Recipe for a Perfect Christmas

Okay finished watching last night "Recipe for a Perfect Christmas". I love Chirstiana Baranski and her talents were not wasted.

In this film: A newly appointed food critic finds her life turned upside down when her uninhibited mother arrives announced at Christmas. Desperate to offload her, she enlists the help of a young chef, with surprising results. Bobby Cannavale co stars.

The film is very predictable but CB brings such a depth to her role that you will find yourself enjoying the film despite the fact that it is very predictable. CB does makes this film rise above the Average Television-Christmas Movie

The film is available on DVD from Amazon.

Did HeidiJean really see this movie? A great Christmas movie? Not even close. Dull, bland and completely lacking in imagination and heart. I kept watching this movie wondering who the hell thought that Carly Pope could play the lead in this movie! The woman has no detectable personality and gives a completely lackluster performance. Baransky was great as usual and provided the only modicum of interesting the whole thing. Probably her involvement was the only reason this project was green lighted to begin with. Maybe I'm expecting too much for a Lifetime movie played 15 days from Christmas but I sat through this thing thinking that with a different director and a recasting JJ with an actress that at least could elicit sympathy this could have been quite a cute little movie.

Christine Baranski brings liveliness to a Christmas tale about a very different mother and daughter. I liked this movie because it addresses a common baby boomer problem - the flamboyant, youthful mom from the wild '60s and the conservative, unflashy daughter. What the mother considers helping ("Would it kill you to wear a little color?") is seen by her daughter, a restaurant reviewer, as pure meddling. When the daughter is on a deadline and can't work due to her mother -- just as a for instance - exercising as she sings "The Twelve Days of Christmas," she enlists the help of a restaurateur (Bobby Cannevale) who is desperate for her to review his restaurant. In exchange for her eating there and possibly writing a review, he agrees to take her mother out during her visit. Well, things don't go exactly as planned...

Christine Baranski gives a multilayered performance as the mother, who's used to putting on a happy face. Bobby Cannevale is sweet as the restaurateur, and Carly Pope is pretty and intense as the daughter.

Underneath all the comic moments is a poignant story of intimate strangers. It's a good holiday movie with a satisfying ending, in the Christmas spirit.

Even though this is a story about a romance between a Food Critic and a Chef the alternate title for the movie is a better choice to describe the film (and then it's not the best) for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, though the romance is okay and it does add to the heartwarming atmosphere of the film it takes second place to the relationship between Mother (Baranski) and Food Critic daughter (Pope). I really did enjoy the cracked and broken relationship they have formed after the death of the husband and father and neither one knew how to cope with his passing. The only trouble is that it doesn't quite feel right and lacks in believability. Though each of the actresses is great in their portrayals of a happy fun loving Mom and a no-nonsense career-minded daughter; when the reason for their separation is revealed even their characterisations can't sustain the believability.

Secondly, the romance isn't really believable. When the chef asks for a review from the food critic she manipulates him into taking her mother out on dates, so as to keep her out of her hair so she can complete her column before the deadline. He takes Mommy out on a few dates and he likes her. Though the writer and director try to sideline the audience into thinking they could be a couple, they add a couple of scenes that show the Chef's slight (and it is only slight) interest in the daughter. What the story needed were a few more similar scenes where their relationship blossoms and blooms. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen and it makes the story and film feel awkward at times. This could have been a better movie.

This is one to watch if there's nothing else on or your snowed in during a blizzard and have caught up on everything else. Be aware that this is a Romance Movie set around Christmastime and not really a Christmas Movie.

JJ Jenner (Carly Pope) is the assistant for the food critic at NYC magazine Glow Manhattan. She doesn't get along with her mother Lee Bellmont (Christine Baranski) who is always the center of attention. Lee shows up at her apartment out of the blue. She got retired for old age as a cruise ship dancer but she keeps it a secret. The food critic leaves for maternity, and the new critic is a drunken creep. He gets fired and JJ is the new critic. Lee berates JJ's boyfriend who reveals that he's been actually cheating on her. Alex Stermadapolous (Bobby Cannavale) cooks good food in an empty restaurant. He struggles to get notice without a publicist. JJ agrees to come by his restaurant if he pretends to date her mother keeping her busy.

Christine Baranski makes this something passable. She does a compelling character with emotional depth. The mother daughter relationship works because of her. Both Carly Pope and Bobby Cannavale do a reasonable job. The production is pretty much middle of the road TV movie. This is borderline watchable. I'm not always sure which side of the border however.