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6.6/10
1.9K
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Maddie, a reporter for a Norfolk newspaper, embarks on a Tiger Cruise during Christmas time where she meets a handsome naval officer and stumbles upon a mystery in the ship's archive room.Maddie, a reporter for a Norfolk newspaper, embarks on a Tiger Cruise during Christmas time where she meets a handsome naval officer and stumbles upon a mystery in the ship's archive room.Maddie, a reporter for a Norfolk newspaper, embarks on a Tiger Cruise during Christmas time where she meets a handsome naval officer and stumbles upon a mystery in the ship's archive room.
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In the archive room Billy sees a photo of what I believe was the A1 Skyraider but he identifies it as a B-29. Other than that, I enjoyed this one more than most. But I'm a sucker for anything that flies. Some cool footage of the cats at work.
6/10 - following the new trend of mixing a new and old romance, this Hallmark flick is pleasing if forgettable
Maddie is tired of being the one to deliver bad news on the newspaper she works at, specially now at Christmas time. So, her sisters convinces her to go in this "Tiger Cruise" a four day cruise for military families. There, she meets Billy, a lieutenant who doesn't appreciate Christmas.
You know exactly how this goes from the first scene. Maddie and Billy embark on an adventure. She decides to pursue a story about a couple, Dorothy and Sam, a "story about love and war". They have their own problems. She doesn't want a military life and he wants her/is nick-named "the grinch". But while they are together they have a great time.
My take of both Jen Lilley and Trevor Donovan is the same. I may love their performance of a movie and hate it on the next one. But I liked both of them on this one. They had good chemistry. I found myself rooting for them.
I also liked the pace of the movie. The couple of last movies I watched were unbearable, and I kept pausing them every 10 minutes but I didn't with this one. The story grabbed me from the first moment (even knowing how it would end). Not being American has its advantages, I did not if technical/navy things were accurate or not and I didn't care either.
Overall, it's a nice movie, it's exactly what the plot promises.
You know exactly how this goes from the first scene. Maddie and Billy embark on an adventure. She decides to pursue a story about a couple, Dorothy and Sam, a "story about love and war". They have their own problems. She doesn't want a military life and he wants her/is nick-named "the grinch". But while they are together they have a great time.
My take of both Jen Lilley and Trevor Donovan is the same. I may love their performance of a movie and hate it on the next one. But I liked both of them on this one. They had good chemistry. I found myself rooting for them.
I also liked the pace of the movie. The couple of last movies I watched were unbearable, and I kept pausing them every 10 minutes but I didn't with this one. The story grabbed me from the first moment (even knowing how it would end). Not being American has its advantages, I did not if technical/navy things were accurate or not and I didn't care either.
Overall, it's a nice movie, it's exactly what the plot promises.
Expectations were a bit mixed when sitting down to watch 'USS Christmas'. There are a fair share of good Hallmark Christmas films, and there were some surprising near-gems in 2020. The plot did sound sweet though not overly exciting. Jen Lilley and Trevor Donovan are a bit take and leave for me and it is dependent on the characters they play, Lilley in particular has had characters with very exaggerated character flaws which she can over-compensate.
Was a bit mixed in regard to 'USS Christmas'. Hallmark did do better in 2020, both of the Christmas films and and in all their seasonal blockings combined. They also did worse on both counts, as there were a small batch of below average efforts. 2020 was a very variable year for Hallmark (not surprising) but considering the circumstances the films generally could have turned out a good deal worse than they actually did. 'USS Christmas' is worth a one time watch but not in my view enough for repeat viewings.
Did feel that the two leads were on the uneven side, both not immediately settling into their roles and taking a while to warm up. Lilley does have another one of her characters that has exaggerated character flaws, the pushiness especially is excessive, and Lilley does at first tries too hard and comes over as neurotic. Donovan does relax into his role later, but when in Grinch mode he did come over as very stiff and bland.
Although their chemistry is there eventually, it does take too long to develop and when it does start to it feels underdeveloped and underwritten. Would have liked more development to the characters in general, not enough of them feel fleshed out enough.
