Un Noël de Cendrillon

Who wouldn't want Peter Porte as Prince Charming, BUT not sure if it was Emma Rigby or her lips that did the most acting ! I wonder how much they cost her, because they came into the room before she did.

And despite him being the ideal Prince Charming, as a character he clearly didn't have anything between his ears, if he couldn't detect a pair of lips on a woman like those beneath the mask ! You have to laugh !

This film really surprised me on all sides.

The story: So how could you bring the Cinderella tale up-to-date while keeping it fresh. Well, Kelly Goodner needs respect for doing a fantastic and ingenious job on doing just that. Some things, like the Stepmother, have gone and the Ugly Stepsisters are now an Ugly Cousin. There's also no glass slipper but a Christmas stocking, with an added twist, and this is the ingenious part, for which you'll have to watch the movie. With all these great changes Kelly still gives the entire story a light and heartwarming feel.

The Acting: All the actors are superb, especially Emma Rigby playing Angie, who's shy and self-conscious until she puts the mask on... then she can be the person she longs to be. Sarah Stouffer does an excellent job as the domineering, self-centered, and cunning Candace. It was also nice to see Lesley-Anne Down back in action.

Direction: Was light and steady as you'd expect from a Christmas love story. Though, when the ball arrived it took on an air of fantasy and fairy tale.

With all three coming together you get a great movie and if you like your love stories or fairy tales, then this is for you.

'A Cinderella Christmas' did sound like it had a lot of potential to work. The story of 'Cinderella' is one of my all time favourites, and to see a Christmas twist on it fascinated me. Seeing trusted friends and reviewers rating it highly also added to the interest. And there have been times where Emma Rigby has impressed me, while she was inconsistent as Red Queen in 'Once Upon a Time in Wonderland' my memories of her powerful annorexia storyline in 'Hollyoaks' are still vivid.

On the most part, 'A Cinderella Christmas' was nicely done. It wasn't amazing to me, it was a bit uneven and it didn't impress me as much as others, but when it works it works very well indeed. Can totally understand its appeal and why it's gotten a good deal of love, while understanding some of the criticisms that have been directed against it. Really enjoyed 'A Cinderella Christmas' spin on the 'Cinderella' story and it and Christmas do mix, which was the most important thing. Saw another Christmas spin on another fairytale, 'A Snow White Christmas', months back, and 'A Cinderella Christmas' (which unlike that film is actually good) is miles better.

Shall start with what doesn't work. There are plot elements that are on the far-fetched and contrived side (i.e. The urgent wedding), complete with the odd frustrating character behaviours that make them look dumb on occasion. The romance did feel rushed in development at times.

Was not particularly keen on the performance of Sarah Stouffer, who overplays her very shallow and already exaggerated character. No subtlety or likeability whatsoever. A bit cheesy in the dialogue in spots.

There are many good things though. It is a nice looking film, especially the luminous scenery and Angie's dress. The music doesn't sound over-scored, too much of a dirge or over-quirky, having seen a lot of Christmas films over-time with intrusive and overdone music. The script has its cheesy moments, but it is genuinely amusing more than once and is far from bland emotionally, quite heartfelt actually without being syrupy. Likewise the story isn't perfect, but it captures the magic of the story it's loosely inspired from and the charm of Christmas beautifully and has a warm heart and honesty.

Excepting Candace, the characters are nicely written and not hard to relate to and the acting is better than average and often good. Rigby is immensely appealing as Angie and brings a lot of charm to her without going too far on the sentiment. Peter Porte is dashing and equally amiable, he and Rigby have an easy going chemistry and while their relationship is too hastily developed at times it flows more realistically than most similar relationships in Christmas films. Lesley Ann Downe is suitably sincere.

On the whole, nicely done with debits. 6/10.

I thought this was a clever twist on the elements of the classic story. Acting wasn't the best, but the way the plot developed more than made up for that.

This movie is cute, and as far as Hallmark movies go, it's one of my favorites. Here's a thought though...if the protagonists parents were dead from the beginning of the movie, why not let her be from the U.K.? I think her acting would have been better if she could just use her British accent. I could tell she was concentrating too hard on the American one. I know for an actress it's a challenge or rite of passage or whatever, but it was a distraction.