Lights, Camera, Christmas!

After watching one and abandoning another disappointing Christmas movie today, we began watching Lights, Camera, Christmas! With a bit of trepidation. Could it be a three strikes day?

LCC took a big swing at the next pitch and hit a home run. I think it's a bit brave, as this movie is very self-aware of making Hallmark Christmas movies and is an utter satire of the process.

Since it's comedy satire, the characters are allowed to go over the top ... and they do ... but they don't abuse it. We found many chuckle moments and an occasional surprised laugh out loud.

The stealth romance is the producer and director, a successful filmmaking couple who split up and talk through an intermediary, even though they're standing right beside each other. Will agreements in making this movie bring them back together? Watch and find out!

As a long time Hallmark movie fan, I've often wished that they would poke fun at themselves and their movies every now and then as kind of a "wink wink" and nod to the audience. But I can't recall a movie that ever did that before "Lights Camera Christmas", a Christmas movie about Christmas movies. There's multiple references to fake snow and It even stars a character who calls himself the "King of Christmas Movies". At this point, that title probably belongs to Andrew Walker, but a less used John Brotherton is perfectly cast as the pompous fictional movie star Brad Baxter. He is, as Kerry puts it: "a little full of himself" (although Brotherton is effective in making Brad less of a caricature as the movie progresses)

Kimberly Sustad plays Kerry, a clothing store owner and wannabe designer. She's great as always (I loved her in "Christmas by Starlight"). Laura Soltis plays her mom Nancy and she's also delightful. She's one of my favorite "Older Moms" in Hallmark movies along with Barbara Niven. When, at the beginning, Kerry pleads ignorance about who Brad Baxter is, Nancy rattles off some very Hallmarky fake movie names including "There's No Christmas Like Snow Christmas" (that really needs to be the name of a future movie):

Nancy: "How come none of these movies even ring a bell?" Kerry: "Well they all sort of blend together."

So true. I love inside jokes like this. Then, during a panel discussion, there's this:

Audience member: "How did you end up choosing where to shoot?" Caleb: "Two words- tax incentives"

Ever since the U. S. Canada free trade agreement in 1988, and the implementation of generous government subsidies, Vancouver has become known as "Hollywood North", resulting in nearly $5 billion in film production spending there last year alone. A lot of that was spent making Hallmark movies. So yeah, tax incentives.

Although the use of a go between (Jamie) between producers Jill and Caleb was a bit silly, I can attest to what's it's like when the acrimony is so great you need a middle man to communicate with an ex spouse. But there's actually a touching scene about the line "When you have the right person on your side anything's possible" and a nice thaw later on. Matthew Kevin Anderson as Caleb and Leila Harrison as Jill were impressive in fleshing out their characters, as was Veronica Long as Mariah and Kallie Hu as Jamie. The entire cast was strong.

I've always thought of Kimberly Sustad as kinda like the beautiful somewhat dorky girl next door who doesn't realize she's beautiful. There's one scene in which Kimberly Sustad is wearing a loose white blouse, with her hair done up a little different, surrounded by Christmas decorations, where she looks...absolutely gorgeous. Then again, she looks gorgeous throughout the movie, all while exuding a unique quirky charm that sets her apart from other actresses.

There's also one point in the story where I was annoyed that she had done something that I thought was really stupid (and not something a modern woman would do) but then her powerful performance explaining herself to he mother was very effective in convincing me that she, in fact, actually did what she honestly thought was right for her. She's a very talented actress. And she has some serious "dagger eyes".

One of the best moments in the movie came when I thought for sure we were going to get another stupid "almost kiss" (I'm soooo tired of that trope) but then the couple actually kissed. In what was a surprisingly sensual scene. Far from the end of the movie. That was definitely not cookie cutter Hallmark. And I loved it.

I enjoyed the movie, but there were a few things that bothered me. I'm not in the movie business, but I am a lawyer. If my client's costume designer breached their contract to go work on a Matt Damon film, I'd let that designer know she'd be coming back to a big fat lawsuit if she didn't fulfill her contractual obligations. Hallmark writers often sacrifice real world legal and financial considerations in order to make their plots work. But having the original costume designer suddenly drop dead, instead of doing another job, would have achieved the same result without sacrificing realism.

And speaking of real world financial considerations, Kerry may be a great designer, but she's apparently a lousy businesswoman. She owned a store that seemed constantly empty (except when Brad and Mariah showed up) and she was 3 months behind on the rent (a notice that flashed on the screen indicated that she owed $5,500). Her mom offered to help but she candidly acknowledged that if her business is to survive, "it needs to be self sufficient".

But then the movie producer inexplicably offered to buy her entire store stock. First, that's unlikely given that it seems unrealistic for a movie production to show up on location without ANY costumes and why would they need a bunch of random women's clothing? And yet she doesn't negotiate a "no returns" sale, even though her store would be left without anything to sell before the holidays.

Even worse, when offered a job by the desperate producer, she is reluctant to accept. It's one thing to fail to use her superior bargaining position to extract the kind of compensation that would resolve her financial problems, but to initially pass on the opportunity altogether? Thankfully, Nancy's colorful threat to Kerry convinced her to accept the position.

I liked the panel discussion format, but that may have left them short on time at the end which seemed a bit rushed and poorly set up. And that final green screen shot looked way too fake.

But I enjoyed the movie, in large part because of the cast, especially Kimberly Sustad.

Hallmark is back with quality movies. Although I enjoy watching Hallmark more than any channel, it seems like many of the movies are pushed out like puppy mills. Truth be told I have turned off several before they even finished.

This wasn't one of them. Kimberly has never made a bad or even boring Hallmark movie. There is a reason she has risen through the ranks to become one of Hallmark's great stars.

I don't know Brotherton very well, but he sure did nail the part of a conceited movie star. I was also impressed with his tenderness when it called for an emotional scene.

Overall I thought the set was great, the direction was wonderful and the overall chemistry was extremely good, and I mean extremely good. Kudos to the casting Director.

This is a Hallmark movie. How could you possibly ruin it with spoilers? Everyone knows who will end up with who they are meant to be with and it will always be a happy ending.

But to get to the happy ending you must first watch the movie all the way through. I highly recommend that you do this. This is a movie worth watching start to finish.

Lights, Camera, Christmas! Was a fun Christmas movie to watch. I think the Kimberley Sustad and John Brotherton pairing worked very well. I love the "big star falls for down to earth/girl next door" movie trope. Kim and John had a fun banter and chemistry together. I also liked the movie's supporting characters and the side storyline of the estranged directors finding their way back to each other. The movie's last minute conflict and ending seemed a bit rushed but overall, Lights, Camera, Christmas! Was a fun Christmas movie...and it was nice to see Kimberley Sustad as a Hallmark movie lead again!

Do not be put off by the egotistical behavior displayed by the lead actor at the start of the movie -- that could be enough to turn off some people and make them not want to watch this delightful movie. In part this movie is a spoof of actors with big egos, and it pulls off that caricature very well! But it also reveals that beneath such facades can be very different people, with real feelings and emotions resulting from their character's backstory, and the movie pulls off that aspect very well, too.

All in all, an engaging story.

This movie has all of the elements necessary to make it one of the best of 2022: good acting, humor, plausible plot twists that I did not see coming, a romance that develops naturally, and a satisfying ending that pulls everything together and leaves you feeling good.

This is one is of my Top 10 favorite 2022 Christmas movies of 2022. You can see my other favorite 2022 Christmas movies by clicking on my profile link above; then look for "2022 FAVORITE CHRISTMAS ROM-COMs" under "Lists".