Christmas Is You

This was interesting. As a fledgling GAF effort, it got off to a decent start. A former high school couple is reunited when the girl, now working for a management agency is sent to her hometown to recruit her ex, now a major star on the outs with his manager.

I really think actors playing musicians look ridiculous, but Matthew MacCaulley at least appears to know the basic chords, and has a couple of quality (pricey) guitars. He actually does a nice job playing the down-to-earth superstar.

Becca Tobin has toned down the sweet in this movie to good effect, but her character must be the stupidest girl in the world.

They sing a nice duet early on, but the song they perform at the finale is awkward and musically nonsensical. That God for the invisible orchestra!

The supporting cast includes several veterans of Hallmark movies, which helped a lot. This is exactly what GAF needs going forward.

And better writers I'm afraid. This one gets to the easily-avoidable conflict you see coming a mile away and falls apart completely. Well, it's a start.

Trying to watch this movie but just can't get in to it. The lead actors have zero chemistry. The story is kinda all over the place. After fast forwarding several times I just gave up and stopped watching..

7.0 stars.

'Christmas is You' is a name I don't quite understand for this story, however it's still a nice and relaxing experience. The story is a simple one, and nothing new, about a man who becomes a big music star and the woman who went in another direction. Now they are thrust into a situation where they must be in the vicinity of each other over the holidays. She is (conveniently) a scout for an agency that represents celebrities and musical talents etc. And he just happens to be the big star that has fired his previous agent. She is sent to see if she can convince him to join their agency, but since they dated as teenagers, she's understandably hesitant to overstep. Blah, blah, blah, it's all been done... But I really like the lead actress, she's one of those rare ladies with a very compassionate and kind facade in most of her roles. He seems to be a worn out man, quite rough exterior, but also with what I assume to be very rugged good looks. The chemistry is present, however there is much lacking with the whole blend of this film and the end product wasn't magical. But I was entertained enough to stick with it.

Yikes, every line in this movie is either expository, or pointless.

The shooting is way better than most Hallmark movies, and the editing as well. But the script is just awful. I can't even imagine how this script was greenlit. The director has given the actors nothing to work with, so the whole film is like a very well made table read of inane dialogue.

Childhood loves, Emma Bloom (Becca Tobin) and Tyler Thorn (Matthew MacCaull), reunite in their home town during Christmas. He's a big music star. She works for a record company. Her boss hears that he dropped his agency and tells Emma to sign him. If she can do it, she could be the new partner in the firm.

Her best friend and confidant should be a girlfriend. She needs to do some emotional exposition and dumping but can't be explicit with her brother. She needs a sister. It's not like the actor playing the brother is anything special. The younger couple is cute but they are strictly amateur actors. This is the gentlest of romantic drama. I like the two leads and I've always liked Tobin. This movie is not requiring much from them and that's what they deliver. Maybe if they could turn this more into a musical. It's very bland but that's par for the course in this type of movies.