Le Secret de mon père Noël

I really enjoyed the new take on a Christmas movie here for Hallmark! There was no looking for love, or finding love, or running into an old love, as in every other Hallmark movie. At least not in the typical sense. And that's what made it interesting for me. Waiting until almost the very end to reveal the secret made you wonder throughout the movie how it was going to happen. Like another review here, I really appreciated that they didn't use fake Cajun accents, or attempted Cajun accents, which are quite difficult to do accurately. I lived in Louisiana for 12 years, and so I would immediately have hooked onto a bad accent, which would have definitely had me turning off the TV, as it would have been like hearing nails on a chalkboard.

The only things that I wish the Director would have done is to have pulled out more range from the lead female actress. She was very one note in her emotions. The dialogue may have shown anger or frustration, but her face never did. And the only thing that revealed her happiness was a smile. But all smiles were the same! And also the love connection was either edited way, way back in the final screenplay, or didn't happen at all. These two people who barely said two words to each other, and maybe spend 20 minutes together were in love? There should've been a rewrite for that part for sure.

This is a surprisingly sweet Hallmark family drama in which a reporter gets to know her biological father, who she thought abandoned her, under the guise of doing a story on him as his Louisiana town's newly appointed acting Père Noel. Jaicy Elliot as reporter Campbell Wallace, hoes to Louisiana for a Cajun Christmas to do a story on their new Père Noel and Cajun Christmas traditions like the lighting of bonfires. What the new Père Noel, Everett Bergeron (Bruce Campbell) doesn't know is that she is actually his daughter. Campbell gets to see what a wonderful man and loving father Everett is to his new family and his two other daughters...and she struggles with if or how to tell him that she is his eldest daughter.

The end is excellent and well worth the watch. I really like Bruce Campbell and I loved him in Burn Notice, he is a great comedian. I enjoyed seeing him as a loving father in this film...it was also fun to see Moira Kelly (she played his wife), who I haven't seen since the film Cutting Edge (which is a guilty pleasure of mine).

My one complaint is that I wish there were more actual Cajuns in this film. I appreciate their lyrical accents and missed hearing the endearing cherie (or as they say "cher"). As a big fan of Michael Doucet and BeauSoleil, I also secretly wished there was more Cajun music and traditions...like the ball of fire or boule de feu.

But having said that, this is still a recommendation from me...the endearing story kind of transcends what it lacked in Cajun authenticity.

In today's world of shows and movies it is a bright spot to find these story gems in the fray. The story line and flow was spot on, and the characters were convincing. I really enjoyed the setting, all be it, I am from Baton Rouge and a bit bias. The story line is one that hits home with adopted children and the care that was given to the script to not over sensationalize it, while still providing a plot with "stickshun" (staying tuned in) was expert. Almost every parish in Louisiana has some form of festival throughout the year. I think the festival that was portrait in the movie reflects the family lifestyle that still exist in Louisiana. Hope to see more work like this in the future.

This was a wonderful movie. All the characters worked well together and there was just the right mix of heart, hope, hurt, and happiness. Not the traditional Santa-heartbroken hero or heroine-go back to your teen or college crush movie. Jaicy Elliot and Bruce Campbell are such talented actors and played their roles perfectly. We laughed and cried. The ending was great. Every Christmas movie that Bruce Campbell is in seems to be out of the ordinary and delightful. This is the second movie with Jaicy Elliot I have seen this year on Hallmark, and I hope there are many more. She is outstanding. This movie is one I will watch several times and look forward to seeing in years to come.

Wish there were more reviews uploaded at this point, since the only one that's here is so dismal. I, too, am from the South, and felt that they did a good job with location, even tho, of course, it was Canada rather than Louisiana. I found this to be a treasure trove of family riches. Jaicy Elliot is one of my new favorites and I hope Hallmark continues to use her. She is so engaging and real with a presence and class that are fun and satisfying to watch. I've seen her now in several different roles and she always delivers. The entire cast just works so well together and are so believable in their roles. There's a subtlety in the relationships of the principal characters that might not be apparent to all, but if you watch, and give the story a chance to unfold, it's much easier to appreciate what's happening and is actually well done. Lovely that there's more to it than just boy-meets-girl. I have to say that it's a treat to see Hallmark step up and dig in and deliver a better quality story/film. This is truly NOT one of their weak and basic romances that's so far fetched that we can't relate to it. So bravo for this great piece of work. A wonderful addition to the holiday fare.