Christmas at Cartwright's

Despite being a lover of Christmas, that is not to say that every Hallmark Christmas film is great. A fair share of them are watchable enough but there are average and less ones about, still watch them out of curiosity and also because of them being part of a completest quest. Alicia Witt is a bit hit and miss for me, she's a regular in these films and while there are times where you can see why there are quite a number of other times where she really could have toned it down.

Something that is luckily not the case here. Witt comes off very well here, as do a number of other things. 'Christmas at Cartwright's' would not fit my definition of a great Christmas film or even a great film overall, and this is all personal opinion not an objective one. 'Christmas at Cartwright's' is though a very pleasant, inoffensive diversion and not a bad way to pass the time for a couple of hours of a bleak afternoon for instance.

As said, Witt is immensely charming and injects a lot of personality without forcing it out, nothing affected here about her performance. She does make a potentially strange character work, considering the concept that is. Wallace Shawn still has a loving twinkle in his eye and doesn't phone it in. Gabrielle Miller has fun in her role and doesn't overplay, which is great as she had a type of character where it was easy to do so. The characters are not complex in development but at least don't bore or irritate, while the central chemistry has spark and is quite sweet.

'Christmas at Cartwright's' looks good. The interiors for the store really stand out, very beautifully eye-catching and the photography doesn't cheapen that. The script doesn't come over as stilted, over-cheesy or over-saccharine and the story while far from flawless is charming, warm-hearted and emotionally investable without taking itself too seriously, enough of a lightness of touch to avoid heaviness.

However, the story does execute its concept a bit too ordinarily and brings nothing new to the table. This is standard Hallmark Christmas, with little to set it apart. So while it is pleasant to watch, the predictability gets excessive as do the silliness and coincidences (meaning that it was not always easy to take the final third completely seriously).

Another thing that felt excessive was the music, which should have been used much less, as it did get too much, and felt very over-scored and intrusive. Distracting from the atmosphere and from some of the dialogue which was sometimes swamped by it.

In conclusion, worth seeing but not a "two thumbs way up" sort of film. 6/10

This is a great film. I especially liked the actress playing Nicky. She seemed believable yet magical. Angel stories are always great and this one did not disappoint. The little girl was cute without being precocious. I liked how everyone at Cartwright' s loved Santa Nick, except the evil Fiona. It was fun to see Gabrielle Miller play a baddie after seeing her as the nice, but insecure Lacey on Corner Gas. Hallmark has the best films! I also applaud Patricia Heaton for producing this sweet movie. The store sets were really beautiful.The only thing that puzzled me was 2 stories that Bill told to Nicky. One concerned questioning his father about Santa and in the other he mentions being raised by a single mom...what happened to his dad? That was the only inconsistency I spotted. But otherwise I recommend this film.

Alicia Witt does a lot of these Christmas movies, and she's one of my wife's favorites in them. There's a good reason. Her films are generally a cut above the average cliched Christmas plot. It's not necessarily that her plots are more original, but her slightly confused and sometimes disgruntled acting style gives her roles a lot of separation from the overly perky performances turned in by many other actresses who float through these films with plastic performances.

In this movie, Alicia is a down-on-her-luck single mom (of course!) who, with an assist and a push by an angel, gets the job as a department store Santa. Overlooking the fact that there is no way she could be mistaken for a male Santa, the movie moves along with a funny story concerning her employment coinciding with a predictable but satisfying story concerning a romance with store exec.

Nothing about this story is new or inventive, but it is a fun watch.

I don't make it through a third of hallmark movies so watchable is pretty good.

The storyline held my interest but my biggest issue was with Alicia Witt's appearance.

She looked mousy and bedraggled. Her hair was completely flat and her outfits were drab. I know this sounds shallow to focus on her looks but this is a romance movie and to some degree we're supposed to fall in love with the romantic leads. She's a good actress and has looked fine in other movies so not sure what the problem was here. She could have used some of that "Santa magic".

The male lead was handsome and likeable And the daughter was darling. Okay Christmas film but not a rewatch for me.

BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE FILM. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 HOLIDAY FILMS. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM HONEST!

"Christmas at Cartwright's" is a 2014 American-Canadian romance television film directed by Graeme Campbell and starring Alicia Witt, Gabriel Hogan and Wallace Shawn Written by Margaret Oberman, the film is about a single mom who gets a holiday job as a department store Santa to pay her rent.

Now I don't mind if a film goes into uncharted territory but this film doesn't. The filmmakers think the fact the idea that "Santa" is being played by a woman is "Shocking".

I think the filmmakers should of re-thought this project. I think the film should of focused on "Santa" giving advise to the men who work at the store. Complications happen when her ex-husband starts working at the store along side her new boyfriend. Disguised as "Santa" she sees both of these men in a new light. She learns why her ex-husband left her and why he is behind in child support. She sees that her current boyfriend isn't perfect but also see's that a female co-worker is out to steal her boyfriend. That would of made a more interesting film.