La Star de Noël

This is a cute romantic Christmas themed film that Mrs. Shullivan and I have now watched it twice as it was such a FEEL GOOD film the first time we decided to watch it this Christmas season again. Widower Chris Marshall has been busy and pre-occupied raising his two children Sophie and carrot top Jackson on his own for the past five (5) years with little regard given to his own personal life taking a backstage to any romantic involvement.

After five (5) years since Chris's wife passed away his two children find out from their Uncle Jason (Billy MacLellan) that their dad and the number one (1) singing star in the country Nikki Crandon (Shannon Elizabeth) were teenage first crush's so they decide to play Cupid and get them back together again.

Fame can be both a blessing and a curse and Nikki and Chris rekindle their once very strong relationship only to have Nikki's fame get in the way once more. But this being the Christmas season and family and love being important to all you can guess how this film ends can't you? Hey, we watched it twice so it is well worth watching at least once. I give it a favorable IMDb rating of a 6 out of 10.

Whether it is easy to not take 'Catch a Christmas Star' and similar films seriously is dependent on whether the good things outweigh the bad and vice versa. Dependent on how many flaws there are and how big they are. And dependent on how well the film executed its good things. In some cases it is easy to not take it too seriously. In other cases it is very distracting when there are so many annoyances and done to an incompetent level.

'Catch a Christmas Star' is not one of those films. It does have things wrong with it, then again when has a Hallmark festive film been perfect, and the flaws are a few of the usual ones. 'Catch a Christmas Star' does achieve its aims though at being undemanding light-hearted entertainment that has charm and heart and has a lot of good things, ones that are essential to get right if a film is to be halfway watchable. My festive Hallmark film viewings have been hit and miss, 'Catch a Christmas Star' is closer to being one of the hits while not being one of them.

Sure, it is very, very predictable and some real suspension of disbelief is needed with some turns in the plot being pretty unrealistic to a dumbfounding degree.

Didn't think that the character of Carmine was particularly necessary and he comes over as an annoying caricature, overplayed rather horribly by Christopher Jacot. There is some very cheesy dialogue here and there too and the romance is very underused and underdeveloped which does affect the chemistry at times.

However, Steve Byers is a very likeable and easy going leading man, also having the more likeable character who doesn't come over as too perfect, and personally didn't have much issue with Shannon Elizabeth, the egotistical character trait is overwritten at times but Elizabeth's commitment is never in question (she also sings beautifully). The daughter isn't too cute or bratty and Byers and Elizabeth do have some chemistry even if it doesn't quite ignite fully. The character writing is flawed but a long way from disastrous, with only Carmine's being an outright failure.

The direction is always competent and in control of the material while not phoning in. The production values are great, with it being nicely and slickly shot. The scenery is very easy on the eyes. The script on the whole doesn't come over as corny or schmaltzy, and flows naturally. Although the story is far from perfect with the predictability and ridiculousness being overkill, it is light-hearted enough, succeeds in not taking itself too seriously and is charming.

Concluding, above average if not great. 6/10.

Nikki Crandon (Shannon Elizabeth) is a pop superstar. Chris Marshall (Steve Byers) is a widower with two kids. The kids find out that their father used to date Nikki in high school. They set off on a quest to bring them together.

The kids are cute enough. It's a Hallmark movie. Shannon Elizabeth may be a better singer than I expected although her singing may be dubbed. I don't know if it's her voice or not. It's not fair but a real singer would not face the same issue. The role needs a real former pop star. It needs Debbie Gibson but younger. As for the story, it's a little clunky. I expected more with the kids since they're so cute. I don't like the overblown fight at the restaurant. A better way to do the needed conflict would be a paparazzi pushing over one of the kids. That's a better reason for him to end the relationship. Quite frankly, I expected her to say "I'm just a girl..." in her big speech. This is fine.

These days so many movies are filled with sex, foul language, and revenge filled plots. It is refreshing to see a movie directed toward family values.

Main characters, Shannon Elizabeth's and Steve Byers' on set chemistry was good and realistic. They give viewers a small glimpse into the downside of being famous.

Byers' on screen children played by Julia Lalonde and Kyle Harrison Breitkopf were good little actors in their portrayal of today's youth. Many children are wise beyond their years and flip lip.

All and all, I enjoyed it! The only negative parts were, of course, the record producer's acting, which was "really bad" and the ending. It included Byers' going out on stage professing his love, little unrealistic. At a real concert, he would have never made it passed security. The writers should have improved on that scene.

Also, I loved the assistant. His facial expressions and comedic antics were to die for!

Absolutely one of the few 'fantasy celebrity' movies that had a most realistic ambiance ! I am a 60 year old (masculine) widower; so besides tears, (joyful & sad), I was smiling with a very warm heart! The actors, ALL of them, were awesome! And the music! Wow! Thanks Hallmark!

Keith.