My Christmas Dream

Danica McKellar stars as the manager of a large department store trying to come up with the 25th annual Christmas display just twelve days before Christmas. She's also in the running to manage the new store in Paris, her dream city. She tasks a painter and local artist to help with the display and begins falling for him and his young son. Cute movie but with a theme that's been done one too many times.

Yes, it's a little by the book in terms of the Hallmark formula, but I really liked this film, and it's always great to see Danica Mckellar.

With a nice storyline and some sweet moments, this was enjoyable and romantic enough to pass a cold night.

Lovely.

The little boy Cooper is the best part of this story...and he is relentless.

"Ok, ok you win, sad Christmas story."-Kurt

Christina is a store manager, up for a big promotion to start a branch in Paris. She has a lot riding on this year's Christmas display. She meets an artist under unfortunate circumstances and ends up having to come back to him with hat in hand to help with her Christmas display.

This holiday romance is all about the tough choices women continue to have to make in business...to have a family or to have career aspirations.

A little melancholy for Christmas...but Cooper more than makes up for it.

Hello, Hallmark, it's the 21st Century. And guess what? Copying films of the '40s and '50s is a little passe.

My Christmas Dream stars Danica McKellar who, at age 40, is still playing ingenues. And as far as I'm concerned, she's getting away with it.

It also stars handsome David Haydn-Jones and Diedre Hall who must have a hideous portrait in her closet.

McKellar is Christina, the manager of a department star, McDougal's, owned by Victoria (Hall). Christina is doing a terrific job and loves what she does.

Victoria arrives at the store and makes an announcement: The store is growing internationally, and they are opening a new store in Paris. They need someone to run it. Christina is perfect for it, having studied in Paris for a year and always feeling as if it was home.

However, in order to get the job, she is going to have to dazzle Victoria with the annual Christmas display, a part of the window always kept hidden until December 23.

In the meantime, she has met Kurt (Haydn-Jones) and his son Cooper. It's obvious that Kurt wants a commitment from her, but Christina shies away from it. Meanwhile she's having him help with the display and hoping it impresses Victoria.

We all know what's going to happen. It is possible to have a wonderful career and be fulfilled. It isn't one or the other nowadays. The previous film with Candace Cameron had the same theme. We see these women giving up these fabulous jobs (although Christina's is a good compromise) to stay with a man. Of course, he's going nowhere, why should he.

These Hallmark films can be boring or lovely, depending on your mood. My mood is particularly in need of mind-numbing since the election, so I would up watching this one and part of another. I understand showing romance. But this is the kind of movie my mother would have written because her generation was interested in one thing and one thing only: marriage and a family. And if you didn't have that, as far as she was concerned, you didn't have much of a life.

It's not a good fantasy for young women, whom I assume watch these things.

Otherwise, it's pleasant and Christmasy.

7.6 stars.

Let's get this out of the way first: the kid has all the great comedic parts in 'My Christmas Dream'. A tough act to follow. Of course, the director makes the young boy seem like an adult, way too smart for a 6 year old, and I'd venture to guess he's older than 6 in real life, but that's beside the point.

Danica McKellar gives us her usual stellar rendition of a female who can be hard and cold, but deep down is soft and tender. All of her roles are similar, featuring the same personality in most of her performances. She is driven, yet malleable, harsh when she needs to be, yet compassionate underneath it all, seemingly gullible, but sharp as a knife. I like this character in a Hallmark female, ergo, I like Danica's portrayal in just about everything. I think we are seeing her true personality in what she does on screen. Sure, it's limited to that, but I like it enough to give her a free pass. Yes, the story is not original, but you can taste the higher quality film that it is.

The rest of the cast take a backseat to McKellar and little boy, but it's a well balanced Christmas tale of what it means to treasure family and the dream of true love over career and aspirations.