Deck the Heart

Deck The Heart (2021) -

I instantly felt that this film was like watching bad porn, or at least as it's shown in things that take the pee out of adult filming (I wouldn't know about porn obviously). I kept waiting for them to accidentally spill a drink on their shirt or for a plumber to walk in covered in grease (Honestly I don't watch the stuff).

But seriously, based on the first minute, the film stock quality and the poor acting, I just knew I wasn't going to like it. The filter made it seem as if they were going to pull away from a TV at any moment as a film within a film sort of thing. Like when the 'Friends' (1994 - 2004) are watching Joey (Matt LeBlanc) in a show he's done. That in itself was actually really distracting.

Even with the appearance of Robert Picardo as Larry Link, whom I have appreciated in many other roles, I just couldn't give a film this badly put together my time.

Maybe I missed a treat by the time it got to the end, but I seriously doubt it. Even the leading man (Joe Kurak) didn't have that certain something worth persevering with it for.

Unscored as Unfinished.

I really wanted to like this movie. It is clean, decent and unpretentious. The story line is sweet and the intentions are good. Unfortunately the action is diluted and pretty unsubstantial. What's worse, the script is often simplistic or awkward and the acting feel less than amateurish. The interactions of friends and families and, especially, the closing scene with the lead characters feel totally unnatural and unconvincing. More realistic lines and better acting could have made this an enjoyable production.

It's just SO BAD. I love a Cheesy Christmas movie so my tolerance for cringe is high, but oh my god this was painful. The acting is terrible. I think you could go in to any school and find the drama club would do a mikes better job. The script is just appalling. I know this is supposed to be light and christmassy, but it was all just so unbelievable I was actually getting annoyed with it. Even with a low budget I still can't believe it is so bad. The lead actor, I'm sorry but this really can't be your day job. The pointless long conversations- the weird communication between him and the server in the coffee shop- what is the point?!

This movie is mediocre at best. It is paved with good intentions. What caused me to actually write a review was the music. Song after song was an assault on my ears. I thought it was just the first song and then the second one arrived sung by a different artist and lo and behold the third one arrived like a strike-out. I saw this on YouTube listed as a Hallmark movie, but it didn't meet the standard by a long shot. But, as I said, the intentions were there. But the script was wooden, the actors didn't have a chance to shine. I don't know if they would or not, but it was dead in the water.

Btw, with the earlier review, the author mentioned that girls don't get Bar Mitzvah'ed but this was clearly identified as a Bat Mitzvah, which is for girls at 12.

One does not usually expect much from a soap-operish Christmas movie other than kill some time and escape reality. This movie did not achieve even that. The plot is the usual boy girl meet and fall in love in a few days. We know that so there are no expectations, no surprises in that department.

On top of that, the acting is so bad that it cannot save Ana equally terribly written script. The lines are empty, filled with "really?", "do you think so?" "whys" asked in the most awkward situations. The delivery of the lines is free of feeling, free of meaning. Amateurs?

After writing my review I think the four stars I gave it are too generous.