A Brush with Christmas

I don't know what happened to GAF this season! Last year, they made some really good Christmas time films to put them in head to head competition with Hallmark! This year, they fell flat on their faces with the movies!! This one is no different!!

The writing is flat, lifeless!! It has no "spunk" that last years had!! The actors have ZERO chemistry between them! It's not just the leads but EVERYONE that interacts here!! People that "knew" each other for years have nothing between them!!

The reason this gets a four star is for the location and set designer!! The lights you see as the drone goes down the street near the end showing Christmas lights was perfect!! The very next shot of an arched walkway & the lights were perfect!! Other than that, this film is a skip!!

I dig the leading two, but 'A Brush with Christmas' is very dull.

It dragged to watch, it really did. It's your standard made-for-television festive flick, so includes all the cheese and cheer that you would expect. The story, though, is just told in such an uninteresting way, not helped by the (usual) heavy predictability either. I did, as noted, rate Jillian Murray and Joseph Cannata as a duo, they are (relatively speaking) well cast. That's the only positive I've got though.

Amusingly, you could easily write another movie based upon this from Brenda of Home Cooking's point of view - one two-week back injury and she loses her catering contract to a half-arsed wannabe artist, unfair if you ask me! There's just no loyalty in the food industry nowadays...

This GAF holiday romance is about two artists who have chosen other professions. Charlotte (Jillian Murphy) runs the family restaurant, but secretly wishes she had time to indulge her true passion: art. Wyatt (Joseph Cannata) does commercial building renderings, but has always wanted to explore his more creative side.

When Wyatt visits an old friend during the Christmas holiday, he meets Charlotte and they hit it off. Charlotte hopes to submit an entry in the local Christmas art contest, but tosses her unfinished canvas when she realizes she needs to devote all her time to the restaurant, where she is also the head chef. When her incomplete painting appears on a wall at the contest venue, marked "anonymous", she is puzzled. How did it get there? And how does she feel about that?

Burgeoning romantic feelings are kept in check by the fact that Wyatt will leave after the holiday. When, in fact, he receives an offer for a dream job in London, it looks to spell the end of their infatuation.

The two lead actors are believable in their roles. Also watch for Farrah Aviva, who plays Charlotte's friend and coworker, Ella, with enjoyment and energy. And Michael Strickland, who plays Wyatt's friend David in a role that is too small.

I really appreciated the fact that the artwork around which the story revolves is, in fact, worthy of attention, giving the story authenticity.

I love Christmas movies even if these types are cheesy and basically the same thing just with different actors. I just like the feel of them during the holidays. This is my first year watching movies on the GAC channel. I have moved away from Hallmark movies. This movie was missing chemistry. The male lead actor did not know how to act. The lines that they gave the actors felt flat and short. Some of the cuts didn't make sense. That zooming action they did on Charlotte when she was looking at the painting was a no. The ending with the people clapping was a please stop moment. That was cringey.

This film didn't work for me. It started with a poor script and dialog. The acting was stiff, IMDB doesn't list a director so I guess the actors directed themselves, that's the problem. The performances weren't natural, it's like the actors read their lines separately and they were edited together.

The leads Jullian Murray and Josepha Cannata are physically very attractive, but actors have to be able to deliver lines in a believable way so we buy into the story. It was plastic, I got no feeling from any of the actors. I blame the writers and director, if there was even a director.

If GAF wants to challenge Hallmark for the top rom-com network, they have to do a lot better than this movie.