Un Natale sotto copertura

As an avid watcher of Christmas movies I can confidently say I had a mole removed last year and that was more fun than watching this movie. The casting looked as though the director walked into a Golden Corral and picked the first people he saw. The dialogue had the intelligence of a third grader, and yet the actors somehow still struggled to deliver their lines. However, I gave it two stars because the movie was relatively short, putting us out of our misery in a timely manner. When I was a child, I had two pet fish. One tried to attack and kill the other. Those fish had more chemistry than these two main characters. Overall, say no to this show show show.

I actually enjoy the Hallmark quality movies but this one is "porno acting" quality. I don't get the sense the actors knew who their characters were while filming and constantly kept trying to change the way they talk. Save yourself the trouble and watch an ACTUAL Hallmark movie.

This movie was not as captivating as many Christmas movies and, unfortunately, the ending was too abrupt leaving an empty feeling instead of the "feel good" emotion these type of movies are designed to create. The plot was interesting, but the relationship wasn't developed enough to be believable and heart felt. Even seeing the reporter with his sister and niece was a concept that seemed to be dropped from the storyline. And, her reaction when finding out her online connection was the reporter was unremarkable, too. Good actors but the story fell short. The whole movie was a bit of a miss!!!!!

Katrina gets fired and dumped just before Christmas so she writes a book attacking Christmas and the book takes off. Trouble is, she still loves Christmas at heart, but can't celebrate it publicly. Hunter gets assigned to write an article about her and the book. They both sign up for a website Christmas Lover's Anonymous. Hence a variation of You've Got Mail. Many similarities follow.

Katrina is spacey. Her book stems from a temper tantrum. She is impulsive. Hunter is not particularly appealing either. There is no chemistry between Brooke Burfitt and Houston Rhines but that is not surprising given that their screen time together comes from random encounters rather than extended time together.

The dialogue is flat. The acting is fair at best. The story is just not that interesting. There are no highs or lows or surprises. The entire feel of this movie is that it lacks the polish.

There is a sequence with both Hunter and Katrina getting ready to meet where both are figuring out what to wear while talking with their closest confidents. It has all the usual. "This one? No. That one." "You like him." "You like her." "No it's just a meeting." The entire sequence was juvenile, flat and not funny.

In the You've Got Mail takeoffs, it annoys me when one of them says "I hoped it would be you." Is it stealing or homage? In this movie, the line is obvious, but slightly different.

Watch this with your partner and you will reference it for years to come. Where others complain of a lack of acting prowess or inconsistency, I find charm and humor. Go into this movie with a smile on your face and you will leave with an even bigger one. Watching this movie, versus a high-budget A-list Christmas movie is the difference between buying Christmas gifts from the nice grandma at your local antique store versus buying consumerist junk at your country-wide, soulless department store. It may not be what they want, but it's what you want them to have, and they will love it. Just say "yes" to Christmas Lovers Anonymous.