Papai Noel Casamenteiro

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.

This was the 1st Lacey Chabert Christmas Movie (she has made 6 now). I was hoping she would be really great in it- but she was not. She always plays a very nice character- but they all seem to be alike and the emotion falls short. I have seen Tree that Saved Christmas- Yuck, Royal Christmas- good but a bit dull, Family for Christmas- so so.

I was surprised by the Fantasy aspect of this one that was not apparent in the description. The leading actor playing Dean did a great job and the supporting actor playing Chris was good. That nose thing that was supposed to be "Santa magic" was a bit weird. I loved the little girl at the beginning making her wish to Santa. Florence Henderson's character, the mayor and the mother added little to the movie. We all stayed awake. It was pleasant. We would not watch it again.

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

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.

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.