Encontro de Natal

I find "The Christmas Setup" sweet and romantic. The two characters are likable, and I really feel for them. Even though the plot is predictable, I enjoyed watching it.

I like the mov a lot. Simply and warm. Particularly so hard to find a gay Christmas movie. If you are looking for something cute, and will give you joy. This will be the movie for you.

Acting is a little stiff but the story line is good. The main characters, Hugo and Patrick, are married in real life and their love for each other came through beautifully. I would recommend this movie to everyone. Good for Lifetime to show such an open minded movie with no bigotry.

In the newest sub-genre - the gay Christmas movie - this one is the best so far. Within the strict confines of the genre, the solid writing and directing and the strong performances manage to breathe some fresh life and vitality into the predictable plot and Christmas movie tropes.

It helps a lot that there's real romantic chemistry between the two leads - who are married in real life - and their acting is considerably stronger than the typically C-List actors who are plugged into these cookie-cutter holiday romcoms.

Fran Drescher does her familiar shtick as a loving and meddling mama. Whether or not you buy her ultra-Jewish persona as a Christmas obsessed woman is another story. As a matter of fact, all three of the leads seem kinda Jewish. Fine. They should live and be well.

As much as I'm not much in the holiday spirit this year. This movies pleasantly surprised me. I laughed and was in awe as Ben Lewis and his real life husband played their parts like they've never even met before. And they both stole each scene respectively. I may just watch it again for the beauty and heart that was put into making this.