raybartlett

This movie was fun from the very beginning, and though there was some fear it would fall apart along the way, luckily it didn't ever lose steam. It keeps pushing right along with lots of great humour and a bit of romance too. You gotta love a movie that not only steals a scene from another movie, leaving the viewers saying out loud, that that scene is a rip off, when lo' and behold one of the characters actually admits they are scene stealing from the said movie! So fun! So refreshing.

The lead actor looking a bit like Patrick Swayze and a Ghost being central to the story line just added a bit more fun to the already wonderful story. There is so much unpredictable stuff in this film it all adds up to a wonderful sitting.

It joyfully steals from plenty of movies that came before but with it all being tongue in cheek, it's all so worth it. Yes, I loved this movie. Merry Christmas Sarah!

This is a light hearted wonderful family movie. The newcomer, Makenna Ballard, takes to the film like she has been on camera her whole life and without IMDb, it would not be easy to tell this is her first project. The cast is spot on for most of the characters and the heavy weights don't let you down, (F. Murray Abraham and Olympia Dukakis).

The fantasy elements seemed unnecessary and tripped up the pacing and impact of Abraham's lessons. If they would have just played it straight instead of the fantasy elements the story would have had a deeper impact with it's message of using your brain to find your way out of situations, but they relied on fantasy to help out her brain instead.

The childhood rivalries are familiar, but that's because they ring true, and what is more familiar than the truth?

It's a fun movie and many of the messages are good for kids and good to be reminded of for adults.

It's true the acting in this movie would be improved if a computer read the lines and the croquette scene felt like it would go on for hours, but the story is as wonderful as a Lifetime or Hallmark Christmas film.

Either the acting gets a bit better after the croquette game or I was just worn down, but the unsurprising pay off at the end was worth the trouble. You have to be a sucker for Christmas movies to buy into any of it, but that's the joy of Christmas movies, they are just delightful indulgences that are probably the last bastion of good guys winning and bad guys either being put to shame or repenting, where the hero is actually someone trying to do the right thing. If you enjoy that formula you will like this movie.