The Jingle Bell Jubilee

The Jinglebell Jubilee (2023) -

This one was all very basic and a tad nauseating with how sweet it was but it was at least a bit of a different tack with the fact that the relationship was a sort of Love "Square" to start with. Even if it was incredibly obvious how that would fall out in the end.

It was very cheesey and that wasn't helped by Andy's (Kristian Jordan) awkwardness, which was too much.

Leading man Marshall Williams as Nate was the more natural of them all, but still a tad too exaggerated.

And I wasn't sure that leading lady Erin Agostino as Hope was the right person for the role. I did like Allison played by Samantha Kendrick however, although I could see why she didn't get the starring role - she lacked a bit of presence here.

As for "The Jubilee" itself, it wasn't as amazing as I had expected. I thought it would have been a carnival or a one day special with a ball or something instead of just some booths at City Hall.

And they certainly didn't hire enough extras for the dance that did happen. They could have at least shot it differently to make it look busier.

The script was a bit jumbled and clumsy too. I couldn't tell what they were thinking a lot of the time because of it. And the climactic conversation was so bleurgh and saccharin.

With all that said, it definitely wasn't the worst of these films that I've seen. In his position of City Manager trying to fix the Jubilee, Marshall's Nate character was charming in general, even if he made some terrible choices regarding his love life. And Hope's regifting idea, which saved the event, bringing them together, was nice. I did feel that Allison and Andy's connection might have made a cuter story though.

It probably won't be one that I'll revisit in a hurry, but mostly because there are so many more to see and the list of good ones that I definitely want to watch again is getting longer every year. As it was it did the standard job you'd expect.

6.12/10.

It's probably because I've got a soft spot in my heart for sweet, little girls like Erin Agostino, but I was able to get to the end without yawning or eye-rolling.

The story here involves a a city manager who returns to his hometown and encounters an old school mate when he registers his son for school. She's now a schoolteacher who has invented a way for students to regift presents to people in need.

As there is a shortage of donations to the city's charity gift-giving program, the two devise a plan to take her program city-wide.

The story moves along at a reasonable pace. There is a plotline that each of them dates other people before realizing the obvious.

This is not a front line movie, but if you're looking for something to watch, there's worse choices.

He was the only reason to watch this movie. The script was ok, but the acting from everyone else was horrible!

Absolutely ZERO chemistry between the two leads, and don't get me started on the awkward supposed "chemistry " between him and the other girl.

Execution of lines from the other actors was on the same level of my grade 9 high school play.

The facial expressions of the female lead was way too distracting. Constantly looking confused, spaced out, frustrated and bewildered all at once. The scene when her and Marshall almost kissed made me laugh out loud. She looked absolutely frightened and he looked like when you're about to bump into a stranger on a sidewalk and you are trying to move out of each other's way!

I kept it on in the background as it was ok to listen too, but to sit and watch this mess, absolutely not!

This time of year, it's hard to turn on a TV without seeing one of these mass-produced holiday romances.

I used to say, "Seen one, seen 'em all," but with these things breeding like rabbits, they are sorting into definite categories.

This, alas, is not one of the better ones. Like so many of these, it's so by-the-numbers that you can practically recite the dialogue as it happens. It's like a story on The Love Boat bloated into a two-hour timeslot. All it needs is Gopher and Doc mugging in the background.

It's great that these movies are committed to no violence, gratuitous sex, bad language, or stuff like that. But they also left out good storytelling, dramatics, action, motivation... Oh, well.

I don't understand what world these characters live in. The movie is bearable, the acting a bit below mediocre. The male lead was attractive enough to keep me watching.

I don't know if it was the writing (or the acting just a bit over the top) but I've never in life witnessed adults (let alone a city leader, a semi pro athlete, a school administrator and a teacher) be so completely awkward. Everyone was just awkward around each other. None of them had a single bit of confidence in themselves. I wanted to shake them awake. How could they possibly be in the positions they are in acting the way they do.

All that makes it sound like I didn't like it. But, I've seen much worse, so this pretty middle of the road movie.