Once Upon a Holiday

Quite enjoyable.

A princess eludes her handlers to have some time for herself and meets a man who helps her in more ways than she originally imagines.

Worth a view!

Not sure why there is so much hate for this charming and pleasant Hallmark movie.

As long as you understand what you're going to see going into one of these made-for-TV movies, and overlook some of the obvious discrepancies, Once Upon a Holiday is a nice Christmas movie, featuring Briana Evigan as Katie a princess who finds herself on royal duty in New York City in the lead-up to December twenty-five, and Paul Campbell (who is always excellent) as Jack, your NYC Average Joe, who - rather precipitously - runs into Katie on a couple of occasions and shows her around the city, at first now knowing who she really is...and you probably have a pretty good idea of how the movie will end.

Absolutely a movie with plot holes and inconsistences, but it is saved by the performances of Campbell and Evigan, who have a warm and easy chemistry. Once Upon a Holiday is an above average Hallmark royal film.

I might have rated this at 7, but it's one of my wife's favorites, so that earns it an extra star. I don't tend to rate movies against other genres, but within their own. So my 10 in a Christmas romance doesn't mean I regard it in the same league as an excellent feature film, but against other films of its type. So in these Christmas romances, if I find something I like in a movie, it gets more than a 5, and progressively higher the more I find to recommend it.

The member who named their review with a nod to Roman Holiday amused me. This story isn't really close, but there is a tiny connection in theme, as a princess gets bored and frustrated with her regimented schedule and goes walkabout in Manhattan.

This story puts the lead characters together for most of the movie, and that helps sell how they become closer to each other. The secondary plot about the reporter chasing the story of the "Runaway Princess" adds some tension.

The leads are both likeable and the story holds my interest, so I can recommend the film.

What a nice surprise! I sat down with my Cat and some Cabernet and let roll. Sure, there have been countless Christmas movies in 2015 and I didn't expect to like this as much but I did. Early on it pulled me in and there is no shortage of (spoiler) a Princess and Commoner hooking up. Yet this took a mature and believable route. Nothing overhanded. Nothing unbelievable (as TV goes). The big reveal was actually subtle and loving! In short I really did enjoy this film! In the middle I actually said to myself out loud- "This is a good movie"! Which doesn't happen very often and I take note when it does. That and I wrote a whole better review before Firefox dumped it before I could post it! D'Ohhh!

I dabble in the Hallmark Christmas movies, but they do have to meet certain strict criteria: appealing and not too affected female lead, male lead who's not a total doofus, not too complicated a story line, or too overly contrived or unpleasant. This hit the spot very nicely, Evigan is a particularly attractive lead and Campbell does quite well as the humble, honest worker who happens upon Evigan on the run from her position of European princess. Okay, so this owes a lot to Roman Holiday and other runaway royalty movies, but you might notice originality isn't on my criteria list. Both Evigan and Campbell seem very into their roles and very natural, this sort of fits the Hallmark romantic comedy format to a "t". Even Briana's dad gets a role as royal retainer. Enjoy.