Christmas at Cartwright's

I didn't planned it but it's great to write this review on Christmas day!

So far i failed all my Christmas time : All along December month, i would like to decorate my home, have a advent calendar, share sweets with my friends, write greetings cards, read moving stories about this holiday and watch the best movies about it near a warm fire and sipping infusion! At the end, i usually have fun just for Christmas day. This year it's a bit the same … until checking TV programs and noticing that there are a lot of Christmas TV movies.. When i see this one had Alicia, i was just really motivated to see it ! Alicia is among the rare artist I knew as a kid (see Dune, Twin Peaks) and now she is a lovely, fun, caring young woman who plays with the best (Pacino, Bullock). In a way, you can feel that it's movie for TV as the action happens in sets : there's not a lot of outdoor sequence in lovely Chicago so we have a Christmas movie nearly without snow.. But except this, this a wonderful, family movie : Alicia is really good being a single mother and showing courage and efforts to support her family ! She is kind, polite, generous, wonderfully dressed and always smiling even if things turn bad. Sure the story can be guessed since the start but that's what I want : Christmas magic, romance, happiness and not more politics, violence, money, guns, nudity, hysteric, crazy people… Her daughter is totally sweet and as i have always like malls, this movie was really a great gift for me !

BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE FILM. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 HOLIDAY FILMS. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM HONEST!

"Christmas at Cartwright's" is a 2014 American-Canadian romance television film directed by Graeme Campbell and starring Alicia Witt, Gabriel Hogan and Wallace Shawn Written by Margaret Oberman, the film is about a single mom who gets a holiday job as a department store Santa to pay her rent.

Now I don't mind if a film goes into uncharted territory but this film doesn't. The filmmakers think the fact the idea that "Santa" is being played by a woman is "Shocking".

I think the filmmakers should of re-thought this project. I think the film should of focused on "Santa" giving advise to the men who work at the store. Complications happen when her ex-husband starts working at the store along side her new boyfriend. Disguised as "Santa" she sees both of these men in a new light. She learns why her ex-husband left her and why he is behind in child support. She sees that her current boyfriend isn't perfect but also see's that a female co-worker is out to steal her boyfriend. That would of made a more interesting film.

Alicia Witt does a lot of these Christmas movies, and she's one of my wife's favorites in them. There's a good reason. Her films are generally a cut above the average cliched Christmas plot. It's not necessarily that her plots are more original, but her slightly confused and sometimes disgruntled acting style gives her roles a lot of separation from the overly perky performances turned in by many other actresses who float through these films with plastic performances.

In this movie, Alicia is a down-on-her-luck single mom (of course!) who, with an assist and a push by an angel, gets the job as a department store Santa. Overlooking the fact that there is no way she could be mistaken for a male Santa, the movie moves along with a funny story concerning her employment coinciding with a predictable but satisfying story concerning a romance with store exec.

Nothing about this story is new or inventive, but it is a fun watch.

Alicia Witt has a quirky charm, and she is excellent as the first Santa at a department store. I have to thank the wonderful film ' Bros ' for my addiction to Hallmark Films, and the goodwill that they deliver to many people. I am not sure this is one of my favourites, but it has a great premise. Women can be just as good as men portraying Santa, and Witt has the right approach in playing this role. As we all know these Christmas fantasies have a male lead as well, but sadly in this film I did not think the one chosen for this was not quite up to make the heartbeat, either for female as well as male viewers. But to return to Alicia Witt she is much less passive than some of the female actors in the Hallmark genre. I really believed she could bring magic to the children she meets, and her mentor played brilliantly by the muti-talented Wallace Shawn was a magical choice of its own. ' Real ' life should have more female Santas. Worth watching.

7.3 stars.

The female lead is above average for me, she's not in my top 10, but she's in my top 20 for sure (there are so many leading ladies, so this is a good rating). The lead male I've seen a thousand times (not much of an exaggeration) in 'Heartland' as a regular, so he's very familiar. And I figured this movie is Canadian being he's in other Canadian productions.

The story is semi-original if you can believe it. It's a bit different, a woman Clause. And her name is Nicky, so no mystery there. Her daughter is endearing, she makes a third of what is magical about this film. The angel guy, well he's ok, but just because he looks funny and talks strangely doesn't mean they need to make him an angel that looks like an elf. It's a strange concept, and it's not cool in my opinion. Whatever, just my soap box.

The lead male is a great fit, the perfect good guy executive who loves the lead female because of her character and not her physical attributes. The way we know this is because he likes her also when she's disguised as Santa. The writers are showing us he has redeeming qualities, we can root for him as a gallant fellow.

The antagonist is her boss, who doesn't know she's her boss. It's complicated, you'll see.

50% of what is special about this movie is the leads, 33% because of the daughter, and the other 17% was entertainment value. I feel they had enough time to grow an enjoyable on-screen romance.