The Christmas High Note

The story was all over the place. There was no chemistry between the leads. The most appealing part of the movie was the teenage daughter, played by Madeline Grace, but her voice is good, not outstanding. Same with Jamie Luner.

I really hated Brad. So why did Rachel keep giving him hope? He proved himself to be a jerk more than once. The worst of it is, he wouldn't take no for an answer because he didn't think she meant it. And how did they ever get together in the first place? Brad didn't become a total jerk overnight - he's been that way for a long time.

Brad's isn't the only bad behavior by males. The boys laughing during rehearsal deserved a far worse rebuke than "stop laughing". Rachel's dad is no gem either although his bad behavior is a little restrained.

What I liked about this movie is this, it's more down to earth than most. The families seem normal, no one lives in a $9000 apartment on a bookstore employee salary.

The acting was ok to good and love the daddy/daughter relationship. The singing while not the best, is truer to what we would expect from a real life family, and auditions at school. Yes, there are standouts, but most are just good at singing. And this made the movie a little more enjoyable.

Johnny Messner (a fav) and Jamie Lunar chemistry was a little off for falling in love. But again, when we like someone-the first month or so is hit and miss a little while we get to know someone.

It was good to William Katt back at it.

Now on to what I didn't like-Brad. This character was absolutely ridiculous. The seen at the Vet and the Bar, threw the stars down on this movie.

I was pleasantly surprised with The Christmas High Note. The story is quite basic. There are no beautiful castles, picturesque landscapes, cross-country adventures, (time traveling) Christmas carousels, or wishing trees in this one. Rather, it had a down to earth feel to it, which I enjoyed. At the center of the story is Rachel (played by Jamie Luner), who, after being stood up by her boyfriend Brad, meets Michael (our other protagonist in this story, played by Johnny Messner) and his teenage daughter Sophie (played by Madeline Grace). Sophie, who dreams of a singing career, is having some difficulties with her solo for the upcoming Christmas pageant. Rachel, who gives singing and piano lessons, offers to coach Sophie for her big performance. Through this connection, Rachel soon discovers a new romantic interest in Sophie's dad, Michael. What the writers do well in this one are the dialogue and interactions between Sophie and her father (and Rachel and her father), and Michael and his sister Emma (played by Kassandra Clementi). There was an authentic feel to the family dynamics, I felt. What made this work, of course, was the acting. Overall, I thought it was pretty good, strong even, at times. I have not seen Jamie Luner since Melrose Place in the 90s, so I was unsure what to expect. She had a good performance, I thought. There were some nice dialogue and interactions with her father (played by William Katt, he was great, by the way). Johnny Messner too had a very good performance. Indeed, his interactions with his daughter and sister were quite convincing and lovely to watch. A good example of this was the scene the morning after Michael and Rachel's first kiss: the dialogue and exchanges between him and his daughter, then him and his sister were fun and cute (and they felt real). The chemistry between the two (Rachel and Michael) was decent. It started strong, I felt, but faded in the latter half of the film, and the final kiss was unfortunate, I'm afraid. The supporting cast was great. Kassandra Clementi (playing Emma, the sister) was impressive. She had this cute and caring vibe to her performance, which worked great on screen, I thought. Madeline Grace also had a good performance. Again, some good interactions and exchanges with her father in the story. All in all, it is a decent Christmas movie, not as refined as some of the other movies this season, but it did have an authentic feel to it, which is a plus.

The actress Jaime Luner is beautiful. I liked her a lot. By the time the movie was 2/3 over, i hated her after the ex came back. She ecouraged him. Same old tired formula. Guy has weeks beard, the dead spouse, the "misunderstanding" tired tired formula. The singing teacher cant sing!!! She was awful. Went south where i rooted against the couple.

I had recorded this. Thank goodness. I was able to fast forward through most of it. Jamie Lunar's acting was bad or the writing was. The character of Brad was irritating. The story jumped around. It got 3 stars for not having the token gay.