A Fiancé for Christmas

We have all seen a fake fiancé movie. Pretty standard. This one starts rather oddly when Sawyer's friend convinces her to make a bridal registry on a lark. A first date leads to Landon taking on the role. The story is not so much the focus as how much fun all misunderstandings and near misses while Sawyer tries to figure out how to deal with everything. Several are quite clever. Amanda Payton has excellent timing and does quite well with the role.

Payton and Adam Gregory have great chemistry. The dialogue is good. There are some great lines. The Anthropologist angle provides a few good ones. The acting is good. Basically, the whole thing is well done.

Both Landon and Sawyer seem to good to be true as characters.

The last part of the movie after the reveal is not quite as sparkling as the rest, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with it.

This film essentially begins with a young obstetrician by the name of "Sawyer" (Amanda Payton) being told by her supervisor "Bill" (James Jamison) that he has decided to retire soon and will be looking for a replacement to run the women's clinic. He then goes on to tell Sawyer that, although she has done an excellent job since her arrival at the clinic, he worries about her burning out because she doesn't have a private life of her own. In short, she's all work and no play. Needless to say, the truth of the matter hits home and causes her to become both disappointed and somewhat depressed. Recognizing this, her friend and colleague "Jules" (Sarah Jayne Jensen) takes her shopping and while there convinces her to fill out a fake engagement announcement using the name of her former boyfriend to cheer her up. Not long afterward, she then meets a young man by the name "Landon" (Adam Gregory) who asks her to join him for some coffee simply to please his sister "Hillary" (Scout Smith) who happens to be a patient of hers. It's during this time that the fake announcement is accidentally discovered by some of Sawyer's friends and, in order to please them, Sawyer convinces Landon to pretend that they're engaged. What they don't count on, however, is the reaction from Sawyer's friends and relatives when they hear the news. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this turned out to be a pretty good romantic-comedy due, in large part, to the acting of Amanda Payton and the chemistry between her and Adam Gregory. And even though the ending was a bit too abbreviated, I still found this movie to be quite enjoyable, and I recommend it to those viewers who might be interested in a film of this type.

This is a very enjoyable version of the fake fiancé trope thanks mostly to plenty of wit and humor in the script and the acting of Amanda Payton. She is adorable and hilarious. When the sweet tooth inflicted obstetrician stuffs a whole cookie in her mouth with her eyes daring the fake fiancé to say anything, I was sold.

Amanda opens a private make believe wedding gift registry for some retail therapy. When it becomes public all of her friends, coworkers, boss, and mother think our workaholic too busy to date heroine is engaged and act accordingly with unrestrained joy and a bridal shower. Her mother even remodels a spare room into a nursery. As one thing leads to another and she feels too trapped to confess the truth and is forced to recruit the handsome brother of a patient into being her fake fiancé. Even her future career rests on not revealing her lie. Romance and hilarity ensue as Sawyer "I wanna marry this dough" and the agreeable Landon become more and more entangled.

Unfortunately, Adam Gregory as Landon is too passive and not up to the task of keeping pace with the force of nature that is Amanda Payton in her role as Sawyer. He is conventionally handsome and just plain conventional, bringing nothing to the table other than his too perfect looks. There is no spark or chemistry although Amanda gives it her all. Marie Osmond is way over-the-top as the high-strung flakey Mom, totally unbelievable as a respected anthropologist, but she is funny. Will someone please tell her to get her hair out of her face though?

The title of the movie is wrong it should be corrected. The title to this movie is A Fiancé For Christmas. It was a good movie I really enjoyed it. Its near impossible to come up with a new movie idea, sure this one has been done before and this one does it well.

The original title, "More than I wish for" seems more appropriate. This movie has nothing to do with Christmas. If the story had been set at Labor Day time, it would not change a iota. It's another spin on the "fake fiancee" theme, where the reasons for needing a fake fiancee are becoming increasingly more outlandish. In this one, it appears whoever knows the lead character, Sawyer, cannot live unless she is engaged, and just a hint this may be happening becomes reason for a 4th of July- like celebration. Hence, you may guess the emotions in the story are far overplayed. The tone keeps wavering between serious and farcical, not necessarily at the most suitable moment. The psychology of the action keeps swinging from cheesy to childish, with occasional charming moments. The mother, Marie Osmond, acts so over the top to suggest a case of severe mental regression. With some caveats, I find Amanda Payton likeable and I really wanted to like the movie. The more I think about it, though, the less I can. Whether it is a case of bad casting, poor acting, a senseless script, or all combined, the result is a mostly forgettable show.