Christmas in Paradise

It is so refreshing to see a movie that has realistic characters and a plot that is so pleasant. Well written, great cast and a beautiful setting.

It reminded me of a "Brady Bunch" scenario in some ways. Both the single parents in the movie were very close to their children and cared that they had a child that was hurting. They were both trying desperately to reach out to their children and bring them to an understanding and acceptance of the situation they were in, one because of death and the second a divorce.

The "villian" ex-wife did not get her way in this movie as in so many movies we see today.

I wish all writers would give us the kind of movies that Lifetime is showing this month.

The plot is fine enough. The kids play stereotyped roles: the acerbic teen, the do-gooder, the extreme introvert, and the social butterfly. The acting is pretty decent. The parents are seasoned, respectable actors... All things considered, the movie is fine - it's a lifetime Christmas movie, what can you expect? But the cinematography is awful. There are way too many split-screen transitions. It's like the person putting this together just discovered this type of transition and thinks it works for everything and then someone came in and talked them down from using it to switch between EVERY shot to just 90% of them.

This movie is a little gem. Three nice little boy-girl pairings between adults, 17 yr olds and 12 yr olds makes it interesting on different levels. Not really a dull moment in this movie. Good drama and emotion throughout. The best scene is a spanish/english duet of Silent Night- really beautiful. The setting is Puerto Rico where Spanish is spoken.

I have really become a Colin Ferguson fan and he is his typical great. The female parent was also real good. The movie attempted to make something magical about the 3 Kings, but it really didn't succeed. There was enough good drama in the story to make it worthwhile.

I was honestly just so confused the entire time. I wasted the night of Christmas Day directing and dreading my time watching this movie. From the awkward camera angles and odd shots to the seemingly random and awkward dialogue, not to mention the storyline was kinda everywhere and nothing is ever actually resolved by the end. You hate to see it

There may be SPOILERS following in the context of this site's parameters for same; however, I don't feel any of the following will spoil the story for new viewers, and most of these details become apparent before they occur; suspense is not an intended aspect here.

This is a pleasant holiday film, with a different "Christmas locale" than usually found. The location in Puerto Rico is pleasant, but it's hardly a travelogue, in view of the limited island scenery contained - much less than one would assume in reading the ads for the presentation.

The two leads are engaging and attractive, and the four children {in a sort-of reduced-in-number "Brady Bunch" (2 each vs, 3)} all are well-cast and provide believable performances and interactions among their characters. Even the flippant, acerbic older daughter doesn't portray this in an "over-the-top" manner, as would be expected in this type of "Lifetime" film - but plays her part realistically, and believably softens when appropriate within the plot.

The two single parents (she suddenly widowed, he having been deserted by a selfish, spoiled, affluent wife), thrown together with their charges charges, is a theme which has been done in a number of filmed variations, whether a holiday flick or not.

However, while this type of story, whether "Lifetime" or otherwise - and especially in the case of the former - usually has more contrivances than you can count, which often detract from the proceedings, I found this one to be a bit the opposite.

While the ending was happy (and wholly-expected), and there was an absence of heavy romance between the leads, interrupted by the "villainess ex-wife," weeping and wailing all concerned, with resolution in the last scene -- I wished for at least some more spark, as well as some more romantic interaction between the divorced father and the widowed mother.

These "Lifetime" flicks, and their genre - whether romantic like this one, or depicting characters menaced in some manner (usually a psychotic neighbor), have a tendency to have a climax which often comprises only a couple of minutes of the two hours. This is one where it would have been an improvement had it been longer.

Still, it was a pleasant offering, worth perhaps 6 or 7*, but provide 8, based upon engaging actors and performances.

Finally, an added positive facet is this seems to be the first "Lifetime" in memory shot in some place outside Canada.