Sugar Plum Twist

The romance was as lame as can be but I loved the message and the character arcs. From the beginning Miss Kat the head of the ballet company was a very unsympathetic character. Cold, Rigid, harsh and snooty. Maybe a little bit bigoted. I loved the way she turned around. The actress did a superb job. We hear a little back story of why she blew up at our heroine Natalia. And when she sees that Natalia was not being disloyal with all of the hard work and professionalism , she apologizes sincerely and promotes her. And then she makes the finale perfect with her own initiative reflecting Natalia's vision and dreams. The good ending, interesting plot, beautiful dance, seldom seen Latino culture well presented rescued this one which did get a little draggy at times.

"Is Miss Kat actually smiling? It's a Christmas Miracle!"

Expectations were mixed to relatively positive prior to watching. Absolutely love watching dancing, despite being no good at it myself, and love even more so 'The Nutcracker' (have done ever since the age of six). Hallmark did do a fair share of good Christmas films in 2021 and 'Sugar Plum Twist' had one of the best premises of that year, one of Hallmark's most ambitious and is different. Am however not a fan of Jamie Gray Hyder and never warmed at all to her or her character on 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit'.

'Sugar Plum Twist' really impressed me. As far as 2021 Hallmark Christmas films go (which was a very up and down batch), it is one of the best (as well as one of the most ambitious and refreshing) and makes the most of its premise, the execution not being too conventional. It is not perfect, with the flaws being a couple of the usual suspects, but there is a huge amount to like here, absolutely loved the clever twist on a favourite and Hyder surprised me in a good way.

Will agree absolutely that the protagonist's sudden negative reaction to being defended was far too extreme and completely undeserved.

Maybe Rachel DeBenedect overdoes it as a character that has few redeeming qualities for most of the film and for reasons not clear. She does become a good deal better when the character softens and in a change of heart that is much more realistic than most changes of heart in Hallmark films, as it doesn't feel as rushed and it is movingly done.

As said, Hyder really surprised me in an engaging performance as an identifiable and inspiring character that is the complete opposite of her over-zealous, opinionated and cold character on 'Special Victims Unit'. Laura Rosquer charms too and they have great chemistry together. The acting on the whole is fine and the interaction always connected and never distant or uncomfortable looking. The characters are written realistically and in on the whole a not too perfect or overly flawed way (other than Miss Kat in regard to the latter), was very inspired by the two leads.

It is a good looking film, particularly the scenery. Regardless of the lack of authenticity, it is still beautiful as is the decor. The music has verve and variety and the dancing is full of energy and grace in very clever choreography that does so well embracing Latin dance and culture. The climax is enough to inspire anybody in the performing arts. The script is not too cheesy or schmaltzy and flows well. The story is very heart-warming and charming, with the social issues being really relatable and handled tactfully. The diversity is also done tastefully and to me its increase in recent Hallmark films been more than welcome, quite surprising that including it has become a criticism when those complaining about it now were complaining about there not being enough of it before.

Overall, very nicely done. 8/10.

I watched this movie and when I heard Richmond, I was hoping they were talking about Richmond VA. Nothing I saw in the movie or heard in the movie told me it was Richmond, VA. The only thing that came close was when they said the dance studio was on Grace St. There is a Grace St. In Richmond and they do have store fronts that could house a dance studio like this one. Also, there is a ballet company in Richmond that presents the Nutcracker each year. But neither of these look anything like what is in the movie.

This was just another love story. And Hallmark is advertising they have a radio station now. Whoppee, opportunity to hear more or their cheesy music. The karaoke scene showed that a good singer can even make a bad song sound better.

Now that I have panned this movie, the good part was the diversity of this film. I loved the latin music and dancing. That is the reason I gave it 8 stars.

This was ok. Hallmark still trying to pull in viewers by being more diverse in storyline and performers used.

Can't complain about that, but I feel the writing and storylines just aren't as strong as they used to be overall.

That comes with new staff and writers, so can't be helped.

Saw that someone said Hallmark used to show movies based on good clean fun.

What about this wasn't good clean fun?

Just because it wasn't your culture or race it was horrible?

It wasn't mine either, but that doesn't make it horrible or bad or "not good clean fun."

Overall this was an ok Holiday movie.

As always based on wishes, hard work, good people and romance.

I hope the writing and storylines get better, I can be patient.

Keep working at it Hallmark.

Don't worry so much about being PC.

Just make it about life in the world as it is today, but don't forget about the dreams and romance.

People went to Hallmark for the that and Prince Charmings. That should still be that core of your movies. Don't forget to focus on that.

Good film with a cultural twist that doesn't seem forced or have just a token diverse character thrown in. The story was interesting and included actors not seen in many other Hallmark movies, More movies like this please!