Christmas Crash

and doing none of it well.

Lovely scenery. The wilderness lake and cloud-shrouded mountaintops are extremely familiar to me as a western Canadian.

The plot is a bit garbled, what with the marital tension and the teenaged sister with the smarmy boyfriend who has ties to her father's company, which is under threat of a hostile takeover, and boyfriend's even more sinister boss who may or may not have orchestrated more than a financial slapdown. Plus the nice old family friend who may be too good to be true.

Is it primarily a financial movie, a wilderness survival story, a marital post-mortem, a cautionary tale for teenage girls? A tourist advertisement for the area where it was filmed?

The acting - anybody's acting - doesn't quite rise to the level of entirely inhabiting the character. Even the wolves aren't acting like real wolves. Sigh.

Wealthy workaholic Michael Madsen (as Joseph "Joe" Johnson) doesn't show up for a dinner party planned by attractive wife Alexandra Paul (as Christine). This proves to be the last straw in their rocky marriage and she secretly begins planning a divorce. Still, the couple embarks on a Christmas vacation in the mountains, with young adult daughters Elyse Levesque (as Teresa) and Melanie Papalia (as Amanda). The former's boyfriend Brendan Penny (as Matt) goes along...

This TV Movie is too predictable. The parents get in a plane and the titular "Christmas Crash" occurs. Luckily, she has some survival skills learned as a Girl Scout. While we wonder if they will make it out alive, forces maneuver to take control of Mr. Madsen's company. The script repeatedly mentions severe weather conditions, but this looks like a pleasant walk in the park. Worst of all, we have scant interest in whether these characters stay married, divorce or even live.

*** Christmas Crash (11/10/08) Terry Ingram ~ Alexandra Paul, Michael Madsen, Brendan Penny, Winston Rekert

I watched this movie, hoping it would get better as it progressed- just the opposite occurred, and I wished I had the sense to turn it off after the first 15 minutes. (Isn't hindsight always 20/20?)

Was ANY research done before this movie was filmed?

Unless the lakes in B.C. have suddenly become tropical, survival would have been impossible after the initial crash. (hypothermia).

Did anyone responsible for this movie do ANY research on the behaviour of wolves? Documented wolf attacks are so few as to be discounted.

As a Canadian, I am disappointed such a movie has been accredited to Canada.