Christmas CEO

I remember when Hallmark Christmas movies were cute and there was a little bit of an attempt at a story line. Now that they churn out so many movies each Christmas season, Hallmark really doesn't care if there even IS a story line.

Intro of movie shows main characters Joe and Christmas (no, I didn't make this up, that's her name 🙄) selling homemade toys as children. It's 1999. Fast forward 22 years which would make Joe and Chris between 35 to 40 years old. Joe and Chris, although they have aged better than most, are clearly not between 35 to 40 years old. Chris always wanted to be CEO of a toy company. For some reason, Joe does not share in Chris' enthusiasm of having a profitable business, so he abandons the partnership of the toy company and disappears. They haven't communicated in seven years. When Chris gets an offer to merge their company with another, she quite easily locates Joe exactly where you would presume he would be, but for some reason, a random Santa Claus had to give her that information.

Joe and Chris meet up. Joe tells his dad he always had feelings for Chris, but never shared them. Her zeal for success was a real turnoff for him. Typically for Hallmark, there is usually another love interest that provides some drama in the story. This, however, didn't happen in Christmas CEO. There really was no plot, no conflict. It left me wondering how tired the writers must have been when they slapped this script together.

The obligatory child was thrown in to this story, in this case, a teenaged niece of Chris. My daughter and I were in tears when Joe lovingly scooped up this sleeping adult-sized "child" to put her to bed. Super cringey.

Truly disappointing as I set my PVR to watch this one as I am a Paul Greene fan and have enjoyed some of other movies, especially Anything for Love. I didn't like the female love interest.

This Hallmark holiday romance lacks chemistry between the two romantic leads, but follows an unsurprisingly plot to be a moderately entertaining story. The part-owner of a toy company hopes to merge with a larger company, but needs the signature of the other owner of her company, who is now estranged from her.

One highlight is the young actress Veronica Marin-Estrada, who is debuting in this film.

The story wraps up much as expected, but never delivers the emotional satisfaction of many other Hallmark films.

The premise has been done, sort of. Joe holds Christie's business hostage so that she has to help him with a charity gig.

I didn't see a lot of Chemistry between Nichols and Greene. As much as I loved Nichols' last Christmas movie, I don't think she was cast right for this one. Christie's personality is too hesitant for a CEO, not only in action but in the harried, almost frightened look she has most of the time. She is supposed to start out as totally numbers driven, the brains behind the business side, but it just doesn't fit.

Joe is the opposite. He is scornful of not just making a profit, but of even considering economic reality at all. I can't like this matchup in the long run.

The niece is a breath of fresh air in the movie.

The best way to describe a 'Christmas CEO' is: it's good enough. It is not as bad as some of the reviews suggest. Sure, it is not one of Hallmark's best, but to be fair, it is certainly not one of their worst. I think one of the main problems was casting. The story follows Christmas (played by Marisol Nichols), aka Chris, a hard-working CEO of a small toy company who gets an offer of a lifetime: a merger with one of the most successful toy companies and, more importantly, she will become its new CEO. However, there is a catch. She needs her former partner/friend Joe (played by Paul Greene) to sign off on the merger. The problem is, they haven't spoken in years. Joe agrees to sign if she is willing to help him with his charity this Christmas. And so, our journey begins as we watch these two mend the past, rediscover what they truly want and, maybe, just maybe, find a future together. At face value, the plot was decent for a Hallmark production. The writers do a pretty good job with the dialogue, especially those scenes where Chris and Joe reminisce about their past together. These were heartfelt and nicely written. The problem, however, is that the two don't feel like a good match. The writers could have done a better job of convincing us that they actually are. The casting in this respect did not help. Simply put: there seemed to be a disconnect between Nichols's performance and her character. They did not line up, I felt. The chemistry between her and Greene was not bad, but the idea that these two would end up together took away from this element of their performance, I'm afraid. The sequel to this one would have to look like the plot shakeup in this year's 'The Nine Kittens of Christmas'. Leaving these issues aside, Greene had a very strong performance, I thought. His charisma and charm really shine on-screen. He (and Nichols) had some nice scenes with Chris's niece Emma (played by Veronica Marin-Estrada). She had a lovely performance. The movie also had a wonderful Christmas vibe to it. There was plenty of Christmas spirit and festive cheer in this one, which I did enjoy. Hmm...I am not sure about the reindeer race game. All in all, it is a decent Christmas movie with a couple of bright spots that shine through here and there. If you are a fan of Hallmark Christmas movies, then you might want to check this one out.

The only thing she's ever wanted in her life - to be CEO of a toy company... THEN why does she basically give it up for a guy? Hallmark - you missed the mark on this one. Casting was off too. Paul Greene's character was annoying and he was kind of a jerk. Not a good look for the "nice guy of Hallmark movies." Marisol Nichols was too tentative to be a CEO of ANYTHING. The niece was good though...LOL.