All She Wants for Christmas

Noelle (Monica Keena) is going back to her hometown to do a business study about the local Christmas ornament factory. It's near the holidays and the plant's owner, who died recently, was discovered to have been supplementing the factory with his own income to keep it afloat. Business whiz Noelle is keen to find a way to save it, for her mother and many other residents and area small business operators depend on its existence. As Noelle is blowing up a large company balloon, it breaks free and causes a male driver, Justin (Tobias Mehler) to lose control of his car, inflicting minor damage. Noelle is apologetic, especially since Justin is young, handsome, and coming to work at the factory as a seasonal employee. The gentleman also likes what he sees in Noelle and they begin to "step out" together. But, there are complications. First, the factory really is in the red and there seems to be no way out, other than moving it overseas. Then, too, the locals learn that superstore, Global Mart, will be coming to town, driving several small businesses to their demises. Lastly, Justin seems very smitten with Noelle, at times, but she often glimpses him in close conversation with the former owner's pretty granddaughter, Ashley, who has also come to town to make decisions about the company's future. How will this all turn out? Here is a winning film for the holidays or any other time of the year. It is funny, clever, sweet, and just perfect for an evening of nice entertainment for romcom fans, even ones in their teens. The two principal stars, Keena and Mehler are very winning and so is the rest of the supporting cast. The lovely town setting is also a fine asset, while the costumes, script, and direction are more than adequate. The film, in fact, resembles this year's New in Town, in quite a few ways, and that statement alone is strong praise. Do you love "getting in the mood" around holiday time, by watching a few worthy Christmas films? Include this one, then, in your schedule, as it most likely will be all you ever wanted in a seasonal flick.

The acting is bright and intelligent, with pleasant relationships. It is also refreshing to have an original plot, not just ground out from the predictable "movie mill" taking over. Photography, color balance, editing, sound, casting, makeup, and music all work together well. The director was on top of this one.

Loved the variety of locations and quality of sets. Action is real, and varies in a captivating flow.

Forest City is a Christmas company town depending on the Aikens Christmas decoration factory. Judith 'Noelle' Dunn (Monica Keena) is a MBA student back in town to write her thesis on the efficiency of the plant. An accident with a giant snowman lands her with drifter Justin Allen. Justin gets a job in the factory. Noelle discovers that the late founder had been discretely covering the losses and his granddaughter Ashley Aikens arrives to determine the future of the plant. Justin keeps meeting secretly with Ashley and hiding a secret.

This is trying to be cute but it's actually a bit annoying. This is a lower level Lifetime movie. I really love bubbly Monica Keena when she was younger but she's not growing into a mature actor well. The romantic chemistry is really problematic. The guy is a stiff and he keeps going off which leaves Noelle as a jealous mess. Jealousy and plant closing don't strike me as Christmas material. It makes her character unlikeable. I don't expect much from movies like these and this one delivers even less.

When a movie has a plot as thin and recycled as this one, the actors need to step it up and carry it. I've seen many Christmas movies where that is exactly how it worked and a simple unexciting story worked because of the leads.

The acting is horrible. Monica Keena is totally unnatural in her performance. Tobias Mehler is bland. The leads make an effort at chemistry, but Keena's childish behavior counters what chemistry there is. I got tired of her jealousy, but given the evidence, it did seem justified to a point, but the final conclusion she jumps to is ridiculous. Regarding the jealousy, I think the writers beat this horse to death. At this point, fast forward became my best friend.

Sonya Salomaa is similar to Keena. The dialogue doesn't help the acting. Background music is at times overly melodramatic and distracting.

As a slightly side note, why do romance writers tackle things about which they know nothing. There should be a law against them trying to write about business in any detail. But they do and sometimes manage to hide their ignorance by focusing attention elsewhere, but not this time. The business angle of the plot had more focus than any romance. Other than Monica Keena's acting, the story's focus on the business details is the biggest problem in this movie.

The viewer should be able to guess what the mini-secret that might otherwise be an interesting twist even though it was revealed slightly over half way through.

Note to self. In future years when I'm recording every Christmas movie in sight, avoid this one.

There's just something about Canadian Christmas movies that really give me that festive seasonal feel-good feeling & this movie certainly lives up to its title. With a great cast including Monica Keena as the female lead paired with Tobias Mehler who indeed have great chemistry together.

It's your typical Christmas movie that features everything you would expect from comedy to romance, plus a little bit of mystery. This is one of those movies I could watch all year round, but who am I kidding, there's loads of Christmas movies I watch all year round. I suppose I'm a sucker for these low-budget Lifetime / Hallmark movies. I guess I just get lost inside them when I watch them. While it may not be everyone's cup of tea I certainly like it. The DVD cover doesn't give much away but the film is certainly full of surprises.