L'Esprit de Noël

Her presence is the good motif to not ignore this film who, far to be original or great, is a fair remind of importance of family. Sure, the script has many holes and many situations are unrealistic. The acting is almost reasonable and the kids are good options. But sure, Tedde Moore remains the pure good point în this sense, including as compensation of not the best Santa, and the atmosphere of Christmas.

In short, you know the story and the motif of visit was used very often. But in this case the charme of ... .. and the moral are the significant ones. The result, real nice . Like the noble purpose of lady Claus.

My Christmas film viewings over-time have been a very mixed bag. With some surprisingly good hits, where regardless of how predictable they are succeed in being full of charm, warmth and heart so succeeding in being light-hearted and undemanding fun. But also some quite big misses, where the characters are not likeable, everything is forced and shallow with implausibility too in some of the worst cases, the acting and writing being weak and basically with just nothing to them.

2011's 'Mistletoe Over Manhattan' is not one of the films bad enough to be in the latter category. It also has too much wrong with it to fit in the former one. Is 'Mistletoe Over Manhattan' a terrible film? No, with the acting lifting what could have been really lacklustre to something at least average (if it wasn't as well above average as it was it would have been in the former). Is it good? Again, no, with two aspects particularly bringing it down. Worth a one time watch for curiosity, but for me not much more.

There are good things about 'Mistletoe Over Manhattan'. The best aspect being the acting. Tedde Moore is a sheer delight and loved Mrs Claus as a character, great personality. Despite her character, Tricia Helfer also does very well with what she is given.

It looks good, not drab or garish or choppy in editing, with the scenery being particularly lovely. There is some nice nostalgia in the soundtrack and there are moments of heart and charm, namely with Mrs Claus.

As said however, there are a couple of things particularly badly done. The writing never sounds natural and the mix of humour and drama, neither component coming off successfully, is never a smooth sailing one. The humour is not that funny and the silliness goes well overboard to the point it induces cringing. The drama is also excessively over-sentimental and melodramatic. As said too, the two don't gel harmoniously with there being too much of a tonal disjoint. A bigger problem is Helfer's character, a prime example of very overwritten character flaws. Just hated how shallow and hypocritical she was and it was a major factor as to why the ending didn't work. Any romantic chemistry is underwritten and too subdued.

Furthermore, too much of the story is bland, there is not an awful lot to it and the film feels over-stretched and draggy as a result. As well as very predictable and contrived. Really did not like the ending, too abrupt and far too unrealistically neat to the point of being too much of a cheat.

Overall, average but worth one time watch. 5/10.

A real 'Jekyll and Hyde' film, where there are some very emotional issues (family break up) mixed with pantomime-style humour. The latter mostly misses the mark, although the former shines, especially the great performance from Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica). If you can overlook the silly moments, you'll get to appreciate the moments of familial tension and tenderness.

I loved this movie and I recommend it for someone wanting to feel the Christmas spirit. We do live in a world these days where we need a little help remembering what is important in life and this movie does this in a fun way. I enjoyed the casting of actors in this movie. I thought Mr. and Mrs. Claus were a cute & believable match and so were all of the other main characters as well. Great for kids and anyone who will let themselves enjoy the magic of love.

Why is it that the makers of these movies seem dumb down good ideas? In this film a newly separated couple are trying to find a new normal now that their family unit is fractured by a pending divorce.

In the mean time up in the North-pole Mrs Claus is trying to get Santa Claus his Christmas Mojo back. Santa now thinks people no longer like Christmas and he isn't wanted or believed in. After sensing her husband is losing his Christmas spirit, Mrs. Claus travels to a place where she knows the spirit of Christmas still exists: New York City.

After her arrival in New York City she ends up becoming a nanny. Now what irks me is that this Hallmark film could of been much better. The screenplay to this is terrible. Hallmark should take a lesson from Disney-Pixar about how to produce a good family film. Pixar knows you can have a smart screenplay for a family film and make a movie that children and adults will enjoy. Hallmark however doesn't seem to notice that.

I do not fault the actors for this film. The screenplay lacks imagination. I also am tired of the cliché' of divorcing parents getting back together. This is something that never happens in real life. In 1993 the film "Mrs Doubtfire" showed you can have a happy ending to a film without having the parents getting back together.

I think if Hallmark invested in better screenplays that might have films that last. "Mistletoe Over Manhattan" is one those films that give Hallmark Movies a bad name...