A Boyfriend for Christmas

Sometimes love is worth the wait. Like twenty years or so..

Santa finally comes through with a boyfriend for Christmas...

Who else wants Patrick Muldoon on their doorstep Christmas morning?

Worth a view.

I realize this TV movie is a few years old but I just saw it this past Holiday season. Like the comment I read posted on the main web page, I agree that the plot needed more complexity. However, I did think the story-line was charming and I liked the acting of all the main characters.

My main protest has to do with the outside settings. This is supposed to be December and all the deciduous trees are still in full foliage? Oh, please. If it's at a geographical location that's cold enough for winter wear and even snow on the ground then I can assure these Southern California movie producers that in December there are NO green leaves (nor even autumn-colored ones left, for that matter) anywhere except on evergreens. Even the grass was still green in this fantasy land.

For some reason I kept getting distracted from the "charming" story by these seasonal discrepancies. They provided a good laugh.

I watched this movie on Hallmark last night. There wasn't much Christmas-oriented entertainment in spite of being Christmas Eve. It was OK, even if I didn't really believe it. The movie is another one about nice people with money who have personal problems, which is what fills up most of the Hallmark Channel. It could have been called Chistmas Chick Flick, as that's all it was. On that level, it was good enough. Kelli Williams is pretty as a cynical social worker who needs some Holiday Cheer and 1990's heartthrob Patrick Muldoon is likable and competent as the boyfriend she gets for Christmas from a tree lot owner who might be Santa Claus. Some familiar names are included in the supporting cast and they help make it easy to take. One complaint mentioned by another reviewer is that in spite of the winter season, the plants and trees were in full bloom, which didn't help credibility. It looked like it was filmed in the Spring. It won't matter much if you keep your expectations from getting too high.

I've never found myself much of a fan of Hallmark productions. They call their works original but are more and more just spins/homages to classic movies. Nonetheless, while this movie followed the lines of the average Holiday Romance movie, it was quite good. Kelli Williams was beautiful and mostly believable as her part. The whole story was, while nothing ground breaking, still a wonderful movie that I actually sat through and thoroughly enjoyed. Surprisingly enough, Kelli's young double, another Kelli, was believable as well to be her younger self. All in all, a movie I plan to consider buying on DVD, especially if it has some interesting outtakes and actor interviews.

This movie possessed many intriguing smaller conflicts that were eventually resolved in a happy manner. The whole thematic idea of bringing back Christmas into Holly's life was a direct message to the viewing audience that we should never " give up hope " and to those friends out there that need just that little nudge to step into someone else's life can make one's life turn-a-round.

The plot was superb, casting couldn't have been better. Production was excellent. I could go on for hours but trust that I will urge all of my friends to watch for it next year. This film speaks to the masses in so many ways, values, and how we all should act everyday. I believe I watched the majority of the December offerings. This movie was the chestnut of them all.