Razão, Sensibilidade & Bonecos de Neve

I am biased I will admit. Not crazy about the two lead characters - they always act the same no matter the script.

Most of the time I can stomach the male lead. The female lead is annoying, as usual. But I liked Kimberly's character so I gave it four more stars than I would have done otherwise.

This Hallmark holiday romance takes place in Chicago, where two sisters---Ella (Erin Krakow) and Marianne (Kimberley Sustad)---run a party-planning company. They have difficulty, naturally, with one client named Edward (Luke Macfarlane), who is the CEO of Ferris Wheel Toys.

I enjoy Erin Krakow, but the relationship between the two sisters was annoying. It seemed like Marianne was always dismissive of her sister. As for the Edward character, he is meant to be somewhat annoying. And he suffers from Impostor Syndrome. Eventually, their oil-and-water relationship turns to playful teasing , then to actual sharing. Still, the chemistry was somewhat lacking.

The script offers little originality, though the "Sense &Sensibility" theme is loosely relevant.

These people are wealthy, or wealthy enough. They have perfect skin and exist in well-appointed movie sets. Everything is carefully thought out, including the dialogue. They unwrap gifts on Christmas morning, and they float in an ocean of coloured paper. You don't have to think. It's made for Christmas. Who wants toi think at Christmas time? It's already stressful.

Most awkwardly is the use -- and I use this word "use" purposefully -- of the Af-Am kid, whom the leads, as babysitters, take out for fun and frolic. The attempt to be "multi-racial" is so strained it hurts. The kid seems to be in another movie altogether, one in which he has been abducted by these two white aliens with great teeth. Equally awkward is Erin Krakow, who, when it comes to dramatic turns, displays the gamut of emotions from A to B. Her facial expressions just can't stretch that far.

The only reason to watch this is guilty pleasure Luke Macfarlane. He is gorgeous and watchable, and plays the part suitably. I was in a hotel room when I came across it, and went to the hotel gym and ran on a treadmill and watched the rest of it. It was Christmas and it was fine.

5.6 stars.

Reminds me of my high school days. This is not something to take seriously. It's as if a bunch of awkward teenagers inherited multi-million dollar companies, and were left to their own devices to run them into the ground.

The older sister and responsible guy have the burden of keeping the younger ones focused and on track. Younger sister and her guy are acting like 16 year olds, and their older counterparts are like parents, yet they are all basically the same age. Younger sister is trying to get her older sister to be proud of her, but is she really? I don't know to be honest, it's all over the place.

It's a semi-fun movie, like a couple of kids are doing a school project with no sense of responsibility.

What's not to love about the cast? I like all of them, they rarely disappoint. This looks like it was a fun script, but who is the targeted demographic? Doesn't seem to be a kids movie, not for the YA fans, so whom? I am getting mixed feelings, but nothing is coming to mind but one word: silly.

Go into this with no expectations, just to smile and have some fun. Break out the hot chocolate, put this on if you have no agenda for anything with a particular theme or purpose.

5/10 - this movie stacks holiday movie cliché upon holiday movie cliché and will not be remembered in more than a few weeks