Le gâteau enchanté de Noël

Erica Durance and Robin Dunne has been good in other things, particularly Dunne, even when the film overall is not great. 2019's 'The Christmas Chalet' was proof that the two can work very well together. Lifetime have done many films over the years that have been worth watching, the best of them surprisingly very well done, though they have also done a number of duds. Was a bit ehh overall on their 2021 output, it could have been worse considering the circumstances but few films stood out that.

'The Enchanted Christmas Cake' is no exception to this. It is not one of their worst films from 2021 and Lifetime have certainly done far worse overall, but also not one of the best on both counts. It is certainly tolerable and has good things, but it does not live up to its enchanted name and instead is pretty bland. As far as 2021 Christmas films go from Hallmark, Lifetime, UpTV, ION, GAC Family etc, 'The Enchanted Christmas Cake' is one of the average middling things with enough good things but also a lot of bad.

Am going to begin with the good. Durance and Dunne do engage in the lead roles, with Dunne particularly bringing easy going charm and subtle charisma to his. They work very well together and the chemistry is natural and genuine as well as sweet. The supporting cast are also solid and don't overplay or phone in. There are moments of real charm and heart warmth and the film starts off quite well.

Furthermore, 'The Enchanted Christmas Cake' looks good. Loved the scenery especially, regardless of any authenticity being called into question there is a festive look to it and it looks picturesque. Personally thought the photography, while never extraordinary, complemented it nicely, not overblown while not basic either. The music is a nice enough fit and is pleasant music on its own, it doesn't make as much of a mistake as other Christmas films of being used too constantly or being too loud (something that a number of Hallmark Christmas films are guilty of).

However, 'The Enchanted Christmas Cake' could have been a lot better. The story on the whole could have been a lot more engaging. It has its moments, but the excessive predictability from doing nothing new with very familiar done to death ground does hurt it. Also thought that it dragged quite a lot, from the story being very thin and over-stretched, and the TV programme angle came over as contrived. As does the too convenient final act, with a climactic moment that occurs far too early.

Moreover, the characters do lose likeability. Durance's character is far too naive and indecisive and makes some really frustratingly dumb decisions. The dialogue is often awkward and has too many cheesy and overly sappy lines that induce cringing.

Concluding, one of those tolerable for one time watch but very average at best films. 5/10.

I initially tuned in for Erica Durance, but I couldn't even last 15 minutes. Not worth my time. Lifetime Christmas movies are lackluster compared to Hallmark Christmas movies. They aren't as good.

Erica Durance is a much better actress than her performance she gave here. As you can see in many other reviews, her hair is a hot mess to the point of being distracting. I actually had to look up her real age as the overall styling, including her wardrobe, makes her appear so much older and just sort of makes the whole plot fall apart.

Robin Dunne, as Gavin, carries a lot of the dialog and brings his typical natural charm to the screen. Overall I think Gavin's lines are also scripted better such that Dunne's delivery is easier to execute. Whereas for Erica, as Gwen, has the challenge of trying to deliver on a lot of poorly written lines.

There was some fun, holiday potential here about the magic of finding love at Christmas that falls flatter than baking a cake during an earthquake.

Am I missing something? It SHOWED the piece of paper with the "MA..." on the bottom. It's just a list of ingredients; it doesn't say how much of each to use, how long to cook, what temperature, etc. So how could anybody use it to make this cake? Seems like a pretty important plot point for everybody involved (writers, director, cast) to miss.

This is playing on Netflix right now. It's kind of cute but is just the usual formula. The hair is so bad. I'm glad I'm not the only person that noticed that. It seems like the hair stylist got one color of highlights and used it on the actors that played Gwen Gavin and her mother. The only person that decent hair was the actress that played her friend Becky. The hair of Gwen looks like it was fried when it got its highlights. Even her Grandpa had bad hair when his bangs were combed over his bald spot. Combed into a v pointing down to his nose. Let's not say anything about the toupee the character Dante had. Best way to enjoy the movie, is to close your eyes and not have to look at the hair.