Christmas Ever After

I have loved Ali Stroker since she guest starred on Glee & then she made it to Broadway in the revival of Oklahoma! Ali stars as a romance writer that is unlucky in love, but then stumbles upon a man that looks exactly like the artwork on her novels. Is this swooning hero for real? Cute holiday story!

Ali Stroker is wonderful! She's a talented actress and a great singer. This year there is an obvious, and sometimes controversial, agenda of casting in the name of diversity, and they've struck gold here. That is NOT to suggest that the ONLY reason she was cast is tokenism, because she completely makes this movie. She's beautiful, energetic, funny and even with some weaknesses in some of the other cast, she makes this a movie worth watching. Well done!

This is a decent Lifetime Christmas movie, not one of the best nor one of their worst this season. And it gives wheelchair users some representation on screen in this genre of film, which is a plus. In this one, a romance novelist (Izzi) heads off on her yearly Christmas getaway. Unfortunately, she has missed a deadline for her book, thus must spend her holiday finishing it. To her surprise, the owner's son (Matt) has taken over the Inn, and he happens to look like the protagonist in her book (on the cover of her books, that is). Shortly thereafter, the two start to develop a connection, a relationship as they take part in the towns Christmas festivities. It is a lovely romance story, and the movie does give off a warm Christmas vibe during the last 40 minutes or so. The script too was decent. There were a couple of scenes with some fun and entertaining dialogue (e.g., the scene where she complains about the floor not squeaking and meets Matt, some witty lines in that scene). However, I found the first 30 minutes difficult to engage with; i.e., the story did not pull me in. I had to stop myself a couple of times from multitasking. It was not until Izzi agreed to help Matt with the Christmas lights competition that I finally started to connect with the film. The acting, overall, was good. Ali Stroker (playing Izzi) had a very strong performance. I thought she had some very good dialogue and exchanges with Daniel di Tomasso (playing Matt). He had a strong yet gentle and sincere presence on screen, I felt. The chemistry between the two was also pretty good. As I alluded to above, I thought Stroker had a very convincing performance here. Her dialogue and exchanges came off as genuine and heartfelt on screen. The supporting cast was a bit mixed. Bill Marchant's performance (playing Bob, Matt's father and former Inn owner) was difficult to watch at times. His lines and exchanges often felt forced and exaggerated, which made for some awkward scenes, I felt. Melia Charlotte Cressaty (playing Matt's daughter), on the other hand, had a very cute performance. The scenery, props, and sets were charming and festive. As I noted above, the movie had a warm Christmas vibe to it, which is partly due to the cozy Christmas atmosphere at the inn and village. All in all, it is a pretty good Christmas movie, especially the last 40 minutes or so. Well worth a watch, I'd say.

As someone who consumes these holiday movies - Hallmark, Lifetime and now Netflix, every year, I will say Christmas Ever After is definitely one of my favorites this year. Great diverse representation, cute story theme with an out-of-town novelist, and single dad, both in their own waves looking for an opportunity to experience or re-experience love. I enjoyed the quirky banter between Izzi (Ali Stoker) and Matt (Daniel di Tomasso) - I think Daniel did a great job of showcasing Matt's almost shy hesitancy to acknowledge his growing feelings for Izzi. The actress playing Matt's daughter was adorable and hilarious. Also, the fact that the movie featured a heroine in wheelchair without making that the center of the story was so well done. The only thing I thought could have been done better was the ending, it was a bit rushed or perhaps I just wanted to spend some more time with these characters. I have had this movie on repeat on my DVR and recommending it to friends as well!

I watch a lot of Hallmark and Lifetime Christmas movies. So much so, I'm fairly jaded about them. Purely from the "TV Christmas movie" perspective, this is a decent one-time watch with a typical Christmas/snowy setting and appealing leads that had good chemistry together. The plot was minimal and unoriginal. A romance writer goes on a holiday retreat to help cure her writer's block. It turns out the inn's new owner looks just like the hero of her romances, as depicted on all the covers. He's also a single dad with a cute little girl in the mix.

This movie would have rated a 6/10 for me as a perfectly watchable TV Christmas romance. But it earned an additional star for having a female lead who is in a wheelchair. Interestingly, that never came up at all in the plotline. It was not a consideration in the romance or even mentioned by the love rival. I think that was a good call.

This movie will mean a great deal to many people. Thank you, Lifetime.