Middleton Christmas

For the first hour of this film, it felt more like a (teen) drama than a Christmas movie. The Christmas in 'Middleton Christmas' does not emerge really until the last 20 minutes or so of the film. To be fair, these 20 minutes are quite festive (notably, the student Christmas concert to raise money for the school). So, how was the film, you ask. Well, it is not a very good Christmas movie. I found myself for the first hour struggling to stay engaged with the film. This is partly to do with the story and partly to do with the quality of acting. Regarding the former, the idea behind the story itself (which I will avoid discussing here, as it is a spoiler) is a noble one; it comes about 60 minutes into the film, by the way. That said, the script was not very strong. There were a number of weaknesses. For example, the writers try to introduce the 'they are not one of us' themes (economic class issue) into the film. It emerges in the scene where the father (Johnny, played by Michael Paré) gives advice to his son (Max, played by Michael Varde) not to get involved with Sam (played by Kennedy Tucker), as he states: 'the girl, she is different than guys like us Max'. In the next scene, it emerges again, though from the other direction, where Lucas (Sam's boyfriend, played by Trevor Stines) tells Sam to stay away from Max as he is not 'one of us'. The writers do a poor job of setting this underlining theme up; it feels rushed and underdeveloped. Similarly, the gravity of what Max does (which I will avoid saying, as it is a spoiler) after the car crash for Sam is underdeveloped. The related scenes feel rushed and, as a result, the viewer (aka me) does not get a sense of the gravity of what Max has sacrificed. The acting, overall, is a bit mixed. Michael Paré, an experienced actor, had a pretty bad performance (I was surprised, to be honest). In many of his scenes, he had some awkward expressions (or simply blank looks) that were not at all in line with what he was saying. His chemistry with Alana (played by Eileen Davidson) was often awkward, that is, it was not very convincing. Davidson, on the other hand, had a decent performance. It is unfortunate; it gets lost a bit due to the poor performance of Paré. The younger couple performed much better, overall. Michael Varde's (as Max) was OK. He too had some blank looks to his lines early on, though his performance improved towards the end of the film. His performance was at his best in the more intimate scenes with Sam. Kennedy Tucker was one of the bright spots in this film, as I thought she had a pretty solid, convincing performance as Sam. I could see her in a popular teen drama series on The CW Network, for example. The chemistry between the two was good, believable. The supporting cast performed well. Trevor Stines, Cheyenne Haynes (as Tasha) and Tim Abell (as nick, the mechanic) all had good performances. However, in the end, it is not a very festive, nor very good, Christmas movie. Hence, you might want to pass on this one this holiday season.

The story revolves around the relationship between a school headmistress played by Eileen Davidson and her daughter and a handy man played by Michael Pare she hired for the school and his son. Relationships between the pairs is the core of the movie. The onscreen chemistry between Pare and Davidson was weak.

The casting, acting, and general direction was uneven. Michael Pare seemed to mumble his way through the movie with low energy. Eileen Davidson was decent but seemed to live in a mansion overly made up for a casual time at home. This may have been intention to emphasize the supposed different in income classes but she usually looked overdressed.

The daughter played by Kennedy Tucker seemed to fit the role best with the son played by Michael Varde had an interesting hair style and silly smile throughout most of he movie. The relationship tried to use the social class difference as what should keep them apart.

The story did not have to have Christmas. It was not even set in a climate where there was snow.

This movie has a real amateurish feel about it. The plot and the writing is pretty so-so. It's not really a Christmas movie. The Christmas element seems to have been added to make the movie more saleable rather than it being important to the plot or feel of the film. This is disappointing.

The movie has an odd tempo. It just plods along. Even when something serious happens it feels pedantic rather than dramatic. It is a feel good movie and the story wraps up nicely, but it's a shame that the storytelling is so lame.

The song at the end is terrible. The girl is clearly lip syncing to someone else. The highly anticipated choreography was a joke!

If you are looking for a good festive feel good movie; avoid this!