Un Noël étoilé

I always enjoy a good Ryan Paevy movie and was looking forward to this movie. I had the vibe about this movie like I did when Hallmark paired Andrew Walker and Jodie Sweeten together. A HUGE miss. Hallmark keeps pairing these newbies with seasoned actors and I understand why they do it but this movie was painful to watch and the actress just wasn't very good. Maybe I'll try rewatching the movie again one day but it definitely won't be this holiday season! I hope they'll give Paevy much better stories and costars moving forward. Perhaps pair him with Lacey Chabert, Bethany Lenz or Erin Cahill again!

6.8 stars.

This film has everything needed for the makings of a fantastic experience. The actors are great, the plot has a ton of potential, the science, Nasa theme with the planetarium sets and even the part with how she is an astronaut...awesome, at least I thought it would be. It only started off ok, but then...there are so many moving parts with so much at stake, yet it doesn't quite come together to make an entertaining and fun experience for me. There are many failed aspects such as the clumsy dialogue and the awkward timing as if the whole production was pieced together by a bunch conflicted producers, writers and directors.

I love all the actors, oh my goodness what a shame and a waste of talent and great potential. On the upside, the editing and acting is actually polished, I enjoyed the new actors to the scene, many new players to see here so it won't kill you to give this a watch.

The kiss was good, but only lasts 5 seconds in a film that is over 5000 seconds long.

I feel like this movie would've been better as the ones that Hallmark usually does during January (Winterfest I think? Can't recall) because it wasn't SUPER Christmassy. Definitely cute, but not super Christmassy. That said, I liked the chemistry between the leads and thought it also could've been even better if they'd written in some downtime for them to spend together. So like, outside of the project they were working on. But it didn't detract from the love story imo and I found their interactions super endearing.

The real charmer was Andy's character. Honestly, I wouldn't mind seeing the actor that played him as a Hallmark lead one day. He's funny, cute and charming! As was the subplot with his romance with the sweet redhead girl.

It was nice getting to see Jess Kennedy in something since she left The Flash. And I'll watch Ryan Paevey in pretty much anything. So, not the best HM I've ever seen, but not too shabby either!

As someone who recently had an injury (eye stroke) that caused partial vision loss in my right eye, I can say that the depiction of Katz's eye injury is spot on. Her eye injury appears exactly like mine so it really lended an over all feeling that the director and FX department did their homework, not to mention the entire "science + Christmas" theme of the movie. My wife and I loved seeing two romances going on at once. The inclusion of a wheelchair bound daughter for Ryan Peavey gave us lumps in our throat several times. Such a sweet little actor! The overall plot was definitely out of the ordinary but that's what made the film so interesting. Not your typical Christmas rom-com but definitely worth watching!

Under the Christmas Sky is one of my favorites so far this year. An attractive and really pleasant cast in a story that's a bit of a change from the usual formula. The leads were great together and the cute couple in the secondary romance were adorable. In fact, the casting was one of the best parts of the movie. The best friend was especially well done. Plus a story involving NASA, a planetarium and a bit of Christmas history is a big win for me. A nice change from the Christmas pageant/parade/small town plot.

I am a little puzzled by the negative reviews. Maybe people don't like science being included in Christmas? A shame. If you enjoy science and space exploration this will be fun for you.