Le livre de Noël

I normally rely on the Hallmark Channel for most of my Christmas movie viewing, but I stumbled across this on Lifetime and watched it for one reason:

Alexandra Breckenridge

She is a truly captivating actress and a joy to watch on Virgin River. She's also great in this movie, as is the very talented Jane Alexander (her performance in the heartbreaking movie Testament was very powerful).

Although there are some nice moments, there are too many awful or ridiculous moments starting with the "Mistle-Toe" IPO. It's one thing to focus on Christmas themed traditions around the holiday, it's quite another to name your company after a plant associated with just one holiday month out of 12 when there's nothing Christmas related about the company. And I suppose somebody thought it would be clever to focus on the word "Toe" in the company name given that the business supposedly offers people online manicures and pedicures. But, again, there's nothing Christmassy about that.

Was anyone really surprised when the IPO went down in flames?

And in what alternate universe does a venture capitalist give up her life to run a bookstore unless the guy that came with the deal was truly special? Here, the guy was just perpetually glum, unpleasant and unreasonable (although it actually made sense for him to sell that place and get on with his life somewhere else).

Bookstores are quaint lovely places but let's face it, in the age of Amazon, and used books on eBay, it's virtually impossible to make a living owning and running a small bookstore in a small town unless there's a big space with other things for sale and a cafe. And this place seemed tiny.

I live in a town of 15,000 and the last bookstore here (there were once several) went out of business years ago. Running a small bookstore in a small town today would have to be a labor of love by somebody who doesn't have to worry about how to pay the bills.

This was enjoyable because of Alexandra Breckenridge and Jane Alexander, and there were more than a few nice moments between them. I also liked the surprising commitment to helping the Book Thief. There was also a nice uplifting theme of overcoming adversity. But if this hadn't starred Alexandra Breckenridge, it wouldn't have been worth watching.

New York City venture capitalist Claire (Alexandra Breckenridge) has a bad day at the market. She decides to take a break at a place from her late mother's past. She's staying at Fortenbury Bookstore in a small town in Vermont. The guests get to manage the bookstore for short periods. She finds the town struggling after a recent flood and the Christmas celebrations cancelled. Mrs. Tumulty (Jane Alexander) runs the store and her handyman nephew Andrew (Jamie Spilchuk) is the owner. Andrew has lost the Christmas spirit like the rest of the town.

I didn't know anybody still does blacksmithing and other than antique car repairs. I guess some artists do it but they don't make reindeer bells which could be done by the millions in China. He needs to make something more artsy and special. I remember a news story about a bookstore in Scotland renting out the place for people to manage. I'm guessing the writer read the same news story or maybe it's become a more popular thing. On a separate note, it's nice to see Megan Follows dip her toe into directing and she does a good job.

I've always liked Alexandra Breckenridge. She's undeniably chipper and cute. She infuses the Christmas spirit into this movie. Jane Alexander and Jamie Spilchuck are both good in their roles. There are great emotional touches that really hit hard on the heartstrings. I love her story about her mother which gives special freshness to this old formula. Alicia is a classic although the role does need a better actress. Some of the side characters need better acting. The trick is Andrew and Claire. Andrew is a Scrooge but he also holds out as a good redemptive character. This is much better than most Lifetime movies. It still follows the standard formula but it does it with sincerity.

I grew up with lifetime movies and to say this movie exceeded my expectations is an understatement. Wonderful acting, cute story. Worth the watch!

It's a very good Christmas movie with amazing female lead, my God she's so beautiful with great acting skills. The story is average like all Christmas movie, but the performances of the cast was great. So yeah it's a good movie. Have free time give it a shot.. Rating is 8/10

Better than average holiday romance. Sure, chances that a venture capitalist would leave a six-figure job to cuddle with a somewhat grumpy blacksmith in Vermont are slim, but it's a holiday romance....and it was charming.

On the other hand, I am appalled by the number of reviewers who feel the need to complain about a very minor character who happens to be gay, has a same-sex spouse and a child. Oh good grief! "Judge not lest ye be judged." All of you who complained about this ARE being judged, and it's not at all flattering. If you think it makes you more "Christian" to pretend that gay people don't exist, you need to read your Bible again.

Many of us are thrilled that these production companies are finally being more inclusive and diverse, portraying people of color, LGBTQ characters and persons with disabilities...although usually in minor roles. It's a positive step.