Loving Christmas

It's ok to once in a while "waste" your time by watching a sweet Christmas movie. Mostly these are feel-good, have decent actors and they don't require your undivided attention to understand what's going on. You relax and let them entertain you.

But this one is so cringe-worthy that it almost hurts.

There is no chemistry whatsoever, the female lead desperately bulges her eyes while trying to establish a connection with her opponent.

In vain!

The story is weak; in some parts even illogical and it takes quite a while before it reaches the core of the plot. Boring!

One of the worst movies in its genre.

2 stars because the main problem lies with the writer, giving the actors hardly any chance to shine.

I watch this type of movie all the time, really don't expect much and therefore, I usually enjoy them for what they are.

This is the typical Christmas Story that has been done many times before. Department store themed, Ashley works there, Ben is related to the owner and comes in and starts making changes. Invariably, one of them is the more traditional, the other is more modern and therefore their opinions clash.

I could tell straight away that this was written by a male, and wasn't surprised when I looked to check. One scene in particular where Ashley agrees to assist Ben with the editing of a video he made about the store. She arrives at his house and when he opens the door she hands him a 'housewarming' gift, that he does not thank her for. He then proceeds to invite her inside for which she thanks him... for what? For the pleasure of assisting him?

I could have played this movie in the background while doing housework and would still have been able to follow the story. It was something of a snooze-fest.... And that's coming from somebody that is very accepting of this style of movie and watches dozens every year.

Crazy For Christmas/Loving Christmas (2021) -

I didn't like Olivier's smug character Ben at the start of this film, but then Brittany Bristow as Ashley was an honorary cow too.

She was so inflexible and really annoying, whereas he did at least mellow and I did feel that he deserved better, because they were so wrong for each other. She was always so determined to get her own way and sulky when she didn't get it. In general she was very child like. Why is it always the guy that has to make the compromises and apologies?

Ben came across a bit ridiculous, which was a shame because Olivier has normally been attractive and charming. And his Christmas suit and the moment wearing it was a bit extra to say the least.

Most of the supporting cast including Cliff, the Brother (Matt Wells) and the Mum Andrea (Nancy Palk) and Dad Stephen (Jonathan Whittaker) were a bit much too, like the background music, which was a bit invasive at times as well.

There was also a snowball fight that was so contrived and sickening it cheapened things further.

Ashley obviously overreacted when she didn't get what she really wanted and don't people have to give notice anymore?

There were a lot of obvious forced plot points and lots of flaws with how a shop runs too, that even someone who's never worked in retail could probably spot.

And the fact that they let her carry on thinking the worst was stupid and cruel too.

In the end I actually thought that Ben would have been better with Andie (Tara Joshi), the best friend character anyway and Cliff would have worked as Ashley's opposite. Perhaps if this had been the case, the film might have been more enjoyable and better connected, but even with Olivier looking so fricking gorgeous, this one just didn't impress me much.

It had been done before and better, but yet there is still room for it to be done properly and that's where this production missed the trick. If you have to start the story in January to get the chronology and reality more accurate, do it, the audience won't care as long as it ends with a Christmassy snog under the mistletoe and hot chocolate in front of the tree on or around the big day.

5.33/10.

I LOVE Brittany Bristow and watch everything she is in. Having said that, this movie is probably the worst Christmas movie I have ever seen. The writing was terrible with plots that made no sense and were very condescending to Ashley (Brittany). And I have never seen such a card board character like Oliver Renaud. He was AWFUL. He was not acting at all and there was absolutely no chemistry between him (Ben) and Ashley. Timothy Kuryak should never be allowed to write again and Olivier Renaud should never be allowed to pretend to act again. For what she had to work with Brittany was great. Very disappointing movie.