Staging Christmas

First off the two leads had absolutely no chemistry but it wasn't as bad as Solei's performance. All the non stop smiling (I bet she smiled in her sleep) to the constant talking to people as if she was talking to a child wasn't half as bad as the non stop head tilting. Watching the movie all I could think about was the fact that she kept tilting her head to one side. She barely kept her head straight. Am I the only person who noticed that? I could not stand it. I almost didn't finish the movie. On a more positive note the girl that played the daughter was adorable and so sweet. The thing I loved most though was the same relationship of the lead guy's sister. I love that it was not only put into a tv movie but a family Christmas movie. Well done lifetime for doing that.

When I first read some of the reviews about how bad the acting was, I thought people were just being overly critical/mean. They WEREN'T. The lead actress came across as incredibly fake. She talked so slowly and sounded like she was speaking to a five year old every time she opened her mouth. It was very hard to watch and incredibly annoying. He wasn't much better.

People! Do you not know what channel you are watching? This is a Lifetime movie. It's not that good either. Watching washed up kid stars form the 80s? I'd rather watch Punky Brewster or Family Matters! And George Stults ... 7th Heaven was a good vehicle - this isn't.

A Christmas stager uses the house of a widower and his little girl. Romance ensues. Not that much story and the stars are a little detached and uncharismatic. Below Hallmark standards.

The staging aspect is not a common plot device, although there have been a couple of TV movies that used this theme. What is used way too often is doing-a-good-job-means-a-promotion followed closely by the-promotion-will-take-us-apart. Up to the climax, any viewer could have told pretty much everything that would happen, with the possible exception of storm Meghan which has been in most or all of Lifetime's premieres this year. And of course the ending is predictable too, but what brings it about was a a little surprise for me.

Other than whether the party would succeed and the possible promotion, there was very little tension or conflict.

I wasn't impressed with the acting. It didn't seem natural. George Stults seemed stiff to me and Soleil Moon Frye wasn't much better. They had so much screen time together, it wouldn't be entirely accurate to say there was no chemistry, but it wasn't great. As is often the case in movies with a widower and daughter, the leading lady and kid seemed to have more chemistry than the leading couple. On the other hand, the acting didn't turn me off so badly that I still couldn't enjoy the movie at least some. And the role of the little girl was well done avoiding overplaying the role as kid actors sometimes do.

In holiday movies, I enjoy them more when they include music and singing by the cast. There were a couple of group participation songs which were nice.

Addendum: While watching this again, it hit me that one word describes this movie - sugar. There is too much sugar, especially with Frye but Stults too. I enjoyed this movie because of the sugar, but it was still too sweet.