C'était la veille de Noël

7.2 stars.

Several movie actors decide to put on a broadway play about a courtroom drama depicting who was the true author of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas'. If you research it, there is question of who really authored it, however it seems pretty clear to me, or at least there is a logical conclusion. But you never know...

This is a fresh new spin on Hallmark stories, the characters are cut from a different cloth so to speak, it's not a Christmas story as much as a testament of what an off Broadway type of production might be like in the real world with a bunch of wannabes and a few of the genuine article. It's an interesting take on it, and I gotta say, I'm sold. It's sparkling with strange humor, and strange personalities, and weird innuendo and obvious Hollywood meets Broadway clashing and whatever else it represents for which I really have no idea, I'm just totally shoveling out a bunch of random words right now, but it sounds good to me. Give it a whirl, you will probably be at least mildly entertained.

I'll watch this again in a few years, maybe twice a decade.

Just finished watching "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and I'll have to say it left us with smiles on our faces.

We yearn for stories in these Christmas romances to "break the mold", and boy howdy did these writers ever manage that! I'll forgive them their one huge cliche ... a performer who has to take a major break at the last minute and must be replaced.

As our leads produce a performance of a play which offers a mock trial to prove authorship of the classic poem (between Moore and Livingston) surprises arise, as two men appear who seem to be playing their roles, though the roles are not in the script.

The two actors who play Moore and Livingston steal this movie. Their performances are believable and nuanced.

By the way, if the Livingston theory IS correct, which I doubt, my wife is distantly related to the author of Twas the Night Before Christmas. :-)

Highly recommended, and we'll watch this one again in the future.

I like it was the first verdict after final credits. For story ( I do not know the poem ), for acting (Zane Holtz is enogh seductive and proposes a real nice performance ), for small truths, fair reminded, for gingerbread memory technique and, sure, for the three gingerbread houses, for supporting actors wor and for inspired reflection about vocation.

And, sure, for Victorian fair. But the good point is the courage of Hallmark to propose more than the familiar recipe, using some good ...spices.

So, just smart option for Christmas Eve and for fine debate about author of a very popular poem. So, just appreciation.

'Twas The Night Before Christmas (2022) -

What a great and fresh concept for a seasonal film. It still had a lot of the traditional motif's and the heart of the usual films, as well as a couple of the typical hammy and cheesy bits and the romance, while not as prominent, was still cute, but it also brought something educational and diverse.

I liked Torrey DeVitto as Madison and I liked Zane Holtz in the role of Connor too. I particularly liked his fantastic chest, which filled the room, let alone his tops, but I really enjoyed the slow build up of their relationship, because it was easy, pleasant and uncomplicated. The drama element was played out in the rest of the film.

I did find it hard to believe that Madison. Would be asked to make, and would achieve, so many changes to a play just ten days before opening night. I thought that it would be very unlikely. Most of that was due to the character of Lena (Sophie Bastelle) and her boyfriend, both of whom were a bit stupid.

In general though, I loved the idea of a play that covered a real trial, one which I was totally unaware of.

I love Christmas in all its forms and it's mythologies, so it was really interesting and enjoyable to discover that the origins of 'Twas The Night Before Christmas' had been in contention. I had always thought it to be written by Clement Clark Moore and I'd had no idea that it might actually have been created by Major Henry Livingston Jr., whom I had never heard of at all.

The point is that they delivered a really clever story here and without compromising any of the other values that are the staples of this genre.

I thought it was great. I look forward to watching it again to pick up anything that I might have missed this time around.

7.5/10.

This story is totally different from most of the Halmark Christmas romance movies, but it still has some echoes of a few of those romance stories. After all, there is a Christmas performance that brings together two old flames to rekindle their past. But the trial setting with the objective of shedding light on the true authorship of a Christmas iconic tradition is unusual and there is some mysticism thrown in with the appearance of a ghost.

The acting is good. The dialog is sparkling. There are twists and turns. Did anyone predict the outcome of the trial even if the outcome of the relationship was predictable? I did expect one thing involving Madison even if it didn't occur to me how that would happen. That was clever. And the chemistry between Torrey DeVito and Zone Holtz was excellent.

This was a good climax to Hallmark Channel's 2022 lineup.