A Ring for Christmas

Where to begin with this one...well, I did manage to get thru it, which I am proud of, as it was difficult to watch and stay engaged with at times. The storyline is not very good. I do understand it is a made-for-TV movie, so maybe I am being a bit too harsh. That said, the script was also rather weak. I have, over the years, noticed that UPtv and ION often have these original movies where there is this, what I call, 'corky' humor. It does not really work for me. The actors too often overact in such scenes; an example in this one is the performance of Kate McGarrigle as Paulette (Angie's friend). Maybe this is bad acting, or maybe it is what they and the director/writer are after, I do not know, but I find it difficult to watch for the most part. The acting overall in this movie was unimpressive. The lead (and writer of the film), Liliana Tandon (playing Angie), was difficult to watch at times. Do not get me wrong, she had a couple of decent scenes, but overall, her performance was mediocre at best. If it was not for the performance of Dean Geyer as Gabe, this movie would have been too difficult to finish. He had a pretty good performance. The supporting cast was not very impressive either. Another reviewer on here stated, 'Angie's former teacher, in a dialogue with her did not even make eye contact with her but was looking over her shoulder to read her lines.' I read this and immediately laughed because I was thinking something was off with her performance. Now I know why. Funny. They should have given more lines to Michael Gross (the dad), as he too had a good performance. There was a bit of Christmas cheer and a festive atmosphere, especially towards the (e.g., the children at school), which was nice. And the scenery and sets were nice, were festive. Overall, I am sorry to say, this edition to UPtv's 2020 Christmas season was a big disappointment.

When I saw that the writer of this mess was the female lead, that mystery was compounded. The acting of virtually everyone in this show was really really bad. Angie's former teacher, in a dialogue with her did not even make eye contact with her but was looking over her shoulder to read her lines. I kid you not. Check it out. The school scenes were painful to watch. The writer obviously has never met a real child in her life.

The leads were badly cast. The "hot jock/coach" was not only not hot, he was not even fit looking. The female lead did not look the part of the spoiled rich beauty. I thought she was attractive, but she should have been glammed up and had conventionally pretty features. (Because let's face it, if she was spoiled and rich, work would have been done.) The script did not make sense. Why would a loving mother just "just cut her daughter off" from her allowance. Angie was kind and generous hearted and very intelligent. She had some large bills, but no foundation was laid for such an action. She should have insisted her daughter get a job and become self supporting, yes, but get a job first. And put her on a budget. Put a limit on her credit cards.

The whole thing was very disjointed like it was put together with scotch tape. The characters were not consistent. Their personalities did not match their actions. It had a whole "Hey gang, let's put on a show!" feel.

The writer/actress, Liliana Tandon, has an impressive resume. What happened here? Why would she write herself such a dumb part in such a amaturish movie. How did it get green-lighted? The preview made this look funny and entertaining. I hate-watched the last hour and a half. Very disappointed.

Granted I watched it just to see the scenes of my Newburyport (and they were beautiful as the city is) but I really did not expect it to be as bad as it was. Terrible script, truly awful acting. How desperate for money would Lorraine Bracco have had to be to be involved in this? It made all the dreck on Hallmark and Lifetime look like great cinema.

I really think some of the other reviewers are being harsh. Christmas movies are supposed to be cheesy and not that believable. Kind of like Santa Claus (sorry, kids). This movie had all the elements of a good Christmas movie: holiday music and snow and making cookies and drinking cocoa. The point is to get into the holiday spirit and this movie certainly will do that for you (though reading the other reviews will not!)

To be sure, the plot isn't perfect. There are some inconsistencies and holes. The main character was a bit problematic, in that she was supposed to be spoiled and bratty at the beginning, then shift to someone more likable, but in fact, she never seemed all that horrible to begin with, which made it difficult to see a real change over the course of the movie. However, the reviews about the actress's looks are plain mean and unnecessary. She is very pretty and played the part well. The other actors also did a nice job and I especially liked Kate McGarrigle, who plays Angie's hilarious best friend. Give this movie a chance, it will make you laugh and give you a warm Christmas feeling, which is really all you can ask for in a Christmas movie.

After months of spending money in an extremely reckless manner, a spoiled, young woman living in New York City named "Angie Moore" (Liliana Tandon) is finally cut off from her allowance by her mother, "Margaret Moore" (Lorraine Bracco). Needless to say, Angie is devastated by this news, at least at first. Things change, however, when she learns that her deceased father had started a trust fund for her with the promise to pay an extremely large amount of money to her if she marries someone by Christmas. Not having anyone who will take her up on this, she then travels to her old hometown to look for a former high school crush named "Tyler Davis" (Charles Hittinger), who is not only single but is desperate to acquire enough money to start his own business. While there, she also meets her very best friend "Gabe Hudson" (Dean Geyer), who is also single--and happens to be a good friend of Tyler. And this causes problems for everyone involved. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this wasn't a bad movie necessarily, but it suffered from a rather predictable plot and mediocre acting all around. Not only that, but quite frankly, it also lacked the necessary humor and chemistry needed for a film of this sort as well, and for those reasons, I have rated this movie accordingly. Slightly below average.