Navidades en California

I thought this was a decent movie. Like most films in this genre, the story draws on several clichés to move the narrative forward. The writer also draws on a very popular plot device, which is the use of deception and mistaken identity. This year alone, we have seen make-believe relationships (in Holidate, Midnight at the Magnolia, and Happiest Season), princess switches (in The Princess Switch: Switched Again), and fake bed and breakfast staff (in Five Star Christmas). In this film, we have a wealthy Casanova posing as a ranch hand (played by Josh Swickard) to get a financially struggling farmer to sell her family's land before Christmas (played by Lauren Swickard). The storyline is predictable, of course, as is much of this genre of film (i.e., the romance Christmas movie). Yet, I found myself pulled in by it. The story has a comforting familiarity (again, why particular plot devices are repeatedly used in this genre), some scenic Californian landscape, a struggling family farm, and the appeal of watching the chemistry develop (between the two attractive leads) on screen. I admit it worked on me. I found the movie engaging; I did not, e.g., grab for my iPad during the film (which often happens while watching romance Christmas movies). What makes this work on screen, of course, is the acting. The acting overall was great. What stood out for me was the performance of Lauren Swickard (playing Callie). She had a strong, yet tender, vibe to her performance, which worked well, I felt. Josh Swickard also had a strong performance. The strength of this film was their chemistry (which makes sense, given they are married in real life). We could see this develop and grow on screen as the story/movie progressed, which was, again, one of the appealing aspects of the movie, I thought. The supporting cast had a good performance. David Del Rio (playing Manny) and Ali Afshar's (playing Leo) performances made me laugh a little, and Amanda Detmer had a convincing performance as a terminally ill mother. Finally, I thought the music and music editing was good. A couple good songs in this one. There was one element that was a bit lacking: the Christmas in A California Christmas. This is not a very Christmassy movie, I am afraid.

The real Manny is the star of the movie... he needs his own spinoff.

Joseph needs to convince the owner of this ranch to sell the property so that his company can develop a distribution center. Callie, the owner, doesn't want anything to do with that. So, in order to get close to her and convince her, Joseph poses a "ranch boy" (I think).

We all know how this is gonna to turn out since reading the premise. It's predictable. But it was a sweet movie. Reading the title you expect it to be all happy, Chrismassy, and joyful movie. It wasn't anything like that. Christmas isn't a big part of it, this could have happened in any time of they year and it's actually not relevant when it takes place. There are sad moments that are part of Callie's history, maybe unnecesary but still adds to the plot. My only major complaint, probably, is that we needed a few more laughs.

I like when actors are involved in the production so kudos to Lauren (and Josh) for writing, producing and acting in this. If you are fan of romance/"chick-flick" movies, you'll probably like it.

I know everybody who watch this movie can easily predict what will happen next and next and next. But it is our human weakness to desire the two good looking people falling in love with each other, have some conflict, reconcile back bla bla bla. Enjoy the movie, dont think too much. Save it for Tenet.

Well... To be fair I went into this movie fully expecting it to be a half star affair, but wow this was actually cute. Literally none of the main characters in this movie are unbearable which is unheard of in this genre.