Eingeschneit zu Weihnachten

Snowed In For Christmas/Christmas Au Pair (2021) -

I've seen this story done before, so I was a bit annoyed that the writers hadn't come up with anything new or done something to improve on the others, but it was a better version of the same tale, without a lot of farce and daftness.

I'm also getting really tired of the overly busy executive trope. No one can be or at the very least should be that overworked. In my mind it shows a lack of skill to manage one's workload, but maybe that's just me?

As for the actors, initially I felt that Jeremy Guibaut was only fine as a goofy brother type and I didn't really think of him as a charming leading man with his depiction of Ethan. Perhaps he was just directed to be too comedic to believe that he was a serious businessman or human even, but he did feel like a secondary character in some ways. He was sort of cute though and actually as the film moved on I did grow to like him and appreciate the difference to the norm, although he should still have had a larger presence.

I didn't think that Ethan would ever make it as an artist though, based on what the props team had created for him to claim as his own.

Kayla Wallace as Kaley was alright for the most part, but towards the end she definitely started to get a bit frustrating with her overactive imagination and fretting over nothing, because it was like she was deliberately trying to push him away, but not to actually protect herself, but more because she was a bit clueless. She was so presumptuous about their budding relationship and about Ethan's ex.

The kids were not the best unfortunately, because a decent child actor can be the difference in a film about the festive season and the joy that it can bring to a young heart. Sadly their performances were quite poor and they were a tad too well behaved as characters too.

In general the film had plenty of Christmas going on, if a bit obviously tick list-y, but there weren't any specific issues with the production elements that I could see. It just didn't win any points for originality.

6.39/10.

This is another take on kids whose parents are unable to get home while another previously unacquainted couple teams up to take care of them. The story is uninspiring but cute while the characters run through the usual Christmas activities including the usual snow ball fight. There were a few musical montages - for me if there is more than one in a movie it seems like lazy writing.

This movie might have been fun if the lead couple had any chemistry. The au pair, who isn't credited on this site as of this writing, and kid's uncle, played by Jeremy Guilbaut only really connect on screen for about 1/3rd of the movie, or less, The uncle is too busy answering his phone for work for much of the first part and for much of the last part other things and people fill the screen time. As a family story it's fair, but as a romance it's poor.

Thanks to the actor who played Uncle Ethan, this one was watchable. Kaley, two little girls au pair and their almost a stranger Uncle take care of her charges while the parents are stuck in New York due to a snowstorm. Kaley fancies herself a perfect little mother to the two girls which make her irritating and a little pitiable since they already have a nice mother. She actually considers turning down a big opportunity in her career field because she thinks of the family as hers and doesn't want to leave them which is a little disturbing. Not really sure what Ethan sees in her except she is attractive. I liked the actor and the character was pretty cool as well.

They all live in a very normal looking house in a normal city neighborhood for a couple that can afford an au pair. Or need one. The couple must have two high powered high paying careers, surely? I mean they flew to New York only to attend a Christmas Party and were flying back the next morning. Of all of the low wage earners on these TV romances that live in mansions or fancy big city apartments, this couple cannot afford a high end home, or a great location on the water somewhere?

7.7 stars.

There is not much going on in this film, it's got a singular setting, a house, and some nearby streets, and I think a shop or two, but it's very limited. It's also a wee bit slow and missing something, but otherwise this is a decent movie. She is a vision, probably the best all around beauty for Hallmark female leads. But only by a nose, however, there are a few out of this world amazing females. What this means for me is that watching her is a sublime experience no matter what the level of entertainment value, therefore this was a good time for me. The male lead seems a bit more difficult to figure out, not the drop dead gorgeous male lead, but I think he has a special something about him, and of course, he's certainly no slouch in the looks department. The acting is okay, the "miracles" that happen are probably a farce (really it's just because one of the characters has a lot of connections). No way they do what they do under the circumstances. I was curious about the shots of the house, they used two different houses to represent the same house, so maybe I missed something because I had difficulty making the connection. Was one of the houses his? You'll see one house has a garage, the other doesn't. Neither here nor there I suppose. Not much to say about this story it's very very plain, but a beauty and a tall glass of water pass the time pretty smoothly.

Every time Kayla Wallace is filmed in full profile, showing off her bubble butt, everyone takes a drink. The director should be ashamed of himself, it was so clearly shot that way intentionally.

Kayla is awfully cute in the role though and does a good job in this. Hope to see her in more movies like this. The kids were not overly obnoxious as is typical in romance movies. A very watchable feel-good movie.

Overall it was fun 90 minutes and we will watch it again next Christmas. With drinks, of course.