Both Lilley and Donovan do fare much better though later. Lilley does tone down and becomes charming and not too sugary. Donovan loosens up later too, like his character who is the most developed of the characters, and is understated and easy going enough while having the right amount of command for the job. Their chemistry becomes warmer and more natural later, just wish that it was more consistent and that it occurred earlier. The supporting cast are solid.
Furthermore, 'USS Christmas' is a pleasant looking film with the scenery standing out in particular, while the soundtrack matches the spirit of the holiday and the film's themes very well. The script is neither too corny or over-serious, and doesn't come over as muddled tonally. Really liked its sincerity and heart. The quite gentle story is very heart-warming and moving with a warm glow later, even if it could have been tighter pace wise to begin with.
Concluding, a little above average that takes a while to find its feet in some areas but becomes pleasant enough. 6/10.
Was a bit mixed in regard to 'USS Christmas'. Hallmark did do better in 2020, both of the Christmas films and and in all their seasonal blockings combined. They also did worse on both counts, as there were a small batch of below average efforts. 2020 was a very variable year for Hallmark (not surprising) but considering the circumstances the films generally could have turned out a good deal worse than they actually did. 'USS Christmas' is worth a one time watch but not in my view enough for repeat viewings.
Did feel that the two leads were on the uneven side, both not immediately settling into their roles and taking a while to warm up. Lilley does have another one of her characters that has exaggerated character flaws, the pushiness especially is excessive, and Lilley does at first tries too hard and comes over as neurotic. Donovan does relax into his role later, but when in Grinch mode he did come over as very stiff and bland.
Although their chemistry is there eventually, it does take too long to develop and when it does start to it feels underdeveloped and underwritten. Would have liked more development to the characters in general, not enough of them feel fleshed out enough.
Both Lilley and Donovan do fare much better though later. Lilley does tone down and becomes charming and not too sugary. Donovan loosens up later too, like his character who is the most developed of the characters, and is understated and easy going enough while having the right amount of command for the job. Their chemistry becomes warmer and more natural later, just wish that it was more consistent and that it occurred earlier. The supporting cast are solid.
Furthermore, 'USS Christmas' is a pleasant looking film with the scenery standing out in particular, while the soundtrack matches the spirit of the holiday and the film's themes very well. The script is neither too corny or over-serious, and doesn't come over as muddled tonally. Really liked its sincerity and heart. The quite gentle story is very heart-warming and moving with a warm glow later, even if it could have been tighter pace wise to begin with.
Concluding, a little above average that takes a while to find its feet in some areas but becomes pleasant enough. 6/10.
Pleasant viewing.
'USS Christmas' isn't anything extraordinary, but it produces what it intended to - a cutesy Xmas story. It's well set up, with the naval surroundings adding a touch of freshness to the usual festive film formula. Jen Lilley and Trevor Donovan have satisfactory chemistry, with the likes of Brett Rice and Keith Flippen support adequately.
'USS Christmas' isn't anything extraordinary, but it produces what it intended to - a cutesy Xmas story. It's well set up, with the naval surroundings adding a touch of freshness to the usual festive film formula. Jen Lilley and Trevor Donovan have satisfactory chemistry, with the likes of Brett Rice and Keith Flippen support adequately.
Did you know
- TriviaMany shipboard scenes were filmed on the WWII aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-10), a museum ship moored in Charleston, SC. Aircraft on display on the flight deck served as some of the aircraft seen in the movie. The Yorktown is not a "supercarrier," as the USS Polaris is depicted to be, so there are noticeable differences between the ship as seen on deck and the wide shots of the ship seen at sea, the most obvious being the island superstructure.
- GoofsAmelia and Billy are Naval Aviators, yet their F-18s are both marked "Marines" and "VMFA-142" , the latter being the designation for a Marine Fighter/Attack Squadron.
- ConnectionsReferences La vie est belle (1946)
- SoundtracksTrepak
Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
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