Le cadeau secret de Noël

I love Christmas movies and Hallmark makes some of the best. (I want to live in that alternate universe.) Few of them are truly great but they are usually a comforting break. But this one was more annoying than anything. Primarily because they made the female lead way over the top.

This is basically a rewrite of the 2015 Lifetime movie A Gift Wrapped Christmas, but that one was able to create an overly enthusiastic lead who also managed to be charming.

An attractive cast and simple story line make this a quiet wat to pass the time if you can tolerate the lead character. But given a choice, I would strongly recommend you track down A Gift. Wrapped Christmas instead.

Was the main character played by Meghan Ory contractually obligated to laugh every 10-30 seconds? Also, who did she anger in the costume department because the wardrobe was abysmal.

The concept was good, and I fully understand that this a fluffy Hallmark movie, but I really think it would have been a better movie if she had toned down the happy, happy, happy by about 100%.

Christopher Russell and Ellie Cluett as the father and daughter were good, and of course who couldn't benefit from a personal shopper, especially at Christmas!

The movie was fine, there's definitely been others this year that I've enjoyed much more.

This movie is a knockoff of the enchanting "A Gift Wrapped Christmas". I enjoyed the original so much, I thought I would give this one a try. Boy, was I disappointed. There was zero chemistry between the leads. The script was largely uninspired. It was like the director took the story boards from the original and turned out a two-dimensional talk fest that echoes the movie on which it is based solely by its plot elements. There were times I could hear the cue cards in the actors' delivery. In particular, the lead actress turns in a performance so wooden, that I wondered if she had recently overdosed on Botox injections. Her constant smile never got to engaging and went right to creepy. If you have not seen "A Gift Wrapped Christmas", find a copy of that to watch rather than this garbage.

This is virtually the same movie as A Gift Wrapped Christmas, and not just by the general story, practically scene by scene, it hits all the same beats. But A Gift Wrapped Christmas had genuine humor and a far more engaging lead in Meredith Hagner. This is essentially an interior remake, and you'd be far better served to set your dvr for the de facto original.

This is virtually the same movie as A Gift Wrapped Christmas, and not just by the general story, practically scene by scene, it hits all the same beats. But A Gift Wrapped Christmas had genuine humor and a far more engaging lead in Meredith Hagner. This is essentially an interior remake, and you'd be far better served to set your dvr for the de facto original.

The plotline of a personal shopper is not the most common one. Meghan Ory fills this role with a lot of positive energy. She certainly smiles a lot. When it comes to Christmas stories, I prefer the upbeat ones to those that sow doom and gloom through over half the movie. However, the story sets Bonnie up as being shallow.

There is nothing exceptional in this story. It is mostly about keeping Ory and Christopher Russell together as much as possible. There also isn't much tension beyond Patrick's resistance to being fancy and to social media.

There is a subplot where we see that Bonnie has a shopping addiction. The story doesn't really deal with this issue other than love conquers all. I am disappointed that for an issue like this that ruins some people's lives, it was treated, in my opinion, rather flippantly. It doesn't even add much tension to the overall story since there doesn't appear to be any ominous consequences threatening Bonnie.

As in many Christmas stories, the female lead bonds with the widower's daughter which always adds a little bit of positive flavor for me.

The acting is OK. There is some good dialogue.