As the other reviewer on here has pointed out, if you think this is another Lifetime or Hallmark romance, Christmas movie, "you are going to be bitterly disappointed". The idea for the story is a touching and welcoming one, which deals with issues around reintegration of military vets after service (and their struggles with PTSD), i.e. their transition back to civilian life. In this movie, the lead character, Nick, has returned from Afghanistan and is starting his new job at a (military aircraft) museum called the Air Zoo, and, as we learn, is struggling with PTSD. The writers draw on the Christmas Carol via Nick's Guardian Angel (named Michelle) who appears to act as Nick's Ghost of Christmas past and future, as a means of helping him with his struggles. Though the ideas behind the story/plot are noble, the acting and production of the film are not very good, I am afraid. The first 20 minutes are more like a promotional video for the museum combined with a sort of historical documentary of WW2 military aircraft and pilots. Don't get me wrong, this is the part of the movie that I enjoyed, as I learned a bit about female pilots during WW2. The main storyline, however, is not very engaging; it did not pull me in at all. I had to stop myself on multiple occasions from grabbing my iPad during this one, which is never a good sign. The script/dialogue was OK (though there were some holes), but this gets lost due to the quality of acting, and production quality in general, which makes this one difficult to watch at times. Michael Welch's portrayal of Nick is OK, overall. For the first 45 minutes or so, his performance was quite dull and stiff. The scene where he pushes his new boss away (when he is invited to their house for Christmas) is a good example of what I am talking about here; it was just awkward. I get he was portraying a vet with PTSD, but if I compare him to, e.g., Brandon Quinn in A Welcome Home Christmas (one of Lifetime's Xmas movies this year), which had a similar story, the performances are a world apart. To be fair, Welch's performance does improve considerably with the Ghost of Christmas past, about halfway into the movie; he has a couple of good scenes later in the film. Lauren Rys Martin's performance (as Michelle) was not much better. Like Welch, she had a very stiff performance overall and some awkward scenes. The supporting cast was not great, many I suspect are not actors. Overall, this is not a very good Christmas movie. If you are into WW2 history, you might check this one out. Otherwise, there is not much Christmas cheer in this one.
