A Christmas Surprise

Dreadful. Well, if the first five minutes is anything to go by. A Christmas Surprise" was a dreadful experience from the start. The slapstick comedy felt forced and cringe-worthy, relying on tired gags that fell flat rather than eliciting genuine laughter. It seemed the filmmakers believed that throwing in random pratfalls and exaggerated antics would suffice, but it only served to make the viewing experience unbearable. The main character, played with an over-the-top, irritating zeal, quickly became grating. Instead of charming us, they overwhelmed the screen with a relentless barrage of antics that lacked any depth or relatability. Overall, "A Christmas Surprise" is a holiday movie I wish I could forget.

A Christmas Surprise (2020) -

If I'm totally honest with myself on another day I might have made it to the end of this film because although everything was so over the top, farcical and exaggerated in what was really quite a cheap and tacky way it was at least a tad different to the usual Christmas "Boy meets Girl" thing. However, because of that there was very little that was Christmassy about it and at this time of year with so many others to watch "Ain't nobody got time for that!"

Tanya (Wendy Raquel Robinson) who was essentially the leading character, was a B!t(h right from the off, with not one redeeming feature. Although I could understand why she didn't like her Daughter's new Fiancé Amiri (Mustapha J. Slack), who was clearly a loser. Maybe he showed himself to be better later on, but I didn't get that far. And as usual the "Fabulous" artwork he was supposed to have painted was not very good.

I could also appreciate why Tanya lost it with her Daughter Brittney (Katelynn Bennett) for not including her in the plans that she had made. It was a kick in the teeth really. I didn't think much of Brit as a person either.

The only one who seemed to have any decency was Jaylin (Will Blagrove). I had no idea why he was friends with Tanya though.

I nearly turned it off when it got to some very awful singing, but I did stick with it even then.

However when the second Mother, Demetria (Keesha Sharp) turned up I had to turn it off. I just couldn't deal with all the snarkiness and disrespect. They all needed a reality check and something to humble them.

I was surprised that I'd made it as far as I did, even if I do feel guilty for not finishing it. That's probably more about me than the film though.

Unscored as Unfinished.