The Most Colorful Time of the Year

Some viewers may find this made for TV Christmas film a bit corny, and some may consider (the teacher named) Ryan Tanner's handicap an insult to people who may be legally blind. A lot of people may be color blind to different extremes and not consider themselves to be handicapped which Mr. Tanner and his girlfriend Optometrist, Michelle Stevens, was making a bigger deal about his handicap than I would have expected. Dr. Stevens suggesting that Mr. Tanner entertain the idea of joining a medical test group for his color blindness and him being stubborn and trying, when all it included was trying on a new pair of eyeglasses you may understand why I think they blew out of proportion his handicap. I believe the message the producers were genuinely attempting to convey to their audience was for people not to be afraid to accept assistance and/or suggestions that may significantly improve their health. Whether that handicap may be a severe disability or something less obtrusive such as being color blind.

Just an observation about this film and please not to be critical a Mrs. Shullivan and I quite enjoyed this film. I am glad they did not show Mr. Tanner behind the wheel of a car as he would not have been able to distinguish between a red light or a green traffic light.

I give the film a wishy washy 5 out of 10 IMDb rating as I can see how some people may enjoy the romantic undertone and then others may be insulted with Mr. Tanner overcoming his color blindness by simply putting on a new pair of glasses. Duhhhh.

The type of color blindness in this film, where the person cannot see ANY colors, is called monochromacy. It's extremely rare, and no special glasses are going to allow the person to see color. They MAY allow for greater separation of shades. This type of medical misinformation could only give false hope to people who've suffered from that condition since birth.

So I docked stars for that.

My wife otherwise liked the movie more than I did, as she got into his resistance to admit the condition or seek help for it. Parts of the movie were quite emotional, those mostly having to do with his prospects for treatment and then the (false) results of getting the "special glasses".

The romance part, however, was pretty standard, with the misinterpretations of past or friendly relationships. It's not worth a rewatch for me since I didn't buy into the optometry, and not worth a rewatch for my wife because even though it moved her, most of the suspense involved when and why he'd admit his condition and agree to be examined, and that's no mystery on subsequent viewings.

The good: recognition for a hidden disability.

The bad: too many moments of awkward dialog, a cringy, stalker-like ex-boyfriend character, and too many unrealistic moments that detract from the overall message, especially with the aforementioned ex-boyfriend. Also, I wish Hallmark would really vet scripts to make sure they accurately portray professions. Schools never have a database of teachers' personal cell phone numbers for parent use, and teachers would never just up and leave in the middle of the school day on a whim. The formulaic conflict in the last half hour was unnecessary and unrealistic.

I've always liked Katrina Bowden. She is past her Miss Tasty/hottest girl in the world days, but she's still really pretty and makes a very nice Hallmark lead. I hope she does more.

Christopher Russell just keeps getting better. He was a bit stiff when he appeared on the scene a few years ago, but now he has a natural quality that is very appealing.

This movie is about a colorblind man seeing the beauty of the world for the first time, and his heart is opened in the process. There are some genuinely touching moments along the way.

The requisite conflict is brought on by a clingy ex in her case, and an admirer in his, leading to the usual Hallmark misunderstanding.

I liked this movie. Better than most.

7.0 stars.

I am surprised that Hallmark opted for an optometrist with the opportunity to operate her magic opting for open arms verses opportunistic opulence.

I think Michelle (Bowden) is extremely alluring, something about her style, and she has great potential, please showcase her in more movies. Ryan (Russell) is equally so, if not more. I kept thinking he starts off looking like Superman, then he gets these magical glasses that make him look like Clark Kent. Either way, you can't go wrong. Such a shame that the good looks and good acting was squandered on this half-priced quality of a movie.

Like I said, both leads are surprisingly easy on the eyes, and it's a shame that their visual appearances and performance skills are lost in the translation of such a dry and lifeless script. There is a strange lack of stimulating dialogue, and everything is in slow motion. The story just drags along as we are waiting for something really enlightening or at least exciting.

One illuminating moment is when he is defending his choice to become a teacher... very sincere and touching scene. And the ex boyfriend... do they get any more creepy? Hallmark sure knows how to make a person look ghoulish.

There is another great scene with Michelle's sister as she opens the flood gates for Ryan near the end. It is pure gratification for me and a rare way for Hallmark to reveal hidden feelings.

And the final scenes with the kiss (one of the best ones ever). I am so disappointed there were only about five brilliant moments interspersed throughout this sub-standard film.

The theme was great, the premise was great, but the writing was like a poopoo bag exploded and all of the contents hit the fan.