Le nove vite del Natale

Here you have two nice, attractive people of the opposite gender bound for professional success. the problem is they're too busy for love and romance. The woman is a compassionate brunette pet store employee who's studying to become a veterinarian due to her love for animals. The man is a hunky and affable junior firefighter who upgrades and flips houses on the side. He does have a casual girlfriend, a glamorous but bitchy professional model who'll make the women viewers say, "Why can't he tell she's wrong for him?" Conveniently, he working on a beautiful Victorian dream house, while she's in a campus apartment that doesn't allow pets, and of course she loves cats and secretly keeps one. They live in a nice small town where most people know and are nice to each other. If you don't know how this story ends, than you've never watched Lifetime of the Hallmark Channel before. All that being said, it's completely painless to watch and it'll appeal to its target audience. The leads are likable, the supporting cast competent and the technical aspects are satisfactory. I enjoyed it enough and so will most people if the plot interests them.

This is a charming film that contains all the best things; romance, humor, and animals. It's rare you find two extremely likable leads yet Nine Lives of Christmas has managed to do just that.

Sustad is an underused actress whose roles are usually only supporting. She is wonderful as a lead. Beautiful with a wonderfully expressive face, she needs to be cast as the main character in so much more. Routh is eye candy, but he does it so well. Their chemistry is believable and I enjoyed every second of this movie. For you Hallmark fans, I highly recommend putting this at the top of your watch list.

While I wouldn't say that he's my favourite Superman, Brandon does do a good job in this film. He's handsome for a start and working with great characters like Ambrose and Queenie, both amazing and beautiful cats.

I like this story, it mixes things up a little bit and the romance is quite charming, however firemen calendars should always be at least topless.

Why can't I find a cat and a sexy fireman for Christmas?

Even as the plot set-up was unfolding, I knew it would be a Happily Ever After story-- is there any other kind of Hallmark Christmas story? What I didn't expect, whoever, was to find the script full of wry humor and gentle mocking. The emotional tone was low-key and no one overacted. Kimberley Sustads' warm and slightly ditzy character was within the range of believability and Brandon Routh's characterization of a reluctant firefighter gradually falling in love was also in keeping with the movie. The guys in the fire station were a little too perfect, but were still the kind of men we'd like for fathers or brothers. The movie was a bit too slowly paced and could have used about half an hour's worth of editing, but was overall a satisfying watch.

Ironically I first saw the leading actress in another Rom com where she played the sister of the main female character. And when I saw Kimberly Sustad I immediately believed she could hold her own in her own movie. So here she is the lead in this movie and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Okay let's be fair, this is not a movie that will end up on the Oscar best film short list. It is a movie that once the main characters are identified you pretty much know what is going to happen and just go along for the ride. So what for me lifted this movie above average? Kimberly Sustad. And why? Well there are not that many actresses that can really do emotions well. Kimberly managed to convey sadness and joy really well with her eyes watering up with tears almost flowing. Believe me this is not easy to pull off, so many actresses cry and there are no tears at all. I'm glad Brandon Routh recovered from superman. All in all this is a light and enjoyable Rom com that is light and fluffy and not a bad way to spend an hour and a half.