A Sugar & Spice Holiday

The 2020 Lifetime Christmas efforts did vary and often veered between mediocre and slightly above average and were indicative at times of rushed productions. But there were enough of them that were still watchable and more (was pleasantly surprised by some) and were not amateur efforts. Actually think on reflection that the standard was of better quality than 2019's batch. 'A Sugar and Spice Holiday' sounded promising and really appreciated its inclusion of diversity.

Luckily, 'A Sugar and Spice Holiday' turned out to be better than expected. As the review summary indicates, it is not too sugary and has enough spice. It is easily one of the best 2020 Lifetime Christmas films and one of the few to be very good, when most were between mediocre and pretty good as said already. Is 'A Sugar and Spice Holiday' perfect? No, none of the 2020 Lifetime Christmas films are. But the good things are many and the best aspects are very well executed indeed.

Am going to start with the things that are not quite there. Admittedly, it is predictable and some decision making in the final third don't quite make sense and considering the job of the person in question are hard to buy.

Do agree that Suzy is a bit whiney in the final quarter and that the contest facilitator role was a little overacted.

However, a lot of good things are here and they outweigh the not so good. It looks attractive, especially the scenery, and the music has a pleasant and nostalgic quality that doesn't become overdone, over-emphasised or too syrupy. The direction was sympathetic but still gave the film momentum when necessary.

The dialogue is heartfelt, thoughtful and flows well without being self-indulgent or too flowery. The story is charming and moving, and doesn't go down the cheesy or sugary sweet route. So refreshing too in 'A Sugar and Spice Holiday' to have characters that felt like real people and ones that one gets behind in their trials and tribulations, they are also better developed than most in Lifetime Christmas films. There are stereotypes here but they are tasteful ones and are surprisingly well developed. Something not commonly found in recent years Christmas films. The characters have a very natural and sincere chemistry and the acting is very good, great in the case of the two leads.

Overall, very well done. 8/10.

It was so cute!! I loved the script and the cast has such great chemistry. What a fun take and I'll admit most Christmas movies are really formulaic and obvious but this one has such a sweet message and great spirit! I'd watch it again and I'll keep my eyes on the leads and keep my fingers crossed they do a sequel!! (Just watched about 2 prior movies with the same sort of storyline but this one was unique enough and I swear the casting was superior to any other)

I enjoyed this movie a lot and I applaud Lifetime for being the first to bring an Asian cast to the Christmas table. These networks seem to forget that there's a large Asian population out there and there's several of us who fall into their target demographics! While I enjoy the regular Christmas/Hanukkah movies on both networks I appreciate that Asian actors and fans of these movies are finally being represented! The movie was adorable and so were all of the cast members. Thank You Lifetime!

A sugar and spice holiday was a sweet movie. It was well acted and had some nice moments. But the CGIs were horrible. Still, the movie is heartwarming and has a lot of sweets in it.

Jacky Lai the lead actress was great in this movie, as were most of the others, perhaps with exception of her parents.

The story had the obligatory snow ball fight, and a "save the local x by fundraising, someone saving the day, upsetting the boss, then the love, etc etc... Actually maybe it's not different after all, but it kinda felt like a story that slightly differs to the usual. Maybe it was good acting, maybe good leadership / directing / production... I don't know why, it just felt better than the usual movies.

I/we watch a lot of these Christmas romcoms and it's not often I will take my time to review one.