Christmas Wonderland

I lost track of the number of times I had to pause this movie, because it was so cringey.

Heidi is supposed to be a very talented artist, who forgot how much she loved painting. But when she finally does paint, her art work is infantile and silly looking, still everyone acts like she's amazing. That was quite funny.

The chemistry between her and Chris is non existent and the final kiss one of the driest I've ever witnessed between two lead charachters..

I did like the theme of "Do I live a life that makes me happy or just how I think I should live..?"

It was a cute film. Silly and cringey, but sweet somehow.

The embers of a teenage love affair are rekindled in this lighthearted engaging drama in the Christmas romance genre, which is nicely sewed with a thread of humour and light banter throughout.

The two leads work very well together, in character, and both have a relaxed acting style that brings a strong note of authenticity to the proceedings.

Beneath the seasonal fluff & glitter is a poignant streak about why this couple separated in the first place - Heidi moved to New York to pursue a professional career as an artist (but ends up as a gallery assistant) and Chris remained in hometown to pursue a career in teaching at the high school, he attended with Heidi, with extracurricular activities as ice hockey coach...and now has last-minute duty to organize the annual high school Christmas Ball, just as Heidi returns to town on brief visit.

Though they pursued different paths, both have not found new partners in the romance department.

However, after many years of estrangement, Cupid now intervenes and conspires to bring the two lovebirds back to a place of reconnection & self-reflection, with the old doubts and aspirations casting shadows on their reignited romance.

This movie is well above average for the genre and I could watch again without complaints.

Heidi (Emily Osment) is from a small town but has resided in NYC for several years. Although she once dreamed of becoming an artist, she now helps run an art gallery for a very demanding lady. She paints on canvas very little. Yet, a call from her sister soon has her flying back to her little city. An opportunity too good to miss has come up for her real estate agent sis and her hubby so Heidi is asked to babysit for a few days. Once there, Christmas is fast approaching and her niece is preparing for a singing solo at the elementary school pageant while the nephew has a crush on a girl student. The crush has meant nephew can't concentrate on his studies so his caring teacher and hockey coach, Chris (Ryan Rottman) is trying to help bring his grades up. Wouldn't you know, Chris is also a former flame of Heidi's and neither of them has married! Soon, they are crossing paths as Chris is put in charge of decorating for the Snowball dance and Heidi is signed up for the same by her sis. Just what went wrong so many years before and is there hidden embers of love that can be flamed again? You betcha! This beautiful romance is one of the endless string of quality films by Hallmark, the pinnacle producer of modern romantic comedy. Osment and Rottman are two fetching and talented performers and backup cast, sets, costumes, script and direction all make for a winning view. Wonderland is wunnerful, wunnerful.

The leading actor is more boring than the boring leading actress in my opinion. Hardly any emotion at all from either one of them. We watched the movie to the end but it was added to our "don't bother again" list.

Though relatively formulaic, I found the story warm. Every actor gave solid performances. I really appreciated Emily Osment's acting. There is something refreshingly authentic about her that stands out, making you look forward to more of her work.