Christmas Wonderland

Pretty standard fair but Emily really shines. She may not be the most conventionally beautiful Hallmark actress, but she is down to earth and likable. Her acting in this was so natural and really brought a lot to an otherwise boring character. Her partner was good too.

Though relatively formulaic, I found the story warm. Every actor gave solid performances. I really appreciated Emily Osment's acting. There is something refreshingly authentic about her that stands out, making you look forward to more of her work.

Heidi (Emily Osment) is from a small town but has resided in NYC for several years. Although she once dreamed of becoming an artist, she now helps run an art gallery for a very demanding lady. She paints on canvas very little. Yet, a call from her sister soon has her flying back to her little city. An opportunity too good to miss has come up for her real estate agent sis and her hubby so Heidi is asked to babysit for a few days. Once there, Christmas is fast approaching and her niece is preparing for a singing solo at the elementary school pageant while the nephew has a crush on a girl student. The crush has meant nephew can't concentrate on his studies so his caring teacher and hockey coach, Chris (Ryan Rottman) is trying to help bring his grades up. Wouldn't you know, Chris is also a former flame of Heidi's and neither of them has married! Soon, they are crossing paths as Chris is put in charge of decorating for the Snowball dance and Heidi is signed up for the same by her sis. Just what went wrong so many years before and is there hidden embers of love that can be flamed again? You betcha! This beautiful romance is one of the endless string of quality films by Hallmark, the pinnacle producer of modern romantic comedy. Osment and Rottman are two fetching and talented performers and backup cast, sets, costumes, script and direction all make for a winning view. Wonderland is wunnerful, wunnerful.

It's a cute story and Ryan Rottman is nice to look at, but it's not a wow! I don't believe the kids would get along so well for a start and I'm pretty sure there's no way the boss would give that time off, but I suppose a lot of these films are a stretch of the imagination and an idea of a better life, something to aspire to.

Also, as I've said before with these films, if you're going to make it about an artist who is suddenly recognised, at least try and get a good artist! The work in this would never adorn my walls!

It's worth a watch if you've got a Jigsaw Puzzle to do at the same time, but the story has been done many times before.

The leading actor is more boring than the boring leading actress in my opinion. Hardly any emotion at all from either one of them. We watched the movie to the end but it was added to our "don't bother again" list.