The Art of Christmas

This looked a lot better in the previews. Unfortunately, it falls flat from the very beginning and never rises from there.

The acting ranges from poor to so-so, the script is lacking, and there is little chemistry among the cast.

I also have to agree with Jack, I have never seen that much cleavage in one of these movies. I guess she paid for those things and she's gonna get her money's worth.

I always try to find something good about every movie. I suppose I would have to say the best friend was well-done. I really don't have much else, unfortunately.

All those actors we see in all those Hallmark movies have been at it for years, but they're all under contract. Great American has a smaller pool of available talent as a result. It will take a while to get the quality up, but I remain confident that they're on the right track.

But this movie is already deleted.

I almost didn't watch this because of the negative reviews, but I'm glad I finally did. I thought it was charming. I didn't have any expectations going in, and I found it to be on par with most of the movies of its genre on these networks. Predictable? Yes. But I thought the acting was good and that the characters did have chemistry. Their facial expressions, especially those of Joe Towne, the leading man, were quite effective. Darin Brooks made the character of Reggie fun, and it was interesting to know that he and "Brit" (Kelly Kruger) are a couple in real life. If you want to see a movie about how helping others can help you follow your heart and find your way, then give this a try.

... but the acting just wasn't there. Both female mains acted like it was their first time out, rushing their lines and speaking with that nervous throaty voice you hear from new actors. Bridgette Kingsley has no excuse for that, she's been around for a LONG time.

Her "first boyfriend" is 49 and they obviously wanted him to play much younger, so they caked makeup on him to the point his face looks plastic in every scene.

Our male romantic lead, also in his late 40s, acted like maybe he had Asperger's ... just really odd deliveries of his lines and often looking off into space as he delivered them. Maybe he felt self-conscious staring down Bridgette's cleavage as often as they displayed it ... which was a plus from my point of view. LOL (And about the only one).

On top of the above, most of the dialogue was either trite or just bad.

In our book, this is yet another GAF misfire this year, and indications are they've had some issues, with one planned movie not showing up at all, and last minute scheduling swaps on others. Maybe the rushed line delivery isn't the actors', but post-production sound problems? Regardless of which it is, it distracts from the story and makes some conversations hard to follow.

For the completist only ... otherwise safe to skip.

I was hoping this would be better. Plot was pretty good and the acting was fair.

Unfortunately, it was extremely predictable. The storyline with the young girl who's getting bullied had potential, but it fizzled. It was interesting that the leading lady was pretty and the leading man looked more like an average guy next door. No real chemistry between them probably because the acting wasn't very good. Wish they had played up the Grandpa's role a little bit more. I think that would have been fun. He was a character for sure! I will say that the dresses and costumes were really pretty to look at. Very very forgettable movie.

This movie was very hard to watch. I did finish it. The story line was a decent one. The writing felt a little weak at times. The acting was very amateurish. They talked very fast and in choppy sentences. They are older actors so it shouldn't have been this way. They are experienced actors on many different shows. I think my biggest beef was with Reggie ( Darrin Brooks). He's mostly been on soap operas. His acting felt very forced and inauthentic. He was so cringy. Fun fact: He's married to Kelly Kruger (Brit) in this movie. This movie you can pass on. Nothing great to see so you're not missing anything.