Christmas films can go either way, which has been my experience watching overtime the festive output of primarily Lifetime, UPTV and Hallmark amongst those other companies. 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. And 'Falling in Love at Christmas' did have the sort of premise where the execution could have gone either way.
Have seen my fair share of above average and more Christmas films recently, but 'Falling in Love at Christmas' (aka 'Secretly Santa') is not one of them. If anything it is the complete opposite, Lifetime aired some surprisingly decent Christmas films (and films in general actually) that year but there were some that were mediocre and below. And 'Falling in Love at Christmas' is one of the worst, with very little good about it. Even the sole redeeming quality has been done much better in other films of theirs that year.
That redeeming quality being the production values, which were quite nice and at least had some degree of professionalism.
Both leads however fare weakly, with Alicia Dea Josipovic trying too hard and Travis Nelson being too laid back and not trying enough. Because of those differences in acting style, there is too much of a mismatch and they don't have an awful lot of chemistry or spark. Also found the relationship too overdone on the hostility for it to pass as a romance, and Miranda is far too self-absorbed and confrontational to be easy to warm to. The supporting cast are on autopilot and none of the characters are developed enough or have any interesting or endearing traits.
Furthermore, the script goes way too far on the cheese and schmaltz (no subtlety in anything) and is constantly awkward sounding, as well as very artificial and not sounding like normal everyday conversation. The comedic elements are too much like overplayed farce and the sentimentality is hard to stomach when it is more dramatic. The story is paper thin and pedestrian in pace, at times too uneventful, and what there is of the story is very predictable, very tired and lacking in charm, heart and energy. The ending can be seen from a mile away and is too neat with a rushed build up. The app stuff was a nice idea but rather unimaginatively done and could have featured less.
Concluding, very poor. 2/10.
