Dashing Home for Christmas

My wife and I watched this at home, during the Holiday season. It is a good time-passer but frankly is not a very good movie. The script isn't particularly well written, the dialog most often seems forced or incongruous. And the acting is mediocre at best. But the overall message is good, finding family where you can find it and making the best of things.

This is in essence the same movie as "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" but with a cute female and a cute male. They are both business professionals, they start in New York and are headed home to Seattle. He talks to much and she wants to finish up some work. Weather causes an interruption in the plane part of the trip, so they go in together to rent a car, try to catch a train, but end up taking a bus. Even the ending, with the stranger as a guest at the family Christmas Eve dinner.

I think its IMDb rating is a bit high, it is just pleasant diversion if you can get past many of the annoyances. It is not a Hallmark movie but pretty much follows the formula.

This is a road trip with one, ridiculous, over the top challenge after another. The leads were supposed to be an "opposites attract" type couple, she was harried and determined to get home for Christmas, and he a goofy but helpful, anchor she had to drag along in order to make it home. I found the male lead to be self righteous, obnoxious and rude, rather than the big hearted, caring, Clark Kent type they were going for. There are some cute and sweet moments, and the acting was good, but for most of the movie, I just wanted to see her smack him!

I must admit, my favourite kind of Hallmark/GAC/Lifetime/UPTV Christmas movie is one where people are stranded somewhere and must get home usually via a long road trip - Cross Country Christmas, Holiday Road, A Christmas Detour - and that premise is what got me to watch 'Dashing Home For Christmas'.

Whilst not at the same quality as the three movies I mentioned above (I guess UPTV is probably third or fourth on the pecking order after Hallmark and Lifetime, fighting it out with GAC Family) it was still a nice movie that features two pretty good leads in Paniz Zade as Emily and Adrian Spencer as Simon, though I'd never heard of either before sitting down to watch this movie.

Good acting (and a welcome occurrence of zip, zero, nada over-acting!), good chemistry between the leads, no major continuity lapses that I could see, and a nice, thoughtful ending.

Nothing ground-breaking, but you could do a lot worse than 'Dashing Home for Christmas'.

I think we can all relate to travel delays and frustrations but I wouldn't think to add romance to the mix. Most romances are based in unrealistic scenarios but this one could really happen! I am going to keep my eyes peeled the next time I'm at the car rental line.

Christmas films can go either way, which has been my experience watching overtime the festive output of Lifetime, Hallmark and UPTV. They can either be well-meaning, charming, warm-hearted and don't feel too heavy. Or they can be too over-sentimental, cheesy, contrived and bland. There have been many films of theirs that have fallen in both camps and in the camp where there is a bit of both. 'Dashing Home for Christmas' had the sort of premise that had strong potential of being in the former category.

In terms of execution, 'Dashing Home for Christmas' was luckily in the former category. There are some Christmas films seen recently that started off badly and got much better, some that was good all the way through and some that never took off. 'Dashing Home for Christmas' is in the category of being very solidly executed for most of the length but peters out in the final portions. If asked whether it is recommended, my answer would be yes with it being one of the better and more surprising Christmas films seen recently.

'Dashing Home for Christmas' has more good than bad. The production values still manage to be pleasing on the whole. It's not too drab or garish in photography and the scenery has a real charm to it. Some of the music has some pleasant nostalgic moments. The performances are good, Paniz Zade and Adrian Spencer are wholly committed and engaging. While Spencer's character is not easy to like at first, the more developed he becomes the more one warms to him.

Loved the chemistry between the two, which was warm and genuine with some wit and it unfolds realistically. Not moving too fast or taking too long to develop and then rushing it through after a plot development. Diana Cofini amuses in her role without overplaying. The character interaction is never disconnected. The script flows at least and is not too cheesy or too saccharine. The story is light hearted and full of warmth and charm. The characters had personality and they were ones that appealed, the two lead characters being fresh takes on cliches. Only had reservations with Spencer's to begin with.

However, the final quarter is a little on the contrived side. Did think too that the conflict could have had more tension and could have been developed more, that for my tastes was rather abruptly introduced and felt under-baked.

There are times where the editing was a bit hasty looking.

On the whole though, quite well done. 7/10.