Holiday in Santa Fe

The film did not them capture the true culture and traditions of Christmas in New Mexico. Not one reference to posole, red or green chile, biscochitos, or farolitos. The lowest point suggesting that tossing hams is traditional in Santa Fe. Give me a break!

True New Mexico food, art, and culture was represented with Mexican traditions, which are not prevalent in New Mexico. The movie only added confusion and assumptions to those outside New Mexico. Obviously, the writers and producers applied stereotypes that caused the audiences not to learn about the true New Mexican culture.

None of the Hallmark/Lifetime or related movies are good but they're usually okay enough to put on in the background and not feel too offended by. I mean they are all the same, formulaic, and predictable. This one was atrocious, though. The acting is so contrived, the story makes no sense, and the pandering to what the creators think is New Mexico culture was just awful. As some other reviewers suggest, these people really know nothing about New Mexico. The bigger concern I have, though, is they know nothing about movies and telling a story. I can usually at least find something entertaining- this was painful!

Gia, Mario's daughter steals the show. Nice to see family emphasized. My son-in-law is Salvadorian and has 5 sisters. They took care of him during the Salvadorian civil war. I loved this movie and recommend it to anyone with family. I originally watched it to see Mario Lopez. I'm glad I did.

I lived in Santa Fe for many years. It is a unique and wonder filled place to live. The scenery for this movie brought back tons of memories. Which was great, but that and the good parts could not cover up the bad ones.

This could have been a good movie if not for the following...

1. Having Mario Lopez. Guy can't act.

2. Hank Chen. Ditto to #1.

3. How can you be in Santa Fe in winter and not show actual cold weather? It is over 7100 FT above sea level and in the middle of the mountains. Get your weather straight people. Adding coats doesn't cover it.

4. In the kids video dedicated to her grandmother, wait what is it that I hear?... The SIMS 3 music! Does EA know?

5. Anyone who can show any place in New Mexico at Christmas time and NOT include Biscochitos knows absolutely nothing about the holidays in NM!

The rest of the cast was great!

To the creators, in the future get your info straight. It is insulting to do otherwise.

When is the last time you've been in Santa Fe?... Well, neighbor, it's been too long! This movie has everything it takes for a pleasant evening in front of the screen. Values of family and tradition, a beautiful heroine, Mario Lopez, always an engaging presence, and ...Santa Fe. I may be biased, as this destination brings back so many wonderful memories. Must grant the production is not perfect. Obviously, it was not filmed at the end of December: it gets pretty cold there! The main theme is quite standard and predictable. Yet, isn't that, generally, the case for such kind of movies? The good thing is that the cast seems appropriately chosen and and the yarn unravels smoothly, with plenty of warm and charming moments. In my view, definitely a keeper.