A California Christmas

If one is looking for originality or strong holiday themes, look elsewhere. I tuned in because I like Josh Swickard. To his credit, he has admitted that the script was written by his wife/co-star in a couple of weeks. And, was filmed on her family's property during General Hospital's Covid-hiatus. With that caveat, I think that California Christmas is very watchable. It does not suffer the stiff blandness of a Hallmark movie. Josh, David del Rio and Ali Ashfar provided a good amount of comic relief. Lauren Swickard successfully threaded the fine line of being a fiercely independent woman who can ask for help when she needs it, as well as acknowledge appreciation for help she might not have initially wanted. Amanda Detmer also rose above what could have been considered an overly sentimental character.

I thought this was a decent movie. Like most films in this genre, the story draws on several clichés to move the narrative forward. The writer also draws on a very popular plot device, which is the use of deception and mistaken identity. This year alone, we have seen make-believe relationships (in Holidate, Midnight at the Magnolia, and Happiest Season), princess switches (in The Princess Switch: Switched Again), and fake bed and breakfast staff (in Five Star Christmas). In this film, we have a wealthy Casanova posing as a ranch hand (played by Josh Swickard) to get a financially struggling farmer to sell her family's land before Christmas (played by Lauren Swickard). The storyline is predictable, of course, as is much of this genre of film (i.e., the romance Christmas movie). Yet, I found myself pulled in by it. The story has a comforting familiarity (again, why particular plot devices are repeatedly used in this genre), some scenic Californian landscape, a struggling family farm, and the appeal of watching the chemistry develop (between the two attractive leads) on screen. I admit it worked on me. I found the movie engaging; I did not, e.g., grab for my iPad during the film (which often happens while watching romance Christmas movies). What makes this work on screen, of course, is the acting. The acting overall was great. What stood out for me was the performance of Lauren Swickard (playing Callie). She had a strong, yet tender, vibe to her performance, which worked well, I felt. Josh Swickard also had a strong performance. The strength of this film was their chemistry (which makes sense, given they are married in real life). We could see this develop and grow on screen as the story/movie progressed, which was, again, one of the appealing aspects of the movie, I thought. The supporting cast had a good performance. David Del Rio (playing Manny) and Ali Afshar's (playing Leo) performances made me laugh a little, and Amanda Detmer had a convincing performance as a terminally ill mother. Finally, I thought the music and music editing was good. A couple good songs in this one. There was one element that was a bit lacking: the Christmas in A California Christmas. This is not a very Christmassy movie, I am afraid.

The real Manny is the star of the movie... he needs his own spinoff.

The first 1/3 of this movie is terrible so be forewarned. If you can stick it out however, it gets much much better. It may not top any lists but it has heart in the second half. Not much Christmas though

This was a sweet unassuming movie that had a decent story, solid acting (the two leads are married in real life). In spite of some corny antics by the supporting cast I found it to be better than the critics have said. Some people complain that it isn't a Christmas movie but I don't agree. Check it out.