Ed's Review Dot Com

The Hallmark Channel,

Natalie Knepp, Michael Rady, Bonnie Bedelia, Steve Bacic, Marc Senior, Chiara Guzzo, David Lewis, Jillian Walchuck, Jordan Ninkovich, Bobby L. Stewart,
Jaime MacLean, Françoise Robertson, Sam Vincent

Rachel Kennedy (Natalie Knepp) is a self help author. She is also a motivational speaker, but due to hardships in her own experience, her message is all about taking care of yourself first. She believes that if you don’t make yourself happy first, you can’t help anyone else to be happy. She is on a book tour to advertise her newest book and takes the opportunity to head the Christmas Pageant in her home town which is an annual event, but secretly her plan is to use it to promote her new book. But as she gets in touch with the people involved, she begins to learn the error of her ways and how spreading love and good will to others can really help her find the true meaning of the season.

This is one final Christmas movie for this season. I have seen a great many new films, some quite memorable, and others that I could easily forget. This one lands somewhere in the middle, I guess. It’s a nice story, and the performances by Natalie Knepp and Michael Rady are very good. Michael is actually really gentle in his role, and near the end, the story spins off track a bit to back fill his story and though he pulls it off, it is a little to sweet even for me, perhaps. Bonnie Bedelia is a surprise character here, as Joy, one who offers her help and puts in her best efforts to make everything a success. Joy is an angel, although not literally, who has been through a great deal in her life. A lot of the story (and Rachel’s final redemption) comes through a big misunderstanding with Joy that brings all the parts of the movie together. All in all it’s a fairly decent Christmas film, though not perfect, a completely adequate addition to the holiday class of 2017. I have enjoyed once again bringing the new Christmas movies of 2017 to you and am looking forward to a great cinema year in 2018. Merry Christmas Everyone.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Front Street Pictures, Side Street Post,

Candace Cameron Bure, Paul Greene, Sarah Strange, Alisson Amigo, Mark Brandon, Kaj-Erik Eriksen,
David Lewis, Mackenzie Mowat, Barbara Niven, Edwin Perez, Marcus Rosner, Ingrid Tesch, Andrea Ware, Nelson Wong

Paige Summerlind (Candace Cameron Bure) is a shaky bride-to-be with the perfect fiance. She has yet to meet his parents, and they’re rich and old fashioned, so they’ve scheduled a meeting with her in New York City. But during the flight, the pilot informs them that the New York airports are closed due to a bad winter storm, and so they are diverted to Buffalo. But as soon as the NYC airports reopen, Buffalo is getting hit by the storm of the century. Meanwhile, her seatmate Dylan (Paul Greene) is driving her crazy with his attitude. Turns out he’s had his heart broken not long ago and is anti-relationship. But the only way Paige has a chance of making it to NYC is to hitch a ride in the last available 4-Wheel Drive jeep in Buffalo with Dylan and a bickering couple really down on marriage who are trying to talk her out of it.

Since Dancing With the Stars, Candace Cameron Bure and Danica McKeller have had a little rivalry going. I’m afraid Danica edged her out this Christmas with “Crown for Christmas”. But this “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” for Christmas was pretty good. Last year, Candace blew her away by a mile. Candace has been doing some really great films each year, and is certainly the one star that I look for each Christmas. This film was good, had a lot of humor, and I did enjoy it very much. But it didn’t have the spark that the others had. Still it’s a clever story, and it suits her style. The situation was humorous, and we figured the two would get together in the end. This is my second favorite of the Hallmark films for 2015, and well worth watching. It will be repeated all through the season.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Lifetime,

Grumpy Cat, Megan Charpentier, Daniel Roebuck, Russell Peters, David Lewis, Evan Todd, Isaac Haig, Shauna Johannesen, Casey Manderson, Tyler Johnston, Aubrey Plaza, Ryan Beil, Jean Hamilton, Dylan Poyser, Sidika Larbes

Grumpy Cat (Voiced by Aubrey Plaza), a famous internet meme, stars in her own Christmas movie from Lifetime. Grumpy Cat lives in the mall in a little pet store. The other pets there are very anxious to be adopted, but of course Grumpy Cat doesn’t care about much. A little girl Chrystal (Megan Charpentier) loves the shop and the animals who live there, but the owner is in financial trouble. He plans to obtain and sell a very valuable dog to pay his back rent, but some bad guys determine to steal the dog. Chrystal is locked in the mall, and it’s up to her skills and Grumpy Cat’s wisdom to survive the night.

There has been a tremendous amount of hype about this film. I have been doing the Christmas movie reviews for 5 years in a row now, since 2010. and I must admit that many years Lifetime has nailed it. To tell the truth, this year Lifetime has been really weak, and I’m not sure why. While Hallmark and UP TV have done an excellent job, Lifetime was really not very festive this year. It seems they put all the effort into bringing Grumpy Cat to the screen. This is unfortunate because it’s a pretty poor movie. The best thing is that Grumpy Cat doesn’t have a lot to do. The talking cat thing though is very “Guess Who’s Talking”-like which is really annoying. The rest of the movie is really better than the stupid cat. However, this is so “Paul Blart Mall Cop” that it’s nearly the same movie. All in all, it seems like an effort to take advantage of the popularity of the internet sensation, and very little effort in the story or the plot. Now I have to admit, I’m not really a Grumpy Cat fan, and I think most of the posts featuring this stupid cat are stretching it a bit. I also think that talking cat movies are not that hot either, so it starts with two strikes. There are probably some people who will like this film and who love the cat. That’s ok, but for me it really did not work, and I’m sorry to report that I didn’t really care for it very much.

[Click here for Lifetime’s home page for this film]

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog