La merveilleuse boutique de Noël

None of the Hallmark/Lifetime or related movies are good but they're usually okay enough to put on in the background and not feel too offended by. I mean they are all the same, formulaic, and predictable. This one was atrocious, though. The acting is so contrived, the story makes no sense, and the pandering to what the creators think is New Mexico culture was just awful. As some other reviewers suggest, these people really know nothing about New Mexico. The bigger concern I have, though, is they know nothing about movies and telling a story. I can usually at least find something entertaining- this was painful!

Gia, Mario's daughter steals the show. Nice to see family emphasized. My son-in-law is Salvadorian and has 5 sisters. They took care of him during the Salvadorian civil war. I loved this movie and recommend it to anyone with family. I originally watched it to see Mario Lopez. I'm glad I did.

The film did not them capture the true culture and traditions of Christmas in New Mexico. Not one reference to posole, red or green chile, biscochitos, or farolitos. The lowest point suggesting that tossing hams is traditional in Santa Fe. Give me a break!

True New Mexico food, art, and culture was represented with Mexican traditions, which are not prevalent in New Mexico. The movie only added confusion and assumptions to those outside New Mexico. Obviously, the writers and producers applied stereotypes that caused the audiences not to learn about the true New Mexican culture.

There's nothing like a paint by numbers Christmas romcom Cliche after cliche of cute Christmas warmth with a double side of cheese Will the young hot couple get together? Will the big evil Chicago company swallow up the cute little family business of casa di Milagros?

Will the hot chick win the ham tossing contest?

Will the cute little niece finish her Christmas video of life in cute Santa Fe?

All of these conundrums are eventually resolved in clockwork fashion with extra warmth smiles and hugs It's a great and guilty pleasure watching these actors going through their paces so cheerfully And mostly keeping a straight face as well Winterfest never looked so good!

This movie roughly follows the formula where a business executive, Belinda, is sent to close a deal on buying a family owned store. It appears to be the usual "evil corporation" who will ruin everything good about the store. The movie didn't make it seem that important for the Ortegas to sell. There were no huge debts threatening foreclosure, but the case was made that business wasn't sustainable the way things were going. So Belinda meets Tony, played by Mario Lopez and the usual romance story based on this premise takes off.

It didn't seem like these were strangers starting a romance, but Lopez and Emeraude Toubia have chemistry right away. It always seems to me that Lopez is well aware that he is a big deal and that shows implicitly in the story. Yet he is so upbeat and friendly that you can ignore that. Toubia also is very upbeat.

There's a plot thread where Tony's sister Magdelena, played by Aimee Garcia, lacks confidence in her own abilities. She vacillates between fun and energetic vs a sad faced downer. I think this aspect was overplayed a bit by the writers or director.

The climax and ending is drawn out, but predictable.