The best way to describe a 'Christmas CEO' is: it's good enough. It is not as bad as some of the reviews suggest. Sure, it is not one of Hallmark's best, but to be fair, it is certainly not one of their worst. I think one of the main problems was casting. The story follows Christmas (played by Marisol Nichols), aka Chris, a hard-working CEO of a small toy company who gets an offer of a lifetime: a merger with one of the most successful toy companies and, more importantly, she will become its new CEO. However, there is a catch. She needs her former partner/friend Joe (played by Paul Greene) to sign off on the merger. The problem is, they haven't spoken in years. Joe agrees to sign if she is willing to help him with his charity this Christmas. And so, our journey begins as we watch these two mend the past, rediscover what they truly want and, maybe, just maybe, find a future together. At face value, the plot was decent for a Hallmark production. The writers do a pretty good job with the dialogue, especially those scenes where Chris and Joe reminisce about their past together. These were heartfelt and nicely written. The problem, however, is that the two don't feel like a good match. The writers could have done a better job of convincing us that they actually are. The casting in this respect did not help. Simply put: there seemed to be a disconnect between Nichols's performance and her character. They did not line up, I felt. The chemistry between her and Greene was not bad, but the idea that these two would end up together took away from this element of their performance, I'm afraid. The sequel to this one would have to look like the plot shakeup in this year's 'The Nine Kittens of Christmas'. Leaving these issues aside, Greene had a very strong performance, I thought. His charisma and charm really shine on-screen. He (and Nichols) had some nice scenes with Chris's niece Emma (played by Veronica Marin-Estrada). She had a lovely performance. The movie also had a wonderful Christmas vibe to it. There was plenty of Christmas spirit and festive cheer in this one, which I did enjoy. Hmm...I am not sure about the reindeer race game. All in all, it is a decent Christmas movie with a couple of bright spots that shine through here and there. If you are a fan of Hallmark Christmas movies, then you might want to check this one out.
