A California Christmas

This was a sweet unassuming movie that had a decent story, solid acting (the two leads are married in real life). In spite of some corny antics by the supporting cast I found it to be better than the critics have said. Some people complain that it isn't a Christmas movie but I don't agree. Check it out.

The real Manny is the star of the movie... he needs his own spinoff.

Joseph needs to convince the owner of this ranch to sell the property so that his company can develop a distribution center. Callie, the owner, doesn't want anything to do with that. So, in order to get close to her and convince her, Joseph poses a "ranch boy" (I think).

We all know how this is gonna to turn out since reading the premise. It's predictable. But it was a sweet movie. Reading the title you expect it to be all happy, Chrismassy, and joyful movie. It wasn't anything like that. Christmas isn't a big part of it, this could have happened in any time of they year and it's actually not relevant when it takes place. There are sad moments that are part of Callie's history, maybe unnecesary but still adds to the plot. My only major complaint, probably, is that we needed a few more laughs.

I like when actors are involved in the production so kudos to Lauren (and Josh) for writing, producing and acting in this. If you are fan of romance/"chick-flick" movies, you'll probably like it.

This was a believable film with some nice moments and good acting from the leads. It definitely isn't a Christmas film though.

If one is looking for originality or strong holiday themes, look elsewhere. I tuned in because I like Josh Swickard. To his credit, he has admitted that the script was written by his wife/co-star in a couple of weeks. And, was filmed on her family's property during General Hospital's Covid-hiatus. With that caveat, I think that California Christmas is very watchable. It does not suffer the stiff blandness of a Hallmark movie. Josh, David del Rio and Ali Ashfar provided a good amount of comic relief. Lauren Swickard successfully threaded the fine line of being a fiercely independent woman who can ask for help when she needs it, as well as acknowledge appreciation for help she might not have initially wanted. Amanda Detmer also rose above what could have been considered an overly sentimental character.