Crazy for Christmas

The kick to see it was Yannick Bisson. I love his acting , humor and...good look.

The second was Andrea Roth and the curiosity about her skills for a reasonable role in a Christmas film.

The prize -lovely job of young Jason Spevack and, no doubts, seductive version of Santa offered, in generous, proper, precise manner by Howard Hesseman.

Romance, past, an eccentric client and his secret, a driver , single mother, a reporter and the expected end. The result is a pleasant Christmas film, using the dreams of its public in smart manner, scene by scene.

So, a real good film for innocent life lessons, for humor, for story but, especially, for acting.

I'm a sucker for a good Christmas movie; I really wish I'd seen one last night.

Even the prospect of an attractive female lead didn't save this movie from becoming increasingly annoying as it progressed. Howard Hessman's character was at first lovably eccentric, but then excessively weird. The token cute little moppet (the son) wasn't so cute. There was little to no chemistry between the two leads - instead of romance, I felt more like they were about to establish a limited liability partnership for tax shelter purposes (after all, she's studying for the CPA exam!). And, the heart-tugging revelations at the end just didn't tug my heart.

Move along, people. There's nothing to see here.

Andrea Roth was cute as the Ghost of Christmas Present in Chasing Christmas. She is just as cute here, but has a very different role. Seems she is trying to raise her young son and barely scraping by as her cheating husband ran off with his dental hygienist. Isn't that always the story? But, don't worry, as cute as Roth is, I am sure that Santa will send some cute young man to fill her stocking.

The story here is about Howard Hesseman. I remembered him from Police Academy 2, but where I really remember him is "WKRP in Cincinnati." It's been a long time, Howard. He plays a crazy old gazillionaire that is giving away all his money. Hundred dollar bills to everyone, sometimes a handful; of them. Spreading that Christmas cheer around. But he has a secret or two, and one of them involves Roth.

It is a sweet and tender story about family and giving and what is really important in life.

Check it out.

This isn't drastically different from the multitudes of other Christmas TV movies out there, but this one is just a little different and special somewhere to me. It's grown on me a lot over the years and I've strangely found myself watching it every year, it gives me the kind of wholesome old-fashioned warm genuine Christmas vibes that aren't really something I get very often from movies like this anymore. When I was a little boy, I used to think that Christmas was so super-magical, all of the festive atmosphere and little precious ceremonies all made me feel so happy and it was like proof that the world could be a bright happy place, when I'd feel sad as a kid I could just talk about Christmas to cheer myself up! Anywho this film isn't what I'd call overly sappy and to me it doesn't have the kind of overly-dramatic dialogue that gives TV films a bad name. And while it's nothing amazing, it really worked for me and I loved it, I thought it was genuinely heartwarming. I liked the woman and her kid and the way it established how they were going to have to make do with a really poor Christmas because they didn't have much, it made me care about them as characters. Howard Hesseman was brilliant and a real hoot as the eccentric rich old man with the answer to their prayers as he hires her as a chauffeur to drive him around New York on Christmas Eve while causing a media sensation with the random drive by acts of wild generosity by throwing wads of money to all around him for no other reason than sheer manic kindness and to spread the joy! All of the scenes where he does that really tickled me and made me smile because if there was ever one thing to really get any crowd ground going anywhere, ever, it would be free money! He is for all intents and purposes this movie's Santa Claus and while he does have an ulterior motive in helping her it's nothing too heavy.. The story does get a bit hectic at the end and I don't care for the pointless romance subplot that's thrown in, but overall it's all harmless sweet fun that projects a good image and theme of Christmas joy and family togetherness, and it has an endearing tone that I can only describe as cosy, it's a very nice uplifting picture to lighten the mood around the icy year's end. Thanks everyone, happy holidays to you X

The reason this "Type A" male watched a movie on 'gasp' Lifetime was because of the two leads. I loved WKRP and it was nice to see Howard Hesseman again. I also love "Rescue Me" and wanted to see how Andrea Roth did in a very different role.

The story itself was no classic, and you could see the ending coming a mile away, but the characters were all nice people and the movie zipped along at a pleasant clip. How nice to have a movie where there is no villains or terrible crisis. Howard Hesseman played his character like a lovable kook... picture Dr. Johnny Fever as a millionaire with no hangover. It was interesting to see Andrea Roth as a loving mother figure and not the oversexed shrew that she is on "Rescue Me" (She is very good in both roles). She handled the role of a struggling single mom dealing skeptically with sudden good fortune very well. Yannick Bisson played his role as the reporter just right. While hoping to make it to the "big time", he comes to realize that everything he needs is where he is at.

The theme of forgiveness in the holiday season was nice but not too heavy handed. I liked the "34th Street" reference in the last shot (a miracle... get it!? :) ) I taped the movie so my wife and son can enjoy it. While I can't say that it's a Christmas movie that I will watch again and again I will say it was a nice way to spend a couple of hours.