La Ballerine de Noël

Absolutely loved the premise. It is a very relatable scenario for anybody who wants to fulfill a dream, wants to learn a new skill and hobby that makes them happy or rekindle something that you made a career of but had to stop due to unforeseen circumstances. Or even all three, speaking from personal experience. It is also hard to resist seeing a film centered around anything to do with 'The Nutcracker', one of the greatest ballets ever written with a fantastic story and even better music.

Have said more than once about Hallmark's Christmas output being hit and miss. 'A Nutcracker Christmas' is one of the hits. It's not mind-blowing amazing and some of the storytelling is easy to criticise. It does compare very favourably when it comes to ranking Hallmark's output and was executed in a way that did connect with me. So 'A Nutcracker Christmas' came over as a quite good film that far from wastes its great premise while falling short of greatness.

Could it have been better? Sure. Will agree that some of the storytelling is contrived, such as the complete out of the blue and rushed 180 attitude towards nepotism (especially when a big thing was made of it beforehand).

While 'A Nutcracker Christmas' is always pleasant and never offensive, there is very little that's unique here and it does feel too safe. It is basically your standard reconnection story with a small twist. Occasionally the dialogue is awkward.

On the other hand, 'A Nutcracker Christmas' has a lot done right. The scenery has a lovely atmosphere and is attractive to look at. The photography is never drab or garish and always looks slick and never ugly, enhancing the beauty of the scenery and decor. As well as showing how truly graceful and magical dancing is. The music evoked a lot of emotion and fits beautifully in tone and placement, one of the few Hallmark Christmas films where the music wasn't a problem. The dancing is both athletic and graceful and the choreography left me transfixed.

Likewise with the final 20 minutes, which was charming and moving. As well as different for a Hallmark Christmas film. The dialogue on the whole avoids cheese and schmaltz and while the story isn't flawless it has a warm heart and doesn't get too heavy. It is also inspiring and realistically shows dedication, determination and how difficult it can be behind the scenes. The reconnection part of the story is handled nicely. The characters were to me worth caring for and Amy Acker and Sophia Lucia give particularly appealing performances.

Quite good on the whole as said if not great. 7/10.

The first temptation is to criticize it. without mercy. for flaws, for sugar exces, for the story who is not only predictable but ...fake. but the ballet moments are good motif for be lenient. because, in essence, it is only a Hallmark film. not the best, not the worse. with a nice pretext and a not credible plot but that is not the great sin. maybe, the performances are not the most inspired . but the film works. and it is not surprise - the love stories are useful heart for each film of genre.

This is one of the better Christmas movies and yes I highly recommend it. Great Dancing great love story. James Welch Henderson Arkansas 11/18/2020

What can be said is Hallmark produces quality movies. I am new to the Hallmark Christmas movies and holidays in general, but most are very good.

This movie is no exception and I dare say exceptional. It's about love; love of dance and specifically ballet. The story revolves around two people who are torn by a tragedy and lose themselves, lose hope and lose each other. Through events, they meet 8 years later but can they come together and succeed where they once failed? Is a second chance at ballet, a second chance at love possible, and will they take that chance again? We know this is a Christmas movie, but it is excellent and well acted. It has dance scenes and well choreographed moves, at least to the untrained eye. I must give this movie a 10 out of 10. The characters are well played and the story in engaging. MUST SEE and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

Headlined by Amy Acker as a ballerina who must face several emotional challenges, A Nutcracker Christmas unfolds as most popular Christmas movies with the rather superior inclusion of actual extended choreographed dance scenes. Unlike the more cult-following ice skating romance feature, The Cutting Edge (1992), a considerable amount of effort as well as physical performance undertaking was required and included in A Nutcracker Christmas with Amy Acker having plenty of opportunity to actually dance. One must assume that an actual Nutcracker cast was used for the last portion of the rousing classic ballet performances. This normally enjoyable romance Holiday movie has the added bonus of its wonderful artistic performances.