Un Noël à réinventer

I love hallmark movies and the predictability of them. But this was so horrible. Why is the leading woman so insecure? After all the misunderstandings, she still chose overreacting rather than finding out the truth? If it wasn't for the leading man, I wouldn't have finished this movie.

The main female character in this movie looks like she has a permanent sneer on her face. Not a enjoyable film at all and a very blah storyline. Male lead was more palatable as was the aunt.

This was a bit of a snoozefest. The two leads had very little chemistry. In fact it was awkward at times, even when the romance was starting to take off!! For me, the biggest issue was the female lead. She just isn't a great actress, at least not in this movie. I recognize she has been in some roles in the past that might make her somewhat a recognizable face, but this is the only role of her's that I have seen and I am not impressed. Frankly I'd rather have a better actress that was unknown.

All in all, one of the worst Hallmark Christmas movies I have seen, and I have seen and enjoyed lots of them!

There is way too much awkward in this movie. Too many conversations between Eric and Phoebe go that way. Then there is the blind date dinner at Phoebe's friend's house. And the two dates with the cartoonist are epic fails.

There's not much chemistry between Mark Ghanimé and Beverley Mitchell. As I already mentioned, uncomfortable conversations seem to be the norm. And this movie falls into the trap of not giving the leads enough screen time. Also there are too many conversations with friends about whether the prospective love interest is available. It's fully 2/3rd or more of the movie before Eric and Phoebe actually have a decent time together. I think all this is supposed to be humor, but it takes too much away from the romance.

The climax is sweet but mostly predictable.

Even the title didn't suit this movie. When the woman was selling her house and investors were in town, I expected there to be a connection to a new development and bringing candy cane lane back. But no. Candy cane lane ended up as something that could never have been made and kept a secret from Phoebe. You have stretched beyond a limit of belief here.

The writing and storyline were weak. There was a big deal about meeting investors but the investors weren't part of the story or plot. There was the nice young woman that served Eric coffee every day and knew his order. The she disappeared, we never saw her again! The woman at the beginning that was selling her house was irrelevant to the story - a lot of loose ends to this movie.

This was a slow moving romance. How long can it take for two people to admit they like each other?