The Naughty List

A little magic. Not the normal holiday plot. Vanessa Lengies is perfect in this role.

The first temptation was to define it as...chaotic. Or improvised. But I loved the touch of fairy tale and I prefered to ignore the large circle of mistakes , from construction of story to acting.

So, the only problem is the waste of potential.

Nice ideas, bizarre used. Morgan Fairchild as more than eccentric Mrs Kringle and Evan Williams working hard with the good guy who he acts. And the poor Vanessa Lengies... .

In Idish exists a word very fair for define what you discover at this film - khaloimes. It is the essence of this movie about an application more than silly and used in wrong manner. Maybe not the worst Hallmark but one only good intentioned.

This movie was listed by my provider as "A Date by Christmas Eve" and that title appeared on screen. The alternate title "The Naughty List" probably describes it better.

This isn't a common Christmas premise, but it is a pretty solid mix of two older Christmas movies with much better leads and acting in general. "I'm Not Ready for Christmas" with Alicia Witt has the can't-lie angle. "Naughty or Nice" with Hilarie Burton has the Santa's magic list angle. On the other side of this movie is one I just watched yesterday "A Christmas Crush". The last made this one look excellent. The similarity of this one with "Wish" is the magic wish on a potential boyfriend, especially the result on said "boyfriend".

I mention "Crush" because it is an example of doing really badly what this movie mostly succeeds at. This movie has some exaggerated humor, but doesn't let the acting or story get out of control like "Crush" did. This movie does the story pretty well with controlled overacting. In that sense it is similar to "Ready" and "N or N". The difference in the three is the acting, especially the leads. Both Witt and Burton have much better comedic timing. They both probably had better lines to work with also.

Bear in mind that this movie is about magic and it intentionally uses some exaggeration, so judging the acting is a little different than the standard Hallmark or Lifetime pure Christmas Romance.

I really liked the implied message about magic which is a cover for what we as people think in our hearts about other people. In a good Magic story, magic has a cost, or better, a consequence. Chelsea really learns that.

Fisher is the paragon, at least mostly. Chelsea is a bit wimpy but at her roots is honest and giving.

While the premise isn't the usual Christmas movie fare, the audience still has a pretty good idea what's coming. The ending here is decent enough.

This movie has weaknesses but is very watchable if you get into the spirit of fantasy magic mixed with Christmas romantic comedy.

There's nothing to like. Tacky storyline, predictable plot, un-amusing actors and feeble attempts at Christmas-afying already 'done' tropes like 'can't lie' and 'make him love me'. Unless you're 12 and love the idea of love at Christmas, give this a miss. If you're on the couch desperate for something to watch, invest your time reading the back of a shampoo bottle instead.

This review probably sounds like it comes from somebody that loves hating on Lifetime Christmas films. That couldn't be further from the truth, this is coming from somebody who aims to be encouraging with their reviewing and is mostly generous. Have actually said quite a number of times that Lifetime showed a lot of times that they had a good film in them, although there was a lot of average and less output too. This review is not coming from a Scrooge either, my adoration of Christmas is probably well known by now.

2019 was very hit and miss for Lifetime's Christmas output, very like their previous years. 2020 was also hit and miss for them too, Christmas and overall. Some were pleasantly well above average and others were mediocre at best. Very like their output in general as indicated in the above paragraph. To me, 'A Date by Christmas Eve' (alternate title 'The Naughty List') is one of their worst from that year. Not unwatchable but very weak, compensated by the two lead performances but doesn't have much else going for it.

Am going to get the good things out of the way. As said, 'A Date by Christmas Eve' is saved from unwatchability by the above decent and actually quite appealing lead performances of Vanessa Lengies and Evan Williams. Lengies is suitably perky and Williams is a sensitive and charming partner. Their chemistry comes over as very genuine and amiable, looking at ease with each other.

Did think that the scenery is quite nice.

Otherwise, 'A Date by Christmas Eve' has nothing really to recommend it. The rest of the acting is poor, especially from a truly obnoxious Taylor Frey. Morgan Fairchild looks ill at ease too. None of the supporting characters engaged or appealed, especially the obligatory boyfriend stereotype that often in Christmas films comes over as too much of a jerk and very unpleasant. Which is exactly how the character of Rod comes over. Apart from the scenery, the film doesn't look too great. Too drab and like it was made in haste.

Mostly the music is forgettable at best and has no personality. The script is too cheesy and schmaltzy, constantly sounding awkward and the story is excessively dull, due to trying to pad out half an hour's worth of content to feature length, and has an overload of credulity straining moments that makes it ridiculous. The film feels too thin, has very little warm or charm and has an ending that is obvious from the start.

In conclusion, weak. 3/10.