A Cinderella Christmas

The best part of the movie for me was some of the witty dialogue between the two leads. For example it went something like this.

Angie- "I feel like I don't fit in here" Nicholas- "That is precisely what makes you stand out" These moments were thought provoking and provided depth to the characters. The 2 leads did a nice job.

Another nice feature was a Christmas stocking where the characters would put things that were only of value to them. Great stuff that really helped to identify with the characters in the story.

Also thought the character of Max was well done. A cool friend with cool language to give some humor to what Nicholas was feeling.

Oh yes- Lesley-Anne Down with an English accent (we saw her 30 years ago as Madelaine on North and South mini-series)

With all this good- why not a ten? The cousin Candace part did not add to the story- it may have been good for a few laughs. Such a superficial character- not really believable. Also the first 30 minutes were very lively full of surprise, but then some parts got a bit slow and predictable.

The witty dialogue and literary quotes between the two leads would get me to watch it again, but I'd have to tolerate cousin Candace.

This movie goes quickly through a version of the Cinderella story but with two exceptions. First, the prince finds the wrong sister. And second the movie goes past the usual story. The movie explores what happens after Nicholas gets engaged to Candace.

I almost gave up on this movie. Of course Candace is a jerk. But Angie is such a wimp that it's hard to like her either. Unfortunately Emma Rigby overplays the melancholy, subservient, wimpy girl. Sarah Stouffer also overplays the shallow, money-hungry sister. Can anyone be this dumb and spoiled?

Keeping in mind this is a Christmas romance film, it's quite good. It's got everything you want from a Christmas romance:

• A case of mistaken identity
• A rich and wonderful bachelor;
• A hard-working and generally good protagonist;
• A masquerade ball; and
• An evil step-sister (cousin) who is obviously toxic but so obviously that it makes you stop and think.

Some plot points were a little farfetched, such as the urgent wedding, the fact that the bachelor couldn't work out who our protagonist was because she was wearing a mask, and of course, anyone believing the dress our protagonist wore was actually nice. Not to mention the stocking game which seems ridiculous because you're forced to give someone else five (5) of your possessions which have little-to-none monetary meaning but a whole lot of sentimental value. Personally, I'd rather keep the things that have no monetary value but great sentimental value because that's the point of keeping sentimental objects. Maybe, just maybe, the guests were supposed to return the stocking to the original owner, but considering that our protagonist and bachelor did not, I have no idea. Also. You were supposed to use the objects in the stocking to find the person who they originally belonged to, but neither our bachelor or protagonist did this. So, what's the point? Other than the risk of losing your five (5) possessions because someone else took them because they were supposed to, or took them because they just never returned them to you and went home with them (I'm looking at you bachelor and protagonist).

This is one more of the "Christmas romance" genre films (I read there were 74 new ones made in 2020; they are cheap to make and very popular). There is no deviation from the formula: cute girl (make that EXTREMELY cute girl) wanders into a new relationship with a Handsome (rich) man who is looking for love, and there are obstacles, but ... guess how it ends? (I am not holding my breath). Despite a snarky comment by another reviewer about Emma Rigby's lips being bought, she has always looked this way and yes, many men do like full lips. Not sure why, I guess it's biological. Anyway, Emma is a really likeable actress in a likeable film. Don't stress out over the plot ... it's a pleasant way to spend a couple hours.

I thought this was a clever twist on the elements of the classic story. Acting wasn't the best, but the way the plot developed more than made up for that.