Dashing Home for Christmas

I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I sometimes do not know what to expect with UPtv originals. This time, they got it right, as it was a cute, fun and entertaining Christmas movie. The plot, of course, was predictable and has been done plenty of times before. That said, the script was strong. The dialogue between the leads worked well; it pulled me in. The acting was very good. Paniz Zade (playing Emily) had a convincing performance. Adrian Spencer (playing Simon) was also very good. They had good chemistry too, each with their distinct and different personalities, which was another appealing element of the movie. Their interaction and dialogue were engaging, and I even had a few small laughs with Diana Cofini's performance as Grace. There was some fun dialogue with her sister. The scenery and sets were not as polished as, e.g. Hallmark films, but it did not take anything away from the story and performances. Overall, this is a nice little edition to UPtv's original Christmas movie lineup/collection. Well worth a watch.

I must admit, my favourite kind of Hallmark/GAC/Lifetime/UPTV Christmas movie is one where people are stranded somewhere and must get home usually via a long road trip - Cross Country Christmas, Holiday Road, A Christmas Detour - and that premise is what got me to watch 'Dashing Home For Christmas'.

Whilst not at the same quality as the three movies I mentioned above (I guess UPTV is probably third or fourth on the pecking order after Hallmark and Lifetime, fighting it out with GAC Family) it was still a nice movie that features two pretty good leads in Paniz Zade as Emily and Adrian Spencer as Simon, though I'd never heard of either before sitting down to watch this movie.

Good acting (and a welcome occurrence of zip, zero, nada over-acting!), good chemistry between the leads, no major continuity lapses that I could see, and a nice, thoughtful ending.

Nothing ground-breaking, but you could do a lot worse than 'Dashing Home for Christmas'.

This is fine for all ages and there are many good points/examples throughout the movie. However I've seen it all before in the various Christmas journey sagas - there is nothing new at all. They could have injected a bit of humor/excitement into the end of the movie with everyone 'dashing' off to the hospital but the car tyre going etc and continuing in a van like the one mentioned earlier just to have some kind of visual throw back to this otherwise dialogue-heavy movie. Other visual comedy could have been achieved with travelers' Christmas sweaters / outfits, anything just to make it all less bland. However it must be fairly realistic, as I had travel fatigue watching this.

My wife and I watched this at home, during the Holiday season. It is a good time-passer but frankly is not a very good movie. The script isn't particularly well written, the dialog most often seems forced or incongruous. And the acting is mediocre at best. But the overall message is good, finding family where you can find it and making the best of things.

This is in essence the same movie as "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" but with a cute female and a cute male. They are both business professionals, they start in New York and are headed home to Seattle. He talks to much and she wants to finish up some work. Weather causes an interruption in the plane part of the trip, so they go in together to rent a car, try to catch a train, but end up taking a bus. Even the ending, with the stranger as a guest at the family Christmas Eve dinner.

I think its IMDb rating is a bit high, it is just pleasant diversion if you can get past many of the annoyances. It is not a Hallmark movie but pretty much follows the formula.

A cliché ridden formulaic Christmas movie where the main character have to get home to family despite every obstacle thrown in their path.

The romance that develops along the way between the two leads seems highly unlikely as they are two very different personalities. Although the guy is the more likeable of the two I never felt invested in the characters. Watch if you've got nothing better to do on a damp cold December afternoon.