Un ballo per Natale

My Christmas film viewings over-time have been a very mixed bag. With some surprisingly good hits, where regardless of how predictable they are succeed in being full of charm, warmth and heart so succeeding in being light-hearted and undemanding fun. But also some quite big misses, where the characters are not likeable, everything is forced and shallow with implausibility too in some of the worst cases, the acting and writing being weak and basically with just nothing to them.

'Dancing Through Christmas' could have been much better. Did like the premise a lot, which was very cute, and it started off with a lot of promise and bags of charm. Like has been said though, that promise did not stay all the way through with a very dull second half. 'Dancing Through Christmas' is not a terrible film and the way it started it seemed like a decent one, but it is not a particularly good one either and the inferior second half brings it down massively.

There are certainly good things here. Most of the acting was fine. Colin Lawrence gives a beautifully understated and likeable performance and loved his very heartfelt chemistry with his real life daughter Bianca, who is very charming. Candus Churchill brings a lot of zest to her role and it was fun watching her.

It is an attractive looking film, with the scenery being beautifully festive. It starts off very promising, with a lot of heart and charm.

AnnaLynn McCord however is awful, with a bad inconsistent mix of going through the motions and over exaggerated expressions and gestures. Also found her character cold and neurotic and her chemistry with Lawrence non existent, certainly absolutely nothing on the father and daughter relationship. But it is the central romance that is meant to be the heart of the film, and 'Dancing Through Christmas' is a complete failure on that front. The characters tend to be underdeveloped other than the Lawrence's characters.

Furthermore, the second half is incredibly dull and bland. It was very clear that the film had run out of ideas at the halfway through, judging from the thinness of the plotting in the second half and how dragged out it was, with the very pedestrian pacing. None of the charm and heart that was present in the first half is present in the second and it is instead bathed in cloying over-sentimentality. The predictability of what too little there is in the story content hurts it a good deal too, the too convenient being obvious from some way off. The dialogue is artificial at best and is quite stilted. The music is forgettable at best and is quite drab.

Summing up, very lacklustre despite starting off well. 4/10.

Even though it has the word Christmas in the title, this TV movie doesn't feel very christmasy. The movie started well, and the actors playing the father and daughter gelled, little did I know they were real life father and daughter! Unfortunately I found the second half rather flat. An okay watch, but didn't have the sparkle. With respect to other reviewers, I fail to see why Covid needs to be seen in a movie, it is rammed down out throats enough in the real world. Movies aren't real!

Sometimes it seems like all these movies have someone about to lose their business or their jobs. Olivia's dance studio is in trouble. Neither she nor the widower Michael are dating anyone before they meet each other.

AnnaLynne McCord and Colin Lawrence have modest chemistry. Briefly McCord's bright charm personality shines, but briefly.

There were two unusual things as these movies go. Michael is caught on video doing practice ballet with his preteen daughter. It goes viral. It's cute. The second thing is Lilly, the daughter's reaction to Michael dating her dance teacher. These two things drive the story in a non-formulaic direction. The middle of the story seems to stall a bit, but stick through it. There is a nice, slightly sappy, climax and ending which couldn't have happened without these two unusual threads.

Story of romance and the balance of family that is irreplaceable. Also the struggle of blue collar living and dreams. And the value of giving. It is important to mention that another review stated that this movie is unrealistic because it does not address covid. The reality is the world is multifaceted. There are people who are immunized in different ways and express different beliefs. This is the reality of the world. Depending on the situation, covid is addressed in different ways such as with masks or without. Some businesses demand masks and a vaccine. Some don't.

The change of title, from the original "Dancing through Christmas" should tell you all. Lifetime should begin most of their seasonal movies with the disclaimer "Any reference to Christmas, and entertainment, is purely casual". At start, the movie is fresh and and charming. Then, it turns progressively more insipid and boring. It looks like the writer had a good spark, but could not find enough inspiration to fill the time allotted for the action. The cute moment of a single father dancing with his daughter is insufficient to carry the weight of an entire show.