Santa's Got Style

I don't know what those bad reviews were talking about because this is a totally normal romcom movie style. The security guard was a bit annoying but everyone performed their part very well. I'm not sure why Roku always gets the ratings wrong but it was not PG-13 it was completely safe. I thought it was a cute and unique concept to have stylin' Santa. The version of twas the night before Christmas was very creative. I would definitely watch it again in the future. There was a beautiful message of don't overlook the good qualities and the people that you know already and how people should treat each other.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I loved the story, the actors, the costumes. It was funny and romantic. The lead characters had chemistry. The supporting cast was excellent as well. The store detective was hilarious! The store owners were funny too. The moms had great scenes together and apart. The fashion show audience was a bit sparse but the audience was not the focus of that scene. Oh I forgot to mention the best friend and the male lead also had some hilarious scenes.

The songs they played for specific scenes were well-chosen. I don't want them to change a thing about this movie. It was perfect and I plan to watch it again.

Santa's Got Style (2022) -

I wasn't expecting much from this one purely based on the images that came up on the TV Guide and so I didn't go in to it with high hopes. Within the first five minutes I was already questioning how long it would last. It wasn't that I was unprepared to give it a chance, or was biased by the pictures, but I could see early on that it was going to be too daft.

Once Franco Lo Presti turned up on screen as Ethan I was hoping to enjoy it more because he is very sexy, but he just doesn't have a lot of range. He seems to always play the dumb bloke, who tries to be clever. He should stick to surfer dudes and other stoner types.

The additional artists and even leading lady Madison, played by Kathryn Davis were all a bit too much as well.

And once Scott Thompson appeared as Paul Grant, the executive man, I was really unsure how long it would take before I turned the film off.

Then when Matthew suggested that Ethan do a 'Mrs Doubtfire' (1993) by hiding his true identity that's when I did have to bring it to its end. It didn't help that Franco looked terrible prematurely greyed to fill the role of a younger more handsome Father Christmas for Madison's desperate campaign.

Unscored as Unfinished.

The thing that struck me first was how many of the characters look like they've stepped straight from the Uncanny Valley -- especially our Stylish Santa. Whoever did makeup and hair for this movie needs to go into an entirely different line of work, perhaps at a mortuary college where nobody expects lifelike results.

The bad guy (I'm not sure if he's store security or a supervisor.) is cartoonish. The rest of the supporting cast are stock characters with no memorable traits.

Basically it's a Hallmark Movie. If you like that sort of thing, you'll probably enjoy it. If Hallmark Movies make you gag, skip it. I only ended up watching it because an intellectually disabled woman I was looking after that evening wanted to watch it. I used it as an example of how men who lie to women are only charming in movies. "If he was willing to go to that much trouble to lie to her, how much do you think he'll lie to her when it's easy and doesn't involve putting on a wig and fake beard?"

The humor in this movie is based on being over the top. The acting is just that - none of the characters seem like real people but they are obviously acting like people. The security guy is the worst. He is buffoonish, but worse, he is not funny. The dialogue in the script doesn't help because all the lines are over the top as well. "Pandas everywhere? Pandemonium." A dog crisis in the shoe department - "I'm stepping on it." Plenty of lines like these delivered with double exclamation points.

The story relies on the common tropes of hiding a secret and a guy best friend who has always crushed on the leading lady. No great highs or lows. It all depends on how you like the humor.