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You've heard of "King Midas In Reverse"? Kathy Ireland is Orson Welles in reverse - meaning to say the swimsuit model-cum-actress-cum-designer-cum-Christian's never done a movie as BAD as her debut ("Alien From L.A."). "Once Upon A Christmas" continues this tradition, though not alas for lack of trying.

This TV movie is based on the premise that Santa Claus has become disillusioned with his day job, what with so many naughty people in the world and anti-Kringle websites ("Jingle bells, Santa smells..."); but his good-hearted daughter Kristin (Kathy, but who else?) still feels there's a chance for December 25, so she agrees to try and change the mind of the Morgans, with the future of Yuletide at stake. But the father (John Dye) is business-minded, his children are avaricious and intent on getting rid of every potential substitute mum, and their uncle (Wayne Thomas Yorke, in the movie's best performance) is hardly the ideal guardian. Plus our heroine's sister is little more than the Grinch in human form...

All of which could, in better hands, have proven to be a decent little seasonal movie; it certainly has good intentions on its side, and isn't too shameless in its pitch for the "Touched By An Angel" audience (I knew John Dye had been on it, and I bet myself that Kathy had also been alongside Roma Downey at one point. I was right). But better writing and directing (Steven H. Berman and Tibor Takacs respectively) would have helped, with the amusing earlier scenes at the North Pole wiped out by the poorly handled climax; decent special effects - Kathy's sleigh ride makes "Superboy" look good - and child actors who can actually act wouldn't have gone amiss either. For a movie that's supposed to be about restoring the Christmas spirit, this is fairly low on spirit itself; it's never really as heartwarming as it should be, and depressingly short on humour as well (the villain gets surprisingly little time, with the emphasis on the family).

Kathy Ireland is, however, endearing (as well as looking a treat throughout - as the credits point out, "Special Thanks to The Kathy Ireland Signature Collection"), and the movie is more bearable than "Ernest Saves Christmas" or the "Miracle on 34th Street" remake. It would be nice to think that the sequel ("Twice Upon A Christmas") is an improvement, but I'm not holding my breath. (For those wondering why this is good for royalists, a certain Edward Wessex is one of the executive producers. Well, he has to do something...)

I've been a fan of John Dye, since his performance in Touched By An Angel on TV and when Once Upon A Christmas first premiered on family channel it looked like a charming Christmas movie. Kathy Ireland's role as the younger daughter of Santa Claus was touching and sweet. What can one expect from two talented stars this movie is about the power of having faith again in the Christmas spirit and at an hour and 30 minutes it's enjoyable without being overdone.

Christmas is about to be canceled because there's a majority of children out there who have been more naughty then nice and Santa Claus (Campbell) is deciding to go away on vacation putting his oldest daughter Rudolfa (Haskell) in charge. However his younger daughter Kristen (Ireland) doesn't like that plan one bit, she makes a deal with dad that if one family's name is returned to the "nice list" then Christmas will go on as planned.

But the task is more challenging than ever because the family chosen is the Morgan clan Kyle (Kirk) & his sister Brittany (Prout) are two spoiled brats because their father widower & workaholic Bill (Dye) is always too busy. Then there's Uncle Johnny (Yorke) who is goodhearted but not the ideal guardian. Once she becomes the nanny the two siblings try everything in their power to get rid of her. During a vacation mostly to do with work the car breaks down and they're stranded at an old house in the middle of nowhere. They try to make the most out of this holiday soon everything begins to change not just in the kids but in Bill whose fallen in love Kristen.

When Rudolfa's plans to stop Christmas goes out of control Kristen will make the ultimate decision for the family she loves.

filled with heartwarming moments and romance Once Upon A Christmas is the ideal holiday movie.

This one's good for young, unsuspecting children at best.

But any other age group would find this movie poorly made and actually pretty atrocious. It's so bad, that it's laughable. Everything from the acting to the special effects to even some of the scenery is quite sub-par. I'll admit, the plot had some degree of potential, but all of the aforementioned qualities made this movie one for the birds.

Though some may be able to, it would still be beyond me if you can somehow see through these disastrous details into its "warm-hearted cuteness." Call me a "Grinch", but I still stand by the fact that this is definitely one holiday movie you could go without.

This movie involves Santa and his family, Santa magic, and Christmas spirit. It is a bit preachy, or at least Kristen Claus is, about faith and love and peace and trust, etc. There is a definite evil antagonist, Rudolpha, Kristen's sister. She isn't merely greedy, but mean.

Kristen, and this movie, are syrupy sweet, overly optimistic, and pathetically naïve. Since this is obviously a movie aimed at kids, these traits may be somewhat acceptable, but I found it overdone and annoying.

The acting is not good, except possibly for the kids. Again, some of the overdone acting may be for a kid audience. Special effects and production were also below par. Outdoor sets had absolutely no feel of being outdoors.

The story wasn't bad for Christmas fantasy, even if the Santa's child saves Christmas is not a new idea. Some of the other plot devices are equally unoriginal, but as a whole, the story works as long as you don't look too close at any specific detail or expect reality.

In this movie we meet Kristen (Kathy Ireland) who is the daughter of Santa Claus. And when Kristen, her father, and other magical creatures begin the Christmas season with the reading of the naughty and nice list things don't go well. After seeing that there are more people on the naughty list than on the nice list Santa loses hope in mankind, so he decides to quit. Kristen makes a deal that if she can get one of the families back on the nice list then it will prove that there is hope for mankind and Santa won't quit, but she has to do this before midnight on Christmas Eve so she has to work fast. She soon comes into the lives of the Morgans. As the father is a workaholic, his son is always in trouble, his passed-wife's brother has no job so hes staying with them, while his daughter is more like an adult than a kid. So now Kristen's got her work cut out for her. As she starts getting closer to success her older sister Rudolfa (Mary Donnelly-Haskell) is trying to stop her so she can take control of Christmas and ruin it forever. Soon Kristen starts to realize that everything isn't as easy as she thought it was in the beginning and will soon learn the one part of the Christmas Spirit that she never knew.

This is a fun movie to watch with your family especially on Christmas. It can truly get you into the Christmas Spirit.