Zerda, Mika Amonsen, Sherry Miller, Sabryn Rock, David Tompa, Erin Agostino, Bea Santos, Joy Tanner, Murray Furrow, Marie Dame, Mélanie St-Pierre

Charlotte Lacy (Maggie Lawson) is a struggling actress. She scores a part in the the local theater groups performance of “A Christmas Carol” and is really enjoying it. As she builds a close relationship with the director, Julian Walker (Brennan Elliott) things look like things are going to be great, when they learn that the theater is about to lose it’s lease and the theater is going to have to close. This spawns the ideas of how they can save the theater. What they need is a Christmas Miracle.

This is a very average Holiday film. Nothing is particularly earth shattering, but it’s a nice little movie. Maggie Lawson is very well equipped to pull off this film and is very lovely and quite talented. The chemistry between the two is memorable. On a holiday cheer scale, it’s pretty well up there. When the announcement is made that “The Christmas Carol” will be their last performance, the movie gets serious as they band together to try to save the old theater. This is just what a Christmas movie is supposed to be like, so if you aren’t burned out with Holiday cheer, this is a good middle ground Christmas movie. It’s not overly sappy and sentimental, nor does it try to twist and turn you head around to figure out what’s up. It’s just a straight forward holiday film that you can just relax and enjoy.

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Muse Entertainment Enterprises,

Rachel Skarsten, Trevor Donovan, Emily Tennant, Blair Penner, Crystal Lowe, Keith MacKechnie, Michele Scarabelli, Judith Maxie, Darla Fay

Madeline Krug (Rachel Skarsten) is a bridal consultant in a small town. Ginger Blake (Emily Tennant) is a home town girl who is planning a holiday wedding in her home town, and Madeline is her wedding planner. But Ginger’s brother is along to protect and help his sister, and Johnny Blake (Trevor Donovan) is a huge Hollywood star and very well off. His suggestions and plans seem opposite of everything Madeline and Ginger have in mind, but not only does he grow on Madeline very quickly, but he learns to rethink his star life, and appreciate the small town.

This has the main trappings of a Christmas movie. A small town Christmas, lots of holiday sights and sounds, and almost smells. Wouldn’t it be great if finally developed a TV with the ability to send smells over the wire? I’d be watching the movies all year long! The guy who plays the movie star, Johnny, is really star here. There’s some complications and twists, and lots of good feelings, and though it’s not a standout Christmas movie, it’s well done and has all you need to enjoy a couple hours. There’s some humor, mostly brought by Trevor (as Johnny) who just can’t understand a small town Christmas. All in all, it’s a good outing, and some fresh faces and a rather fair Christmas Movie. This is one to watch.