A Cinderella Christmas

This movie goes quickly through a version of the Cinderella story but with two exceptions. First, the prince finds the wrong sister. And second the movie goes past the usual story. The movie explores what happens after Nicholas gets engaged to Candace.

I almost gave up on this movie. Of course Candace is a jerk. But Angie is such a wimp that it's hard to like her either. Unfortunately Emma Rigby overplays the melancholy, subservient, wimpy girl. Sarah Stouffer also overplays the shallow, money-hungry sister. Can anyone be this dumb and spoiled?

Keeping in mind this is a Christmas romance film, it's quite good. It's got everything you want from a Christmas romance:

• A case of mistaken identity
• A rich and wonderful bachelor;
• A hard-working and generally good protagonist;
• A masquerade ball; and
• An evil step-sister (cousin) who is obviously toxic but so obviously that it makes you stop and think.

Some plot points were a little farfetched, such as the urgent wedding, the fact that the bachelor couldn't work out who our protagonist was because she was wearing a mask, and of course, anyone believing the dress our protagonist wore was actually nice. Not to mention the stocking game which seems ridiculous because you're forced to give someone else five (5) of your possessions which have little-to-none monetary meaning but a whole lot of sentimental value. Personally, I'd rather keep the things that have no monetary value but great sentimental value because that's the point of keeping sentimental objects. Maybe, just maybe, the guests were supposed to return the stocking to the original owner, but considering that our protagonist and bachelor did not, I have no idea. Also. You were supposed to use the objects in the stocking to find the person who they originally belonged to, but neither our bachelor or protagonist did this. So, what's the point? Other than the risk of losing your five (5) possessions because someone else took them because they were supposed to, or took them because they just never returned them to you and went home with them (I'm looking at you bachelor and protagonist).

'A Cinderella Christmas' did sound like it had a lot of potential to work. The story of 'Cinderella' is one of my all time favourites, and to see a Christmas twist on it fascinated me. Seeing trusted friends and reviewers rating it highly also added to the interest. And there have been times where Emma Rigby has impressed me, while she was inconsistent as Red Queen in 'Once Upon a Time in Wonderland' my memories of her powerful annorexia storyline in 'Hollyoaks' are still vivid.

On the most part, 'A Cinderella Christmas' was nicely done. It wasn't amazing to me, it was a bit uneven and it didn't impress me as much as others, but when it works it works very well indeed. Can totally understand its appeal and why it's gotten a good deal of love, while understanding some of the criticisms that have been directed against it. Really enjoyed 'A Cinderella Christmas' spin on the 'Cinderella' story and it and Christmas do mix, which was the most important thing. Saw another Christmas spin on another fairytale, 'A Snow White Christmas', months back, and 'A Cinderella Christmas' (which unlike that film is actually good) is miles better.

Shall start with what doesn't work. There are plot elements that are on the far-fetched and contrived side (i.e. The urgent wedding), complete with the odd frustrating character behaviours that make them look dumb on occasion. The romance did feel rushed in development at times.

Was not particularly keen on the performance of Sarah Stouffer, who overplays her very shallow and already exaggerated character. No subtlety or likeability whatsoever. A bit cheesy in the dialogue in spots.

There are many good things though. It is a nice looking film, especially the luminous scenery and Angie's dress. The music doesn't sound over-scored, too much of a dirge or over-quirky, having seen a lot of Christmas films over-time with intrusive and overdone music. The script has its cheesy moments, but it is genuinely amusing more than once and is far from bland emotionally, quite heartfelt actually without being syrupy. Likewise the story isn't perfect, but it captures the magic of the story it's loosely inspired from and the charm of Christmas beautifully and has a warm heart and honesty.

Excepting Candace, the characters are nicely written and not hard to relate to and the acting is better than average and often good. Rigby is immensely appealing as Angie and brings a lot of charm to her without going too far on the sentiment. Peter Porte is dashing and equally amiable, he and Rigby have an easy going chemistry and while their relationship is too hastily developed at times it flows more realistically than most similar relationships in Christmas films. Lesley Ann Downe is suitably sincere.

On the whole, nicely done with debits. 6/10.

The best part of the movie for me was some of the witty dialogue between the two leads. For example it went something like this.

Angie- "I feel like I don't fit in here" Nicholas- "That is precisely what makes you stand out" These moments were thought provoking and provided depth to the characters. The 2 leads did a nice job.

Another nice feature was a Christmas stocking where the characters would put things that were only of value to them. Great stuff that really helped to identify with the characters in the story.

Also thought the character of Max was well done. A cool friend with cool language to give some humor to what Nicholas was feeling.

Oh yes- Lesley-Anne Down with an English accent (we saw her 30 years ago as Madelaine on North and South mini-series)

With all this good- why not a ten? The cousin Candace part did not add to the story- it may have been good for a few laughs. Such a superficial character- not really believable. Also the first 30 minutes were very lively full of surprise, but then some parts got a bit slow and predictable.

The witty dialogue and literary quotes between the two leads would get me to watch it again, but I'd have to tolerate cousin Candace.

This movie is cute, and as far as Hallmark movies go, it's one of my favorites. Here's a thought though...if the protagonists parents were dead from the beginning of the movie, why not let her be from the U.K.? I think her acting would have been better if she could just use her British accent. I could tell she was concentrating too hard on the American one. I know for an actress it's a challenge or rite of passage or whatever, but it was a distraction.