A Taste of Christmas

I admitt, I love it. For many small reasons.

First, no doubts, for meet , again,Nia Vardalos.

Second, for the young actors and their realistic enthusiasm , emotion and love story, step by step.

For the moments when Annie Krueger look reminds the traits of Natalie Wood.

For Italian flavors and for the love from rational perspective.

For unucky pannettone versus so American cookies.

For the bottle of oil .

For the nice cliches, not bad try of twist, for the lists / recipe and for be just a Hallmark Christmas film, without any other ambition. Result, just nice and few drops more.

This festive romance has all the right ingredients to make it work. It may be predictable, but it entertains and warms the heart.

This movie was actually really fun for me. I watched it because I got to see this film in progress. I was able to do a lot of behind the scenes help and work in both the Dahlonega and Helen locations for the film. Working with Gilles was definitely a highlight. He was always very warm and welcoming on set and he really made sure to speak to all the extras too. I'm very honored to call him a friend.

I watched the film after it came out and I really think that for the most part the film is well done. I do feel with a particular actress it felt overacted. I do feel that this does step away from typical Hallmark tropes.

That being said, my rating would likely be a bit lower if it weren't nostalgic for me to have been on set and working on it. This movie was really a great experience for me and I adored it. :3.

So, this one was a bit difficult to get into at first; the first 40 minutes I had to stop myself several times from multitasking. That said, the last 40 minutes or so are quite good. It is a cute and fun story overall. The writing at times did not make sense. Two examples included having Tyler (the teenager who was helping) fix the plumbing - made no sense but did allow the writers to develop the sub-plot romance. The scene where Natalie (played by Anni Krueger) left Stefano (played by Gilles Marini) at the Christmas carol concert. I get it, she was jealous, but the chemistry (where we start to see that Stefano is interested) between the two had only really started in the carriage ride the previous scene. So, for her to storm off seemed odd. The acting overall was fairly good. Anni Krueger's performance was solid, though she had some awkward scenes early on. She was at her best in her dialogue BeeBee (played by Emma Myers). She also had a strong performance during the last 30 minutes or so. I liked Gilles Marini's performance; he made me laugh a little with his Italian expressions. The chemistry between the two was decent. As I alluded to above, it came late for me, starting at the carriage ride and really shined thru with the exchanging of the gifts. The supporting cast was good. As another reviewer pointed out on here, it was a real cute performance by Emma Myers. The scene in the shop (where she asks Tyler to help) and the scene at the fair (snowball scene with Tyler's list) were both good scenes for her. The movie does a good job of getting the viewer into the Christmas spirit thru several fun and festive scenes. Overall, it is a decent new edition to the 2020 Christmas movie season.

But I'm sure we soon will. The fresh faces and strong performances make this move a welcome surprise. Where have they been hiding Anni Krueger? She beautiful, funny, believable, a great actress and carries the show. Together with super cute Emma Myers, and the very talented Mara Hall, they make this movie enjoyable and worth watching.

Gilles Marini and Andrew Brodeur are the male leads and do a great job as well. The story is interesting and although you can tell it isn't a big budget film, it's still entertaining.