Christmas in Tahoe

First of all, how do you NOT lead with George Lopez? He's not even mentioned in the trailer. Believe me, I would have watched this sooner had I known he was in it.

The best acting performances in the movie were by Lopez, Pat Monahan, and comedienne Alex Gullason. The other performances seemed to be from the Hallmark school of acting: pleasant, sincere, but without the authenticity of the great supporting players.

Given Monahan's involvement in the project, I take at face value the behind-the-scene workings of the music industry (if not the timeline). It was harder to accept Kyle Selig as a rock star. But then, this is a Hallmark movie and we're used to suspending disbelief.

It's worth watching "Christmas in Tahoe" for the great supporting cast.

6/10 - I will admit to really enjoying the trope where one of the exes has made it big and is now super famous and this certainly captured the heart of that trope which made it stand out ever so slightly among the rest of the 2021 holiday movies.

Laura Osnes is likeable and the entire cast delivers a watchable movie. Pat Monahan sings well. But....., Christmas? Claire is a capable, ambitious organizer who wants to stage a great show, in hopes to land the job of her dreams. She gets help from Ryan, her old flame, and new sparks are awaited. The show happens to be scheduled on Christmas Eve and includes a comedian' s act and some pretty bad music. The clue is a number where 'Silent Night" gets totally butchered, while ecstatic fans cheer loudly. What happened to the time when people are inspired to be generous and forgiving, when families and friends reunite in wonderful traditions, when they celebrate with music that has warmed the heart of generations after generations? Hallmark has added another nail to the coffin of Christmas tradition, with a soulless presentation of materialistic holiday values.

One night before Christmas, in Oberndorf, a small village up the Austrian Alps, young Rev. Joseph Mohr and his friend, organist Franz Gruber, found divine inspiration and composed "Stille Nacht", perhaps the most beautiful Christmas Carol ever. They would feel mortified, could they see what is done to their immortal creation and what is passed for 'Christmas Spirit', over two hundred years later! Hence, enjoy the view, is you please, but do not call this a "Christmas " movie.

Gaslighting booking agent, clinging fans, paparazzi, meddling mothers, unappreciative father, overly persistent guest. Isn't this fun. Don't forget schemes to get past security. Actually, some of those were vehicles for humor, but annoying isn't funny to me. Then there are the three top acts that cancel at the last minute. (What no broken pipes?) It does get better in the last half.

Beyond all the efforts to sign up acts, the story is pretty much the usual stuff. Finally after a while, Kyle Selig and Laura Osnes get a chance to show some chemistry.

There are a few musical numbers here and there, mostly in the closing show. I was disappointed that Osnes wasn't one of the performers.

My first issue is that Kyle Selig as Ryan seems way too young for the role. The acapello trio was not good. "Dad" was annoying. It was just hard to get through. I know Hallmark Channel can do better.