Un père Noël pas comme les autres

I didn't planned it but it's great to write this review on Christmas day!

So far i failed all my Christmas time : All along December month, i would like to decorate my home, have a advent calendar, share sweets with my friends, write greetings cards, read moving stories about this holiday and watch the best movies about it near a warm fire and sipping infusion! At the end, i usually have fun just for Christmas day. This year it's a bit the same … until checking TV programs and noticing that there are a lot of Christmas TV movies.. When i see this one had Alicia, i was just really motivated to see it ! Alicia is among the rare artist I knew as a kid (see Dune, Twin Peaks) and now she is a lovely, fun, caring young woman who plays with the best (Pacino, Bullock). In a way, you can feel that it's movie for TV as the action happens in sets : there's not a lot of outdoor sequence in lovely Chicago so we have a Christmas movie nearly without snow.. But except this, this a wonderful, family movie : Alicia is really good being a single mother and showing courage and efforts to support her family ! She is kind, polite, generous, wonderfully dressed and always smiling even if things turn bad. Sure the story can be guessed since the start but that's what I want : Christmas magic, romance, happiness and not more politics, violence, money, guns, nudity, hysteric, crazy people… Her daughter is totally sweet and as i have always like malls, this movie was really a great gift for me !

Alicia Witt is one of my favorite Hallmark actresses. Add in Wallace Shawn, and I was ready for a delightful ride. Unfortunately, this movie never got out of the garage. Usually engaging, Alicia Witt seemed to struggle with this part. Wallace Shawn did not have his heart in his performance. Maybe it was the writing. Or maybe this was just not a good vehicle for Alicia Witt. I do not know that I will ever figure out what ruined this movie for me. The basic idea is ingenious and could have been a source of a lot of lighthearted fun. Instead, everything seemed forced and two-dimensional.

People are trying to apply logic to this film, but much like Father Christmas himself it's probably not best to.

Instead enjoy a better than average Hallmark film with regular player Alicia Witt in the lead role.

It's got a lot that's good about it, and although slow in some places, is an enjoyable way to spend an hour and a half.

This is a great film. I especially liked the actress playing Nicky. She seemed believable yet magical. Angel stories are always great and this one did not disappoint. The little girl was cute without being precocious. I liked how everyone at Cartwright' s loved Santa Nick, except the evil Fiona. It was fun to see Gabrielle Miller play a baddie after seeing her as the nice, but insecure Lacey on Corner Gas. Hallmark has the best films! I also applaud Patricia Heaton for producing this sweet movie. The store sets were really beautiful.The only thing that puzzled me was 2 stories that Bill told to Nicky. One concerned questioning his father about Santa and in the other he mentions being raised by a single mom...what happened to his dad? That was the only inconsistency I spotted. But otherwise I recommend this film.

7.3 stars.

The female lead is above average for me, she's not in my top 10, but she's in my top 20 for sure (there are so many leading ladies, so this is a good rating). The lead male I've seen a thousand times (not much of an exaggeration) in 'Heartland' as a regular, so he's very familiar. And I figured this movie is Canadian being he's in other Canadian productions.

The story is semi-original if you can believe it. It's a bit different, a woman Clause. And her name is Nicky, so no mystery there. Her daughter is endearing, she makes a third of what is magical about this film. The angel guy, well he's ok, but just because he looks funny and talks strangely doesn't mean they need to make him an angel that looks like an elf. It's a strange concept, and it's not cool in my opinion. Whatever, just my soap box.

The lead male is a great fit, the perfect good guy executive who loves the lead female because of her character and not her physical attributes. The way we know this is because he likes her also when she's disguised as Santa. The writers are showing us he has redeeming qualities, we can root for him as a gallant fellow.

The antagonist is her boss, who doesn't know she's her boss. It's complicated, you'll see.

50% of what is special about this movie is the leads, 33% because of the daughter, and the other 17% was entertainment value. I feel they had enough time to grow an enjoyable on-screen romance.