Weihnachtsball im Wunderland

Heidi (Emily Osment) is from a small town but has resided in NYC for several years. Although she once dreamed of becoming an artist, she now helps run an art gallery for a very demanding lady. She paints on canvas very little. Yet, a call from her sister soon has her flying back to her little city. An opportunity too good to miss has come up for her real estate agent sis and her hubby so Heidi is asked to babysit for a few days. Once there, Christmas is fast approaching and her niece is preparing for a singing solo at the elementary school pageant while the nephew has a crush on a girl student. The crush has meant nephew can't concentrate on his studies so his caring teacher and hockey coach, Chris (Ryan Rottman) is trying to help bring his grades up. Wouldn't you know, Chris is also a former flame of Heidi's and neither of them has married! Soon, they are crossing paths as Chris is put in charge of decorating for the Snowball dance and Heidi is signed up for the same by her sis. Just what went wrong so many years before and is there hidden embers of love that can be flamed again? You betcha! This beautiful romance is one of the endless string of quality films by Hallmark, the pinnacle producer of modern romantic comedy. Osment and Rottman are two fetching and talented performers and backup cast, sets, costumes, script and direction all make for a winning view. Wonderland is wunnerful, wunnerful.

Pretty standard fair but Emily really shines. She may not be the most conventionally beautiful Hallmark actress, but she is down to earth and likable. Her acting in this was so natural and really brought a lot to an otherwise boring character. Her partner was good too.

The embers of a teenage love affair are rekindled in this lighthearted engaging drama in the Christmas romance genre, which is nicely sewed with a thread of humour and light banter throughout.

The two leads work very well together, in character, and both have a relaxed acting style that brings a strong note of authenticity to the proceedings.

Beneath the seasonal fluff & glitter is a poignant streak about why this couple separated in the first place - Heidi moved to New York to pursue a professional career as an artist (but ends up as a gallery assistant) and Chris remained in hometown to pursue a career in teaching at the high school, he attended with Heidi, with extracurricular activities as ice hockey coach...and now has last-minute duty to organize the annual high school Christmas Ball, just as Heidi returns to town on brief visit.

Though they pursued different paths, both have not found new partners in the romance department.

However, after many years of estrangement, Cupid now intervenes and conspires to bring the two lovebirds back to a place of reconnection & self-reflection, with the old doubts and aspirations casting shadows on their reignited romance.

This movie is well above average for the genre and I could watch again without complaints.

Though relatively formulaic, I found the story warm. Every actor gave solid performances. I really appreciated Emily Osment's acting. There is something refreshingly authentic about her that stands out, making you look forward to more of her work.

I really don't normally like to write a bad review as I take a movie for what it is, good fun. But I can't overlook the bad acting of some of the main cast, especially the lead actress. It's a shame because some of the secondary parts are good actors. As a Xmas movie it does what it says on the tin, it's feel good and set at Xmas suppose I shouldn't ask for much more, but there is better out there, trust me I've watched.