Confessions of a Christmas Letter

I confess I have nearly stopped writing TV movies reviews. They seem to get dumber every year: are scriptwriters running out of ideas? Hallmark Christmas movies, this year, seem to have engaged the perilous slope of the farce. Almost all, so far. Somebody there must be confusing the concept of intimate joy with epidermic silliness. This one is barely saved by the final attempt to give it a more serious, constructive moral. Unfortunately, the basis for the plot is preposterous and idiotic, the acting is amateurish and frantic, the gags are juvenile at best, all through the movie. I wonder if at Hallmark all goes to the direction of a farce because they have lost the ability to take Christmas seriously. The results are that most of their dramas are a laugh and their comedies make me cry.

Sometimes I feel guilty about a rating and review for a movie I couldn't finish, but this isn't one of those times.

This is the second movie we've seen this year where Hallmark has taken actors from a long-vanished sitcom to insert them into a Christmas movie. The first time was the aunts from Sabrina, and this time it's two characters from the office.

Now, the office had several annoying characters, and for some reason this casting picked two of the most annoying. I always regarded Angela Kinsey's character as the MOST annoying from The Office, and if this movie is any indication, it's not just the character.

She was equally annoying here, to the point we canned this one without wasting too much of our lives.

I was ready to bail on this within the first half hour but I was hoping it would get better. The premise was so ridiculous that I think it was someone's middle school writing assignment. Who gets all worked up about a Christmas letter competition that they would hire a novelist to travel from Puerto Rico to Connecticut to ghost write for them. The actors did the best they good with the cheesy script. The onesies were a hoot. But does anyone really wear them every day?

There were a few sweet moments but on the whole the acting was way over the top. I did manage to watch to the end, mostly because of Alec Santos. I have not seen him before but hopefully Hallmark will use him again. The Uncles were great also. I'm usually very generous with my ratings. I don't expect a masterpiece in this genre but this was just plain awful. I give it four stars just because it is Christmas, the season of giving.

I must admit I get hooked on Hallmark Christmas movies despite their formula, predictable, corny format. This movie though, I had to turn off shortly in. I tried to watch it again and yes, I made it further, but it is the worst Hallmark movie of all time. The acting, I guess I will call it that, is beyond awful, the premise is ridiculous and there is nothing about the characters that makes you have the slightest bit of interest in them. I really like Angela Kinsey (The Office) and Fred Ewanuick (Corner Gas), but what were they thinking taking on roles in this horrible movie!!! I would definitely recommend giving this one a pass.

4.9 stars.

I don't understand what is going on here. It's the story of a middle aged woman who has failed to win a Christmas letter contest for many years. She hires a famous novelist to write it for her. Already, you can see a debacle in the workings.

Her family is in on the scheme, relatives and friends are visiting their home over the holidays. This writer she hires comes from Puerto Rico. He has what appears to be a gay father or grandfather with a gay lover living with him there. I am not sure if they are gay, but they act like it. I'm just curious about that part.

The matriarch's son is gay and married, then we are introduced to strange and competitive neighbors and friends and the rest of the story is a cacophonous smattering of activities and planning and running in circles during the holidays.

Failed romance, no drama, no comedy. It's a shame when a film attempts to resemble classics like 'National Lampoon...' and nobody can do it.