Dear Christmas

A romance Christmas movie with Melissa Joan Hart that others have criticized for being too sugary? Yes, please! What could go wrong, right? Yet it's all Christmas and no story. As low as the bar is for this genre plot-wise, it still manages to fall completely flat: there's no element of conflict or tension whatsoever, no complications and resolution, nothing at all. And it's such a shame because it does have everything else to be the archetype of the feel-good romance Christmas movie: both actors are perfect for their roles, especially MJH, and the chemistry between them works flawlessly. The atmosphere is overwhelminly christmasy, taking place in a fairy-tale universe where houses, cars, shops, people.. everything is perfect in every sense. If only something happened..

Audio is indeed terrible, if you love to hear actors swallowing their food then this is the movie for you, and Natalie's father characther is absolutely unwatchable. But hey, I can live with all that as long as the story keeps me traped wanting for the two protagonists to overcome their ridiculously trivial problems in their perfect lives and get together at the end, that's why we watch this type of movies, right? Unfortunately the whole budget went to Christmas decorations and nothing was left for a screenwriter. Romance TV movies are expected to be predictable, this one however wasn't predictable at all, not because something unpredictable happens but because "nothing" happens!

So although it definitely wasn't worth the ice-cream I had watching it, overall I think it's a perfect movie to have playing on TV during a family gathering to provide Christmas spirit, beautiful visuals and a story that can be followed with minimal attention without having to sacrifice conversation.

This movie is full of music that is so loud that you can hardly hear what they're saying. Especially at the end, when I'm trying to hear if they're going to make it work, I had to put the closed caption on just to read the words. This shouldn't be the case.

Jason Priestley carried of the light humour of his character very well. We feel like he's a friend we know, as regular viewers of "Private Eyes". We enjoyed the non serious nature of the movie, simply as Christmas entertainment! But, my gosh, that awkward basketball that was supposed to be a pregnant belly, was ridiculous!! It was far too large for for a woman so tiny! For heavens sake, something more realistic was definitely called for! Sad indeed! We chuckled every time she appeared, carrying that around! Simply entertaining evening.

I enjoyed this Lifetime Christmas movie; it is one of their better films this year thus far. The story was unique in a way (a bit different than many of the generic Christmas movies I have seen this season), and it had a pretty good script to boot (especially the dialogue and banter between the couples). I grew up watching 90210, so it was great seeing Jason Priestley as Chris on screen. He had a pretty good performance, I thought, a Priestly performance. I enjoyed his scenes and interactions with Melissa Joan Hart (playing Natalie). He is not the most expressive actor, but in this film, I think his performance worked nicely. About 28-minutes into the movie, he starts playing the guitar and singing a Christmas song...or was he? There was a bit of lip-syncing going on here, I suspect, as the voice singing did not sound like Jason's voice. Hart had a very good, convincing performance in this one. Her exchanges and interactions with her family and Chris were great. She performs well in this genre of film. The chemistry between the two was not bad. Again, Jason is not the most expressive actor, but I felt it worked, that is, it was believable. There were several scenes with some nice banter between the two (e.g., when they decorated the house together). The supporting cast was great. For example, Natalie's father (played by Ed Begley Jr.) and mother (played by Faith Prince) were brilliant; they had several cute and fun lines/scenes together. Fans of One Tree Hill are in for a treat, as two of the show's cast make a special appearance on Natalie's laptop. Finally, the scenery, props, and sets were pretty good, quite festive (not a fan of white Christmas trees though). I had a little laugh in the scene where Chis (aka Priestley) is carrying an axe to cut down the Christmas tree as opposed to a saw. The former looked good but the latter, of course, is a bit more practical. Was that a real Christmas tree they brought home (Natalie and Chris)? I thought it looked fake. You have got to love those Christmas sweaters (Priestley's worked well with the scene, by the way). I also thought the inclusion of the read glass hearts in the script/movie (in support of the first responders during the pandemic) was a timely and welcomed part of the story. I enjoyed too the glassblowing scene where Chris showed Natalie how these were made. Overall, this is a fun, warm, and sweet movie, a nice new edition to Lifetime's original Christmas movie lineup this 2020 season.

My inner teen/young adult self was super happy to see this duo. I was not disappointed. MJH is always cute in Christmas movies and Jason Priestly and her were really cute together. Yes its sugary sweet but isn't that what Christmas is? It's not Halloween.... The story is cute and fun. It's very Christmasy (is that even a word?) If you loved the 90's don't miss out on this one. On a side note please Lifetime, make more movies like this with the 90210 alumni.