I don't like Christmas movies, I don't like musicals, and guess what was the Monday mystery movie... yup, a Christmas musical. So clearly I'm not the target audience, but I try to watch everything so here we are. So many people walked out as this was the Monday mystery movie, it was actually disrespectful. I saw a leak post earlier saying it was going to be spirited so I was a little mentally prepared and actually tried to enjoy it.
Pretty upbeat just like any other Christmas movie. It starts out as a kid's movie, guess most musicals are, but still has some 'dirty' jokes as it goes on. Runtime's way longer than the actual plot was due to the singing. It got a couple good laughs; at times felt more of a comedy than musical. A good blend of Reynolds and Farrells humor, if you're a fan of either you might enjoy it.
Actually could have been more bearable for me if it wasn't a musical, every time I was about to forget it is someone started singing; after a while there's longer periods between the songs, and other moments when songs are squeezed together, mostly at the beginning of the movie and at the end. So there actually wasn't as much singing, you almost forget it's a musical in the middle.
I think the camerawork and production set felt like it was set up on stage so it felt like a theatre play. Songs aren't as catchy, I only recall if two that had me.
The story is pretty predictable on how it's going to end, it's just the journey of getting there. My favorite parts were when the singing was abruptly cut, singing aside its a decent movie. I just want to say you don't have to make a Christmas movie every year, it's almost impressive how they keep churning them out. I don't think this is a terrible addition, but Love, Actually is still the only Christmas movie I actually love.
