A Christmas Melody

Fina Strazza is an amazing little talent with the cutest expressions and timing; she truly outshines the veteran cast.

Lacey and Brennan are magic together as well and their on screen romance is on par with their other 'All of My Heart" movies. Lacey is always charming and Brennan is always witty and comical, they make a great team.

In my opinion (and of course everyone is entitled to theirs), Mariah would have been better served to stay in the director seat. I just don't care for her as an actress and I think a more bubbly/peppy actress would have been better suited. But I will give it to Mariah that her directing was good.

Lastly, the Folgers things was just too funny. The first time was subtle, but the second time you couldn't have gotten anymore over the top obvious with that one; made me chuckle pretty good.

If Mariah hadn't been in this movie I would have scored it higher. Her acting was poor and there were all these awkward close ups. Did they film half of her scenes later so she didn't have to spend too much time with the other actors? It was just bizarre and threw off the flow of the movie every time she was on. Otherwise a typical Hallmark Christmas movie. If Mariah would have stuck with directing and not acting on this, I probably would have scored it an 8 or 9.

'A Christmas Melody' definitely had interest value. Hallmark have shown more than once that they were capable of making watchable and more films, a lot of them actually being a lot better and less mundane than they sound on paper. Lacey Chabert and Brennan Elliot have been quite good in other things, both have been in some not so good films but both are often among the better things of them. Expectations though were also quite mixed, as is the case with a lot of Hallmark films.

Namely because despite admiring Mariah Carey as a singer (beautiful and distinctive voice with a unique and quite insane vocal range), her acting in 'Glitter' left a lot to be desired and she somehow sounded like a very odd choice for director (first time for her too). 'A Christmas Melody' actually turned out better than expected, some of the usual Hallmark flaws can be seen here as well as a couple of new ones but there are also a lot of strengths that help make it watchable.

There are quite a number of good things. Chabert and Elliott are both immensely engaging and radiate in charm, playing likeable characters that have personality, have some character growth and any flaws are not overwritten. They connect beautifully together in their chemistry, they look at ease with each other and it was clear they at least cared for each other. The relationship didn't feel like it took too long to develop and doesn't move too fast. Fina Strazza gives one of the better child performances seen in a Hallmark film in some while, they have always varied in this aspect but Strazza was a natural in front of the camera and doesn't come over as too sickly sweet or petulant (her character actually came over as one of the more realistic ones.

Kathy Najimy is fun in her role. The chemistry between the cast is natural and any conflict does have some tension that doesn't feel dragged out. The story is far from perfect, but generally doesn't feel dull and is amusingly good natured, endearingly light-hearted and it has a warm heart without an overload of sappiness. The script flows naturally generally and doesn't come over as too cheesy or sentimental. The characters are not meaty but aren't too sketchy, while this is a case of the music being infectious and nostalgic. Most of 'A Christmas Melody' looks good, especially the scenery.

By all means, it's less than perfect. It is not at all hard to figure out how 'A Christmas Melody' is going to end, with most of them following a similar formula with not much variation complete with many long well worn out cliches. There are glimpses of that in 'A Christmas Melody', especially later on. The ending expectedly is a bit too rushed and too neatly resolved. It is a bit cheesy and routine early on.

A couple of the most distracting flaws involve Carey, whose scenes did not gel with the rest of the film and felt like they were inserted from another film made in another time slot. She still sounds great (though there could have been a little less emphasis, even for a film centered around it), but if she was trying to make her fairly irrelevant character impossible to like let alone root for she not only succeeded she also goes well overboard on it and does it in a monotone way. Didn't think much of her direction, too much of an over-reliance on unfocused close ups when she's on screen that also have too much of a "look at me" quality.

Concluding, above average but not great. 6/10

6/10 - she might be able to sing, but Mariah Carey cannot act to save her life

Don't get me wrong, I love all Christmas shows, Mariah Carey and Lacey Chabert, but the closeups of Mariah were starting to freak me out. Was she pregnant while filming? That might make sense. Aside from the freaky head shots, I enjoyed this show.

I've followed Lacey in many, if not all, of the movies she has made for Hallmark and have enjoyed every one of them. Mariah's music worked well in this movie and it didn't disappoint. The young girl who played Emily was a cutie. I can't wait to see more of her on Hallmark in the future.

Although, the plots are the same on the Christmas shows, I don't mind and will continue watching the Hallmark channel for years to come.