Vivement Noël !

The first virtue of film is the effort to nuance , using new reflections, the Hallmark recipe for Christmas films. The obvious references to Wizard of Oz is another good point. But, sure, the vibe of film is proposed by charming energy of Candace Cameron Bure. She has the huge skill to explore the humor, innocence and good energies of each role. The role of Darcy is another admirable example.

There sure are a lot of mean reviews for this movie. Sounds like some are trying to knock the ubiquitous Candace off of her Hallmark throne. I am not a huge Candace fan, but she's harmless and she has never looked lovelier than in this tribute to The Wizard of Oz. I thought it was very cleverly done with the names, the characters, and the situations. There wasn't much of a plot, but at least it wasn't a stale rehash of the same old Hallmark set-pieces. I watched it to the end with not fast-forwarding, and that's worth at least a 6 or a 7. I'm not sure why she got so mad at "Glen Goodman" (Glenda the Good witch,Ha Ha) at the end, but that's just standard procedure to set up the happy ending.

The leading man in this movie was born in my home town of Belfast but my main reason for watching was the presence of the wonderful Candace Cameron Bure who gave one of her finest performances. It's a feel good movie where the main characters interact so well and you know that everything will work out at the end.

I'll admit several of the CCB movies have grated my last nerve, I swear some years they churn them out like butter! But this one was different, I actually liked it. Once I realized there were continuous references to the Wizard of Oz, it was a game to ferret them out. I would actually watch it again, because I think I missed some of the nuggets in the beginning of the film! Cute, funny. A Christmas movie experience like Where's Waldo trying to find all the Ozian Threads!

I never thought I would say this about a Hallmark Christmas movie, but...this one just wasn't Christmas-y enough!! It definitely felt like the movie was written and then the Hallmark execs went back and added in the Christmas elements at the last minute. The plot really could have worked any time of year.

In addition to that, I just didn't find the movie that interesting and had trouble following who each character was working for (the foundation? the charity? the PR firm?) and what his or her position there was. Also, I figured out the "twist" in the first 5 minutes. I'm usually a fan of Candace Cameron's Christmas movies, so this one was a disappointment for me.