Un duo d'enfer pour Noël

I need to say that I love to see considerably big names participating in small budget movies, whether it's direct to DVD release or made for TV. Back in the day, some actors were great and promising. A bright future was ahead. In other words, they had time to fix things. So if they broke up, there would still be hope that one day... Yeah, they reunite.

But there is such issue as real life. And time doesn't know mercy too. Remember these two in Starship Troopers? How young they both were at the time. Watching that feature film I did not realize they were a couple or would never think about them as such. And only recently I've read some rumors about their probable reunion.

And suddenly it occurred to me that it's possible, and how Patrick looks at her. You know Denise does still have that doll (Barbie) face with some signs of aging. But I can see that it can be more challenging for her to start relations now than back in her middle 90s timeline. While she is an attractive woman and so on, for her, the time to be young is over, no matter how harsh it may sound. On the other hand, Patrick is not getting any younger too. It was such a perfect match. Together they can shine much brighter. Once I noticed that I wanted to see something with them together. And there it was - "A Christmas reunion"...

Ok, obviously it's not the best movie I've ever seen. But it's them that made it better. Without those two I doubt I would have even bothered to watch it. Story-wise nothing is really to see here. Still, it's a Christmas movie, one of these with a happy ending. No real conflict etc. Another nostalgic reason that makes this one better than it could have been - Catherine Hicks. I happened to enjoy her performance in Child's play the day before. So for me, she went from a young beautiful woman to an old sweet aunt that passes away to get this Christmas reunion story going, in one day. Wow, it was sad. I've checked her filmography on IMDB and... it's just sad.

Would I recommend "A Christmas reunion" to someone who doesn't know anything about Denise or Patrick behind the scene relations, or doesn't recognize Catherine Hicks? Probably not. But if you happen to like one of the mentioned ingredients for a good nostalgic evening or reflect on life and time you may find this movie quite enjoyable.

I like this movie. It has a lot going for it. The story and cast are good. It works on a lot of levels. Patrick is funny as usual. Denise is pretty funny. They work well to-gether. Jake is pretty funny. He can do comedy. I hope Hybrid does another Christmas movie.

I would only recommend watching this movie if you're a "Love Film" junkie and there isn't anything else on.

I say this, because as a love story, set at Christmastime, there just isn't enough love to go round. Denise Richards and Patrick Muldoon just don't gel on-screen; there is no chemistry between their characters Amy and Jack. This is chiefly due to mediocre acting, week writing, and pretty routine directing.

There is a mystery embedded in the storyline; though, thanks to stereotyping you pretty quickly figure out the twist.

This could've been a much better film had it been treated a bit better.

The story was a little different than the usual, but not completely. Estranged high school sweethearts must return to home town for funeral of Amy's aunt who raised her. There is a mini-mystery, but the answer was obvious from the moment it became a mystery. And huge clues quickly confirm the obvious answer. Other than that the story is split between reopening the bakery and reconciling the two sweethearts.

Denise Richards, as Amy, and Patrick Muldoon, as Jack. had no chemistry and I'm not sure why anyone would want to romance either one of them. They spent more time fighting before suddenly changing direction. Supporting actors were anywhere from horrible to fair. The boss, the assistant, and the lawyer were among the horrible.

Was not all that excited over the concept for 'A Christmas Reunion', which is not a new one by any stretch of the imagination (it wasn't at the time and it's been done near to death now). Same with the cast, the most familiar name to me is Patrick Muldoon and this did not seem like a role that would suit him. Saw 'A Christmas Reunion' still anyway, as a fan of Christmas and many Christmas films and as someone who found the title quite sweet.

'A Christmas Reunion' is as far from sweet as one can get as a film. It's barely half-baked, or should that be raw, and even a four cheese pizza has less cheese than the amount that fills this film. Have seen worse Christmas films, though it is very close to being down there among the worst, and films in general, but 'A Christmas Reunion' is not good by any stretch of the imagination to me. Not completely irredeemable, but almost everything fails.

The best thing about it is Catherine Hicks, who is quite charming and fun.

Did think too that some of the soundtrack was pleasantly festive.

Unfortunately, everything else fails and badly. Muldoon is practically sleepwalking here and does not look comfortable or like he wanted to be there, he also looks too borderline creepy to pass for a romantic lead. Denise Richards fares a little bit better as she is a little more animated in her line delivery, but she also seemed too lightweight and the charm needed for her role wasn't there. She and Muldoon agreed do not have any chemistry together, it was like they hated each other and whenever they were meant to show any affection it was like lets get this done over with. Jake Busey overacts and is very annoying, the most annoying character in a film where finding any character to like let alone root for was near-impossible, Hicks was the one exception.

It is a very poorly written film as well, everything sounds so forced and stilted. Have heard better actually in 80s B-movies. The story is paper thin, lacking in any kind of lustre and completely charmless, not to mention pretty much a series of already rehashed retreads of other Christmas films. 'A Christmas Reunion' looks cheap, shot with a flat look and with low budget and hasty production written all over it. It actually could easily pass for a film from the early 90s.

Concluding, very poor. 2/10.