Midnight Masquerade

The wife andI found this to be a cute Saturday evening flick! I really liked the Uncle and Niece connection. A "feel good" show from start to finish!

I liked this movie, yet not enough to give it a 4 or a 5 star. I liked the relationship between the father and daughter best. Their easy going relationship and their love and respect for each other. The father decided to retire and leave his very successful candy business to his daughter. In a way this movie was like a Cinderella story, yet it wasn't the female who had the wicked sisters. It was the male lead who worked as a lawyer for a law firm. He was a nice-Cinderella type who did all the work for the boss's two sons (also lawyers in their Daddy's firm) and never got the credit for what he did. The male lead also was there for his single Mom sister and her daughter. He was a bowling buddy with his niece and the female lead also liked to bowl (with her Dad). At the beginning of the movie these lead characters first meet at the bowling alley and later at the law firm. The "sparks" fly when he shows up to the masquerade ball as a prince (thanks to the seamstress skills of his sister) and she is the princess and they do make a beautiful couple. He loses his crown when he leaves the ball before midnight and she finds it. Thus begins the search for her Prince Charming.... James Welch Henderson, Arkansas 2/18/2021

I love this one. I gave it a "10" years ago and have seen it multiple times since. Autumn Reiser is lovely and charming and because of this movie I have always given her the benefit of the doubt in subsequent roles. Christopher Russell is adorable and sexy in the "cinderfella" role. His appeal usually rests with his chemistry with his costars and it couldn't have been better in this, one of his first Hallmark roles. He usually is a bit passive in his starring roles, but it really works in this one.

As the Cinderella story line requires, Rob is bullied and taken advantage of throughout most of the movie. This is quite painful to watch and almost took a little shine off of the romance. When he finally grew a backbone and stood up for himself and did the right thing, it was a huge relief. As his Niece/Fairy godmother says, he is just too nice.

The parallels with the Cinderella story with the role reversal were cleverly done. Autumn Reeser can't stand her high-heels, so she carries them around with her. As the prince figure she is the daughter of a corporate magnate who is training her to take over the business. She is strong and smart and down to earth. The wicked stepmother and step sisters are the head partner and his two sons of her corporate attorneys. Oooooh, they are horrible and evil! Rob is a lawyer that slaves for them while they take all the credit for his hard work. Again, that part was maddening.

Anyway, the writing, the plot, and the cast all come together in this Hallmark in which everything works. Not a weak link in it!

This Hallmark film has a sort of Halloween meets Cinderella theme, and that works really well.

It helps when you have a leading lady as good as Autumn Reeser involved, and while who the 'Queen' of Hallmark is remains up for debate, Reeser would be a good shout.

The story holds up, there's some lovely moments - when Hallmark get it right with these films they really get it spot on.

I really liked the Sam character too, and liked the little subplot with him, as it gave the film something a bit extra.

This is charming, this is warm, and that's really what I'm looking for from this sort of film.

I really enjoyed this movie. It was a sweet story with a bit of a twist on the old Cinderella story. The characters were well-cast and the story flowed nicely. Even though I had a good idea how it would end, it was still enjoyable and held my attention throughout. The only reason I didn't give it 10 stars was that I had such a hard time getting past Rob's hair. It looked like a bad wig. Was it just a bad wig, or poor styling? I realize this movie is 9 years old, but still. I don't know anyone who had such strange looking hair, even back then. All in all, I spent an hour and a half with a movie that has done Hallmark proud.