Dear Christmas

My main reason for seeing 'Dear Christmas', other than appreciating romantic comedy when done well and loving Christmas, was Melissa Joan Hart. Have liked her ever since her 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch' days and while her films in this genre have wildly varied she has consistently proven how well suited she is for it. Lifetime have always left me mixed, but have also liked enough of their output to keep watching. Have liked Ed Begley Jr and Jason Priestly in other things.

'Dear Christmas' didn't strike me as a great film and is pretty uneven. It is also not a waste of time and definitely worth an at least one time watch for primarily Lifetime Christmas film completest sake and Hart. 'Dear Christmas' struck me as scraping above average if with a mix of quite a lot of good and some pretty bad things, and somewhere in the middle as far as Lifetime's variable 2020 Christmas output goes. There are better films of theirs from this year, but also worse.

There are good things here in 'Dear Christmas'. It looks good, with lovely scenery complemented nicely by the nicely framed and never cheap photography. There are some amusing parts in the writing, some of it is over the top but endearingly so rather than forced. The direction has a good feel for the Christmas spirit and seems to understand the genre and be at ease with it.

Story isn't perfect, but it is mostly very heart-warming and charming while not taking itself too seriously. Priestly may seem like physically he doesn't fit, but characterisation-wise he did not bother me at all and had a diamond in the rough sort of charm. He has a natural, genuine chemistry, that unfolds realistically enough, chemistry with Hart, while Hart is the main reason to see the film as she is a joy to watch here and her experience in the genre shows.

However, there are things that don't come off well. The story tends to be thin, with some very contrived in writing conflict later on and once again another hastily resolved and too neat ending.

Cutesiness goes into overload and personally have seen far better performances from Begley Jr, here ill at ease in a role that didn't seem right for him. The music is also too loud and has no personality, not uncommon with Lifetime but some of the 2020 Christmas output addressed the problem and didn't have it.

In conclusion, above average if not great. 6/10.

I really enjoyed this movie. A few scenes made me laugh out loud even after multiple viewings. The sets are beautiful, the family's cute and the storyline isn't the usual "save the family business/defeat the local Scrooge" type so prevalent in made for TV movies. I'm not sure why there is such confusion regarding Natalie's podcast. If, like me, you've read the other reviews for this movie you'll notice a theme. What is the name of Natalie's podcast? Why do they keep switching from one title to another? (sigh) if you pay attention it isn't complicated. The podcast is titled Holiday Love. The episode she is working on in the movie is called Dear Christmas. I assume there is an episode or two for each holiday. The wonderful Melissa Joan Hart never ceases to entertain and is joined by a super cast playing her family and her love interest. I honestly didn't even notice the lack of extras until another reviewer mentioned it. Personally, 50 or 60 shoppers wandering a small town Main St was always annoying to me. It's just not realistic. Natalie speaks about true love in her podcasts but not from personal experience. She goes home for Christmas and meets a man from her childhood. She ends up in various situations with him, spending most every day doing something together. As Christmas approaches she begins to question her feelings for him. You'll just have to watch to see what happens next. I rewatch movies that show situations I would like to be in, houses and families I would enjoy spending Christmas with, because that's pretty much what we're doing, right? I'm looking forward to adding this movie to my holiday dvd collection 🎄

As what seems to be a trademark of any mother/daughter Hart production this movie is sub par ... It was difficult to pay attention to the actual story line, just kept waiting for the botox to ware off Mellissa's forehead and finally see some facial expression. Movie was okay, not at the Hallmark level, but when there was nothing else left in the PVR to watch.... eventually made it through.

I love the actors in this movie, particularly Jason P, so I thought this movie would be good. Oh dear, how wrong I was. The acting was not great and the dialogue stilted and awkward. I felt so bad for the actors being in such a disappointing movie, that I couldn't continue watching their humiliation. BTW I don't think it is the actors' fault at all. This is all on Lifetime and their Director etc Really poor job!

I hate to say this but Lifetime really needs to up their game. Currently, most of their movies only rival the worst of Hallmark's movies. Even without seeing the opening credits of a movie, I can guess whether it is Hallmark or Lifetime, just by the quality and the style.

The actors and actresss where all good. If who ever was in charge could have made the sister look like a real pregnant woman that would have helped not make it corny and then topped it off with a face baby! Talk about low budget, they could have steppes it up just a little to make it better.