La Fille du père Noël

With all the great Christmas movies out there's no need to suffer through this one. This movie has cheap production values / special effects. The formula script show what a severe lack of good writers there are in this industry. Winter storm on que, deserted house, gimmie a break! The John Dye character was married , blessed with two children and yet gets a second chance at happiness. His brother-in-law Uncle Johnny is a bum. We know this because the writers have made him chubby and he wears glasses. WHAT STEREOTYPING. He's not worthy of having Kathy Ireland's character fall for him. The script would have been much better if Kristin and Uncle Johnny are the couple. Finally the happy ending managed by Kristin is ripped off from an old Xena episode. Go rent Miracle on 34th St.

Model Kathy Ireland stars as Kristen Claus, the daughter of Santa Claus, out to prove to his father that there is still Christmas spirit out there in this troubled world. She also pays a visit to the Morgan Family and befriends them.

While Ireland might be a gorgeous and kind lady, she couldn't act much, as she hardly shows any serious emotion. John Dye, who plays Bill Morgan, also didn't have an acting performance that blew me away.

Much of the plot is dull and a drag - too much sappy and happy-go-lucky stuff, but nothing suspenseful or attention grabbing. There is also not much character chemistry and not very likable characters, especially the spoiled, cocky kid Kyle Morgan (James Morgan), whom you wish Ireland would just run over with with the reindeer.

Feel free to overlook this movie if you're looking for some good Christmas-themed entertainment.

Grade D

Such an amazing Christmas movie that my family and I look forward to watching every year!

This one's good for young, unsuspecting children at best.

But any other age group would find this movie poorly made and actually pretty atrocious. It's so bad, that it's laughable. Everything from the acting to the special effects to even some of the scenery is quite sub-par. I'll admit, the plot had some degree of potential, but all of the aforementioned qualities made this movie one for the birds.

Though some may be able to, it would still be beyond me if you can somehow see through these disastrous details into its "warm-hearted cuteness." Call me a "Grinch", but I still stand by the fact that this is definitely one holiday movie you could go without.

You've heard of "King Midas In Reverse"? Kathy Ireland is Orson Welles in reverse - meaning to say the swimsuit model-cum-actress-cum-designer-cum-Christian's never done a movie as BAD as her debut ("Alien From L.A."). "Once Upon A Christmas" continues this tradition, though not alas for lack of trying.

This TV movie is based on the premise that Santa Claus has become disillusioned with his day job, what with so many naughty people in the world and anti-Kringle websites ("Jingle bells, Santa smells..."); but his good-hearted daughter Kristin (Kathy, but who else?) still feels there's a chance for December 25, so she agrees to try and change the mind of the Morgans, with the future of Yuletide at stake. But the father (John Dye) is business-minded, his children are avaricious and intent on getting rid of every potential substitute mum, and their uncle (Wayne Thomas Yorke, in the movie's best performance) is hardly the ideal guardian. Plus our heroine's sister is little more than the Grinch in human form...

All of which could, in better hands, have proven to be a decent little seasonal movie; it certainly has good intentions on its side, and isn't too shameless in its pitch for the "Touched By An Angel" audience (I knew John Dye had been on it, and I bet myself that Kathy had also been alongside Roma Downey at one point. I was right). But better writing and directing (Steven H. Berman and Tibor Takacs respectively) would have helped, with the amusing earlier scenes at the North Pole wiped out by the poorly handled climax; decent special effects - Kathy's sleigh ride makes "Superboy" look good - and child actors who can actually act wouldn't have gone amiss either. For a movie that's supposed to be about restoring the Christmas spirit, this is fairly low on spirit itself; it's never really as heartwarming as it should be, and depressingly short on humour as well (the villain gets surprisingly little time, with the emphasis on the family).

Kathy Ireland is, however, endearing (as well as looking a treat throughout - as the credits point out, "Special Thanks to The Kathy Ireland Signature Collection"), and the movie is more bearable than "Ernest Saves Christmas" or the "Miracle on 34th Street" remake. It would be nice to think that the sequel ("Twice Upon A Christmas") is an improvement, but I'm not holding my breath. (For those wondering why this is good for royalists, a certain Edward Wessex is one of the executive producers. Well, he has to do something...)