Sous les lumières de Noël

Can't believe negative reviews. Light hearted but with very relatable message. Well written, excellent casting for even minor characters. Good dialogue. Robin Dunne was awesome. Most hallmark movies have the straight clueless man leaving us wondering why the female lead would fall for him. In this both leads developed together. Robin Dunne reminds me so much of Robert Walker! So cute and earnest. Enjoyed second viewing even better than first. They need to air this more often. Pure entertainment.

The premise was good. The flaky artist was believable and the complicity between the leads was fun, in the beginning. You can believe that they met and had a quick connection.

It could have been good but instead it became chaos. I got the feeling that they shot a lot of disparate scenes, belonging to distinct plot lines, and then edited them together without following a logical sequence. I believe they inserted some scenes for comedic effect only, without them making sense in the whole. The scenes with the policeman were just awkward. The whole thing with the short and the generator was stupid, forced. It annoyed me so badly that I fast forwarded.

As I said, the premise was great but it seems like there was nobody to actually develop it successfully for a film. As always, they try to sell the idea of a great artist and some innovative creation that everyone is in awe of. And it falls flat.

It is not a complete waste of time but it is disappointing, so don't get your hopes up.

2019 was not a particularly great year for Lifetime, but that is not to say that every film of theirs was bad. Actually some impressed, such as 'The Road Home for Christmas', 'Magical Christmas Shoes' and 'Winter Song', but there was also some real misfires such as 'Christmas Hotel', 'You Light Up My Christmas' and 'No Time Like Christmas'. The story concept is not innovative but it had potential and Robin Dunne is often watchable.

And he is here, but 'The Christmas Temp' on the whole could have been better than it was. The potential isn't wasted, but it is not completely lived up or exceeded. As far as 2019 Lifetime Christmas films go, 'The Christmas Temp' is neither one of the best or worst (have already listed examples of both extremes) and more a watchable somewhere in the middling category effort that at the same time doesn't deserve obscurity status.

Shall start with the good. The production values are quite nice, some of the scenery being beautiful even. Regardless of questions about authenticity the film for me was easy on the eyes. Some of the soundtrack is nostalgic and appropriately festive. There is evidence of charm and heart and the joy of Christmas is captured well at times.

Dunne is likeable in his role and the supporting cast are also not bad. The film starts off quite promising.

However, there are shortcomings. Sara Canning sometimes does try too hard and while flawed characters are always interesting and relatable it is a problem when the flaws are taken to extremes to the point where their appeal as a character is questionable. Did find that the insecurity was overdone and that she could have been developed better and grown more. She and Dunne don't have enough chemistry together and chemistry was both rushed and underwritten, it actually would have been better if their relationship had some initial tension and not been too instant love like.

Moreover, the script to me did come over as too talky and the more symbolic moments in the dialogue come over as heavy handed and not necessary. While the story does try to do a couple of things new with a typical premise, this is not executed well enough. It did lack freshness and still felt predictable and forced. The story also could have done with more life and it did feel rather too thin. The ending came over to me as too pat and too quickly resolved.

In conclusion, mixed feelings. 5/10.

Two charming leads with great chemistry put this one in "rewatchable" status. I had just been thinking that Robin Dunne had a real Tom Hanks vibe going on when lo and behold he started to play Christmas songs on the giant piano keys. Coincidence? I don't think so. The plot was interesting and amusing as the struggling female love interest worked to decorate our hero's boutique hotel lobby for Christmas. His job and a possible promotion was on the line, and her art career would get a much needed jump start. I was a little underwhelmed by the final product, but everyone in the movie seemed to like it, so it must have been me.

The artist/decorator must come through and the pressure is on both Hazel and Jonah. Hazel is not easy or comfortable, especially in her art. Jonah's boss wants unique, so Hazel is the right person, even if neither of them believe it at times.

If you give Robin Dunne half a chance, he connects beautifully with his costars. There isn't just chemistry, but there is fun and joy and a little magic. And don't forget the humor. At times it's silly and at other times it's a little more subtle.

Hazel is a flawed and insecure heroine. It seems amazing that she can live in the real world. But she is also funny and full of life and she has a multitude of conflicting emotions swirling around inside her waiting to get out.

There is a lot of dialogue about symbolism and artistic expression and I'm not sure it all makes sense. I don't think it's meant to. There's a lot of mumbo-jumbo and double talk.

The "rival" confrontation has a bit of a different flavor to it but the usual results.