Matchmaker Santa

There were quite a few reasons for wanting to see 'Matchmaker Santa'. The title was a little corny but also somewhat appetising. The idea for the story was hardly innovative but sounded cute enough. Lacey Chabert is always a likeable watch, like her voice work too, and generally one of the better prolific Hallmark leads, whether their festive efforts or in general. Have been on another one of my completest quests since November 2019, and this was part of it.

If there was one word to sum up 'Matchmaker Santa' it would be watchable. It is not a bad film, it is at least palatable, and there are things that come off well. At the same time it is not one of Hallmark's better Christmas efforts and a bit of a missed opportunity, too many of its components being average at best. Will say though that 'Matchmaker Santa' is not one of the worst either, there are worse written, acted and looking and ones that bored, annoyed and insulted the intelligence more.

Visually, 'Matchmaker Santa' looks good with it being shot and lit well and while standard the settings are lovely looking and festive at least. The film started off very nicely, with a lot of charm and warmth.

Chabert is her usual likeable and charming self, as a character with no exaggerated negative qualities without being too perfect, and carries the film with ease. She has natural chemistry with both male leads, Thad Luckinbill and Adam Mayfield match Chabert's charm and one can see their appeal. Florence Henderson's performance is not subtle but she is a lot of fun. John Ratzenberger makes the most of what he's given to work with, and he's underused.

However, the story doesn't have enough to it. Actually don't mind awfully that it was very formulaic, what bothered me was that there was very unimaginatively executed, was really not much of one at all, had some fairly contrived situations and the film gets so sweet (too much so) in places it was almost sickly. The script is similarly thin and quite routine, especially in the more eventful parts, with too much cheese and sentimentality. The chemistry between Chabert and her male leads varies, it's nice with Mayfield which has more growth but a little under-explored with Luckinbill (despite them being sweet together).

Did find that Lin Shaye overplayed to an embarrassing degree. Pacing can be a problem, with the story being too little a lot of the film crawls along and feels over-stretched. The direction is only functional at best and can be on the leaden side of things. Would have liked more development between the characters, a far less over-neat and rushed ending and especially far more subtle music. Do agree with those that found the music over-bearing and ill fitting.

Overall, watchable but pretty average. 5/10.

This is a fun, sweet holiday movie that checks all the boxes. Of COURSE you see the end coming, I mean, Hallmark isn't going to pull a 6th Sense surprise on us, but the last 5 minutes are ridiculously concise... it's like they were suddenly told the theater was about to close and they had to wrap up a 30 min conclusion into 4 minutes like a cancelled tv series.

All of the characters were believable, the townspeople were charming and the heroine FINALLY wasn't acting like a spoiled victim. Lacy is a perfectly suited Christmas movie actress and I'm glad to see her in a role that doesn't demean her into being helpless.

A worth-while watch.

Meh. Another run-of-the-mill Made-for-TV Christmas movie that has no special charm yet isn't pure trash either. Lacey Chabert (Party of Five and the original Meg on Family Guy) is nice enough to watch. Florence Henderson (Mrs. Brady) adds a nice touch. But overall this does nothing for me. It's a romance, a chick flick, a Christmas movie chick flick and the Hallmark Channel is quite adept at making these. Plus they have a disease of adding too much musical score that's too loud -- they don't rely on strength of dialogue, they cheese it up which is most unfortunate. Not that this is all that strong but they oughta give movies a shot instead of masking them with unnecessary background music.

5.6 / 10 stars

--Zoooma, a Kat Pirate Screener

There are no huge surprises in this film. Santa performs actual magic. Many of the situations are silly.

Yet this movie is surprisingly entertaining. The humor is light and sprinkled around while the romance is sweet. The story flows together well.

Lacey Chabert and Adam Mayfield fit well together as the leads. Meanwhile so do Thad Luckinbil and Elizabeth Ann Bennett as Melanie's original boyfriend and his high school sweetheart. Florence Henderson is a crazy hotel owner. John Ratzenberger has the same characteristics as the part he played on Cheers.

Reliable Lacey just didn't do it for me in this one. This movie was made 8 years ago and Lacey Chabert hasn't changed a bit. And I'm not sure that's a good thing. Same hairdo, same lipstick, same signature eyeliner. Honestly, couldn't she even wash her face before going to bed? If she ever wiped that eyeliner off, I don't think I'd recognize her. Same affected giggle: It would make a good drinking game. I didn't think she much chemistry with her co-star, and the plot was tired and dull. Maybe I just need a break from Lacey, because she can be a good actress, with good comedy chops. Unfortunately that's a little difficult, since watching Hallmarks is kind of a silly hobby of mine. I did like her love interest on his own though. I'd like to see him pared up with someone else.