Neuf Vies pour Noël

This is a charming film that contains all the best things; romance, humor, and animals. It's rare you find two extremely likable leads yet Nine Lives of Christmas has managed to do just that.

Sustad is an underused actress whose roles are usually only supporting. She is wonderful as a lead. Beautiful with a wonderfully expressive face, she needs to be cast as the main character in so much more. Routh is eye candy, but he does it so well. Their chemistry is believable and I enjoyed every second of this movie. For you Hallmark fans, I highly recommend putting this at the top of your watch list.

Charming and fun Hallmark romcom about a handsome fireman (Brandon Routh) who takes in a stray cat, which leads him to meeting a veterinary student (Kimberly Sustad). Despite some obstacles, such as his witchy model girlfriend, the two become fast friends and eventually roommates. Will they become more? No, actually, they will not...because this is the only Hallmark movie ever made where the guy and the girl don't get together in the end.

I'm kidding, obviously. We all know where this will end up but, as they say, "it's the journey not the destination." The two leads are both extremely likable and attractive. Like everyone else, I'm familiar with Brandon Routh from Superman Returns and a few other movies and television shows. So I knew what to expect from him. Kimberly Sustad, however, I wasn't sure about. I could have sworn I'd seen her in something before. She looks vaguely familiar and her style of acting also seemed to ring some bells. However, I looked at her IMDb filmography and drew nothing but blanks. So I guess she just has one of those faces. Anyway, she's a treat to watch and easy to root for. She also has very nice chemistry with Routh. Can I just say how happy I was to see a male character in one of these things who wasn't rich and didn't have an MBA? The guy's ridiculously good-looking, brave, and dates models so, no, he's not Joe Everyman. But Hallmark has this annoying habit of writing the men in their romcoms to either be from a wealthy family or have some kind of business degree that lets us know he could be wealthy if he wanted to be. It's nice to see them stepping away from that irritating trope this time around. Anyway, it's a fun, lighthearted romantic comedy with a little bit of Christmas flavor. If you enjoy Hallmark movies then you'll probably like this one.

Even as the plot set-up was unfolding, I knew it would be a Happily Ever After story-- is there any other kind of Hallmark Christmas story? What I didn't expect, whoever, was to find the script full of wry humor and gentle mocking. The emotional tone was low-key and no one overacted. Kimberley Sustads' warm and slightly ditzy character was within the range of believability and Brandon Routh's characterization of a reluctant firefighter gradually falling in love was also in keeping with the movie. The guys in the fire station were a little too perfect, but were still the kind of men we'd like for fathers or brothers. The movie was a bit too slowly paced and could have used about half an hour's worth of editing, but was overall a satisfying watch.

This is a typical Hallmark Christmas romance movie, but more captivating than most. Of course, you know how everything will turn out, but the process depends upon how attractive and appealing the main characters are. Both leads in this film, Brandon Routh as fireman Zachary Stone and Kimberly Sustad as veterinary student Marilee White, are A-one. They are both instantly likable (in Miss Sustad's case exceedingly lovable) and romance lovers will immediately be rooting for them and intrigued by how they will get together.

OK, this may be enough, but then throw in the animal characters, and those who are pet owners or who love animals will find the two cats adorable. And the pets are not there just for their attraction, but they play essential roles in the plot. So what we have is indeed a warm and fuzzy (pun intentional) love story that is just fun to sit back and enjoy without expecting anything more than that--it is enough.

My wife and I enjoyed the movie so much that we purchased a copy of the short novel by Sheila Roberts that it is based upon. The plot of the book has some major differences, but the adaptation for the screenplay was very well done and was true to the overall effect of the novel.

I would love to see Kimberly Sustad featured in more Hallmark movies. She is such a talented and endearing actress, with a different kind of beauty all her own--a unique look that is far more interesting than that of the cookie-cutter Miss America types.

If you're a cat person, check out the Hallmark sweet movie, The Nine Lives of Christmas. If you're a dog person, check out The Search for Santa Paws. My fellow feline lovers will adore this one about cat playing cupid with an unlikely pair. Okay, that's not exactly the premise, but it does happen.

Handsome firefighter Brandon Routh gets adopted by a stray orange marmalade kitty when he wanders into his house and refuses to leave. Brandon doesn't have the ideal lifestyle for a pet, but he can't help himself and the kitty quickly becomes the station's mascot. Meanwhile, Kimberley Sustad is struggling to afford her tuition and keep her job at a pet store, and also to keep her landlord from finding out she has a cat in her apartment. They meet buying cat food, and even though one wants commitment and one doesn't, they just might fall in love. Even if this movie didn't take place during Christmas, and even if there weren't cats in it, I'd really like it. The dialogue and chemistry are refreshingly natural. Brandon is very convincing as a bachelor afraid of commitment, supported and egged on by his coworkers and friends Gregory Harrison, Dalias Blake, and Sean Tyson. Kimberley is equally convincing as a woman with other priorities besides love, but who feels pain as deep as the next person. Check out this sweet kitty Christmas movie; it'll surprise you how much you'll enjoy it.