Noël est servi

Catering Christmas is a sweet movie, but the plot is nothing special and quite predictable. In the movie, Molly runs a catering business and she lands a gig to cater a Christmas gala that could make or break her career. She then meets Carson, and from there it is just like every other Christmas movie. Things seem to be going well for Molly and Carson, but of course there reaches a point of tension followed by the final resolution. Merritt Patterson and Daniel Lissing were fantastic as the main cast, and Rosemary Dunsmore and Michael Hanrahan were great as well. Catering Christmas is by no means terrible, but it is not unique enough to standout from all the Christmas movies out there.

Okay, I'll admit I read all the reviews before I watched this one. I found this to be a really entertaining, sweet, and grounded movie - and, yes, there were predictable moments. And yes, the pics of the "town" are the same as most of these small town locales. It is a made-for-tv rom-com after all - and low budget at that. But all of the actors did a great job. Loved all of the supporting roles and Merritt Patterson and Daniel Lissing were superb together. The older couple were just right - as an older person myself I can tell you that 7 years isn't significant in a relationship ( in real life age means less than attitude and vitality.). Personally I watch these movies to help me remember to enjoy the holidays and give me a lift and this one did that. I say bravo to focusing on what's important in life. Good job GAC.

Based on last year and this, GAC Family Christmas movies are hit and miss.

This one is definitely the former, thanks to the excellent chemistry between the always-gorgeous Merritt Patterson and Australian Daniel Lissing.

What a difference good acting makes! A "sweet" story of Molly (Patterson) a small-town caterer who gets a contract to provide food for a Christmas gala for the town benefactor's foundation. She meets Carson (Lissing), the somewhat black sheep of the family and - as you probably have figured out by now - sparks fly.

Yes, Catering Christmas a formulaic movie, the likes of which we've all seen many times before (right down to the expected moment where a difficult choice has to be made by one of the protagonists - a very popular, oft-used Hallmark/Lifetime/GAC Family plot twist) but it's also quite nice.

(Dear Hallmark, Lifetime and/or GAC Family: much more Merritt Patterson, please!)

7.8 stars.

This is the perfect example of a movie that will only strike a chord with people who really like one or both of the lead actors. The plot is so standard it reeks of complacent writing. The acting is well rounded and the people are lovely. It's just that the script is not amazing and the dialogue is average average throughout, maybe some dialogue now and then, but that's all. So why would I give this 7.8 stars, only for the leads. I really love Patterson, and I'm a guy, so that' the key. I like Lissing as a male lead, and so this helps also, although he looks a bit quirky to me at times, not sure why. The best part of the film was the old couple (the foundation lady and the "butler" manager fella). That was a very limited romance on screen, but that single scene was amazing.

The love between the leads is a slow burner and it eventually comes to fruition and becomes magical at the end. What's interesting is how the actors interpret the story and make it their own, and they make it work. I can feel the charisma this go around. Sometimes a movie just works, other times it don't. So if you don't like the leads, you will probably dislike 'Catering Christmas'.

As far as the made for TV romances go, we've always regarded Hallmark as top tier and Lifetime as a very distant second. Last year GAF stepped into the picture, and I thought they were better than Lifetime but still not quite up to the quality of Hallmark.

This movie puts GAF a giant step forward. Of course, they spared no expense bringing over Hallmark talent, and it shows.

Here we have an attractive leading couple who both hold up their parts well. We start out with an awkward and amusing "mistaken identity" that morphs to the "rebellious next generation."

Then we get a whole lot of what all these movies need and so many fail at ... LOTS of relationship building between the leads. There's little tension and lots of good feeling, making this a comfortable and enjoyable window into this story's world.

Even a couple of contrived speedbumps don't slow this down. Recommended.