A Golden Christmas 3

First of all, this is not about a Naval Officer. The man is a PO2, or Petty Officer Second Class. and he is also not as he claimed, a Navagation Specialist. He is a Operations Specialist. 2nd Class. OS2. Just had to get that part correct.

The first 'A Golden Christmas' was rather average, with enough good things but significantly unbalanced by a truly over-the-top obnoxious lead character and actress. The second was an improvement and improved on a lot of things. So while expectations were not massive for 'A Golden Christmas 3', as sequels do have a variable reputations (often the third films in trilogies), there were hopes, especially as there are people saying it's the best of the three.

After seeing 'A Golden Christmas 3', actually do personally disagree with it being the best of the series. For me the second is the best, but this is a quite a close second best. Didn't love it, but certainly didn't hate it. Feelings were instead mixed to positive, with a lot of the good things seen in the first two films seen and like the second film it doesn't have the disadvantage of an overly negative female lead unbalancing the film. Just wish it could have been better.

Certainly 'A Golden Christmas 3' has good things. It is pleasant looking, especially the scenery inside and particularly out. The music generally doesn't sound cheap or over-bearing, and was clearly done by someone that knew what they were writing music for. The two leads are very engaging, with Nikki DeLoach particularly giving it her all. Their characters are neither too perfect and the negative character traits are not over-exaggerated.

Supporting cast generally were above average, with the roles not feeling overacted or underplayed. Also didn't feel annoyed by most of the characters and the dogs are adorable. There are enough cute and charming moments here and the chemistry had a warmth.

However, there are things that could have been done a lot better. Some of the script is very cheesy, especially in the early stretches which are also too slight in momentum. Do agree that there are too many musical montages that were generally not necessary and randomly placed.

Likewise with that the ex-boyfriend character is an overused stereotype that is very annoying and the only character that has negative characteristics that are overwritten. The story is very predictable and not always focused and the central relationship while charming and natural was too rushed in development.

In conclusion, slightly above average but not much mind-blowing here. 5.5/10.

The high points in this one are solid, starting with the cast. With one exception, convincing performances all around. It's the best supporting cast I've seen in a Lifetime/Hallmark Christmas romance, from the female BFF to the older brother and the precocious tween niece.

There's plentiful good chemistry among them, with several laugh-aloud funny scenes.

The music was also above average, with extra points for skipping the most overused/annoying.

So far as shortcomings go, imo there are two biggies.

First, female lead Shantel VanSanten as Heather wasn't entirely awful, but pretty unconvincing at times. The writing is partly to blame-the character is so insubstantial I couldn't buy her as a director of any sort. She suffers by comparison to co-star Rob Mayes, who is head of the class among male actors in this genre.

Second, the plot was almost non-existent, even for a holiday romance. There were 4-count 'em 4!-montages, which is just lazy storytelling.

One side note: I accidentally DVRed the film twice due to the different titles; as 'Love for Christmas' on Lifetime and 'A Golden Christmas 3' on Ion. Ion sometimes listed it @ as LFC instead.

Under either title, the Ion version had an extra scene that was missing from the Lifetime version, and the 1st montage was roughly twice as long.

Not a bad story - but predictable-, decent performances and the right spices. a Hallmark Christmas story with well known steps and ingredients and end. special - the presence of Orson Bean and the reference to Christmas Carol by Dickens. and a fresh air about relationships. short, one of films remembering basic things who, in Christmas season, become real significant.

Love For Christmas/A Golden Christmas 3 (2012) -

I do love a sailor! And cute dogs are always good to win me over, but on this second or perhaps third time of watching this one, I decided that I just couldn't finish it. Normally the way Rob Mayes looked as Bobby the sailor man, would be enough to keep my interest, but the situations and silliness, especially with Heather's (Shantel VanShanten) boyfriend Roger and Mr. Cole drove me a bit crazy on this viewing. I also hate it when they crucify Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol'.

Also, Mark Famiglietti, who played Roger has become very typecast, playing obnoxious knobheads and that's a shame, because he could be very cute in a leading man role.

As I said, I have seen it all the way through before, but I don't really remember the ending, maybe my sub conscious was telling me that it was bad, which was why I turned it off, but I didn't feel that it would be fair to score it based on this occasion.

Unscored as Unfinished.