The Christmas Temp

...crushed this with superb acting and humor, but why are they not showing up in IMDB cast & credits? Regardless, watch this :)

The artist/decorator must come through and the pressure is on both Hazel and Jonah. Hazel is not easy or comfortable, especially in her art. Jonah's boss wants unique, so Hazel is the right person, even if neither of them believe it at times.

If you give Robin Dunne half a chance, he connects beautifully with his costars. There isn't just chemistry, but there is fun and joy and a little magic. And don't forget the humor. At times it's silly and at other times it's a little more subtle.

Hazel is a flawed and insecure heroine. It seems amazing that she can live in the real world. But she is also funny and full of life and she has a multitude of conflicting emotions swirling around inside her waiting to get out.

There is a lot of dialogue about symbolism and artistic expression and I'm not sure it all makes sense. I don't think it's meant to. There's a lot of mumbo-jumbo and double talk.

The "rival" confrontation has a bit of a different flavor to it but the usual results.

Hazel gets hired to decorate the lobby of a well known hotel boutique. Jonah, if this job gets done well, will get an amazing promotion. That's it.

While I give props for the storyline, which I liked, the execution was done poorly. I would have liked more action, more movement, everyone is standing so still during this movie EXCEPT in the one moment, with the piano, which is not very realistic. I was so bored by this. There was no chemistry between the leads. Also, the acting by the female lead was cringey at times. I'm all for "instant love" if it's done well, but you just don't make a wish about someone you have just met.

However, I will point out that this had a few very funny lines, so stars for that.

Two charming leads with great chemistry put this one in "rewatchable" status. I had just been thinking that Robin Dunne had a real Tom Hanks vibe going on when lo and behold he started to play Christmas songs on the giant piano keys. Coincidence? I don't think so. The plot was interesting and amusing as the struggling female love interest worked to decorate our hero's boutique hotel lobby for Christmas. His job and a possible promotion was on the line, and her art career would get a much needed jump start. I was a little underwhelmed by the final product, but everyone in the movie seemed to like it, so it must have been me.

I did not finish this film, in fact it didn't even last the usual 25-30 minutes that most other films get. This may be due to the fact that I'd just literally endured a poor Christmas film and couldn't get all the way through another, but I'm pretty sure the nutty "Artist" was going to drive me mad and Robin Dunne is nowhere near cute enough for me to put up with the terrible jokes and awkward flirting and banter that these cheaper films throw in to try and make it funny, but fail.

Unscored as unfinished.