Charming Christmas

Rossman's is a family store. Meredith Rossman (Julie Benz) is a driven business woman looking to take over from her parents who are concerned about her lack of personal life. Her mother hires Nick (David Sutcliffe) as the new Santa. The old Mrs. Claus costume is discovered and her mother pushes her to play the role. Window designer Jessie wants her son Tyler to spend more time with his father in the custody negotiation. With no daycare, Meredith reluctantly allows Tyler to be an elf. Her assistant Olivia is pushing everything aside to hold onto her dancing dreams.

This is a Hallmark movie and has that level of realism. It's fluff and Christmas fluff at that. This is not a real store and these are not real people. I do like Benz as an ice queen and Sutcliffe is perfectly nice to melt her heart. These are two veteran actors who can act the hell out of the longing stares. That is this movie's only essential need. The chemistry is fine and the side characters have something to do. The story does ramble around with no apparent destination. Even at a lower bar, this does struggle to clear it.