L'Invité de Noël

Christmas-themed romantic comedies seem to be all the rage right now. You can watch about a hundred of these movies every December and the plots are generally the same: attractive single father (or mother) with steady, stable (boring) boyfriend (girlfriend) and cute kid(s) meets seemingly inappropriate man(woman) who works their way into their heart as well as instills the "true" meaning of Christmas. There are a few variations (sometimes Santa gets involved, sometimes there is some kind of magical element). The variation I like the least involves the children doing the matchmaking (Ugh! What child of any age has ANY interest in his or her parent's love life?) What does "The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year" offer? Nothing new EXCEPT sharp writing, actual comedy, and Henry Winkler.

Yes! Winkler really makes this movie with his funny, warm portrayal of our heroine's interfering uncle Ralph from Brooklyn. This is the first comedy I've seen him in in a long time, and he really does shine in these kinds of pictures.

However, Brooke Burns and Warren Christie are also very fun to watch as the mismatched couple. I liked that they didn't make Burns a Scrooge who hates Christmas. She is simply a busy woman who loves her son and wants Christmas to be special. And in her desire to do so, has lost sight of what Christmas should be. And kudos to Connor Christopher Levins who gives a boy with some mature habits (his penchant for organization) some very real childlike desires (his wish to believe in Santa even when logic dictates he shouldn't).

The plot moves along very briskly and the movie seems to end all too soon. Would that we could all be neighbors to such warm, funny and attractive people! There's even a good message about how we need to stopping stressing about Christmas.

My favorites quote (from Uncle Ralph): "When it comes to life, she's dumber than a bag of barber hair!"

I really love this movie. There's humor, romance, conflict, warmth and sentimentality. What's not to love about Henry Winkler? And there is real chemistry between the lead characters. A movie that even your husband may enjoy!

Watching movie Christmas 24 ..cosy, enjoyable movie. Just one quibble with continuity....when Jennifer takes Morgan to airport she is wearing loose dark purplish check jacket with grey scarf. When they return from airport (via toy shop) she is wearing fitted light grey jacket and royal blue scarf. Magical, eh? Apart from that, I really did enjoy the movie. Sometimes I almost felt as if Henry Winkler was ad-libbing, and if so, it worked. Whilst the plot is predictable I would not have had it any other way. A nice film in the run up to Christmas. Would recommend. Get out the popcorn and relax. It will help get everyone in the mood for the big day.

Hallmark, we need more comedy like we have in this movie!

When you watch Christmas films these days, there's a certain sameness about many of them. This is NOT a criticism, as many folks KNOW what they're in for with these films and they love them...much like romance novels. So, when you see "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year", you'll notice that there are a lot of familiar story elements AND you know exactly where all this is going...but you likely won't mind.

I should also point out that "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" has many similarities and shares many plot elements with my favorite Christmas film, 1949's "A Holiday Affair"....though there's enough new stuff in this one so that it's not really a remake...more a re-imagining.

Uncle Ralph (Henry Winkler) is a nice guy who, along with his deceased wife, raised Jennifer (Brooke Burns) . And, he's on the way to her house for the holidays when he meets up with Morgan (Warren Christie) at the airport. The two end up becoming friends and Ralph invites Morgan to accompany him to Jennifer's house for at least the next day or so, as Morgan's connecting flight has been canceled due to the weather. Ralph also has an ulterior motive....as he dislikes Jennifer's all-business fiance and hopes he can play matchmaker and get Jennifer and Morgan together. He also wants to do this because Jennifer has a son...and the fiance likely would make a cold and crappy step-dad.

As I said above, the story is pretty predictable and the story is familiar. But the acting and production are so well done, you won't likely mind. Enjoyable and sweet...and a nice Christmas film for the whole family...even curmudgeons.