Angel Falls Christmas

Expectations actually weren't very high watching 'Angel Falls Christmas'. While liking Chad Michael Murray elsewhere and feeling that he has come on a long way and liking quite a number of 2021's Christmas output, Jessica Lowndes (with a small group of exceptions) has always been one of my least favourite Hallmark actresses due to finding her screen presence very flat and wooden in most of her films. The premise was one that could have gone either way of sincere and sweet or weird and awkward.

'Angel Falls Christmas' for me was very half and half. It really does start off very rough and it has to be admitted that part of me did consider quitting, but didn't in order to be kind and having seen plenty of films where the film starts off badly but gets better. And luckily 'Angel Falls Christmas' is one of those. It is never a great film and could have done a lot more with its premise, but there are a lot of good things, the good intentions were noble and one aspect really surprised me in a good way. Not one of GAC's best thus far, but also not one of the worst.

There are plenty of good things as said about 'Angel Falls Christmas'. It looks lovely, especially the scenery which really does have a festive magic about it. Without being gaudy or drab. There has in Christmas films from Hallmark, Lifetime, UPTV etc been a real tendency to be over-scored and have music that drowns out the dialogue and is used too much, while nothing exceptional the music was pleasantly festive enough and has some nice nostalgia.

Once the film does get better, the dialogue flows well and has real honesty and maturity, while not being too overly serious. The story is well meaning and has real charm and touching emotion without being too sentimental. Was touched by the ending, even if the outcome was never in any real doubt. The messaging is sincere and isn't laid on too thick. Was very surprised by Lowndes, whose performance has a lot more range than usual and displays a charming personality that doesn't come over as flat and she is a lot more natural than usual. The supporting cast are solid.

Like others, this reviewer did find Murray very unconvincing, he just comes over as very robotic and unintentionally sinister. And this is one of the main reasons as to why the first act was not just very rough but very difficult to sit through. Thought the first act also suffers from a lot of very stilted dialogue, very stiff, static character interaction that would even feel out of date in a silent film, a very weird vibe, uneventful pacing and that the characters weren't interesting yet.

Did find the pacing too often too over deliberate and over-stretched, with the film needing more content for a gentle approach to the material to work. The Gabriel and Ally chemistry is too underdeveloped and phoned in, which stopped me from fully connecting with the premise.

Concluding, a lot to like but could have been more. 6/10.

I like Chad Michael Murray, but he seemed to be talking like a robot in this movie! Also, I didn't find that any of the characters had chemistry. It's a weird one - not the best of the year.

Got to about 20mins in and gave up. CMM is indeed creepy like the other reviewers mentioned and the storyline is blah. There are plenty of decent Hallmarky type Christmas movies out there...this isn't one of them. Skip it!

I'm not sure what happened but CMM's character was very weird. I normally enjoy his acting in movies but this was down right creepy/weird in my opinion. I did not finish watching this movie after the 45 minute mark when CMM was speaking to JL's neighbor and he leaned right into face....just weird.

I'll wait to see other reviews to determine if it possibly worth actually watching.

I must admit, it took me some time to get into this one, but if you can get past the first 30 minutes or so, it turns out to be a pretty good Christmas movie. Leaving the shortcomings aside, 'Angel Falls Christmas' is a heart-warming story with some noble and decent underlining messages about love and relationships, the work vs. Life balance, and about having confidence and believing in yourself. The story follows Ally (played by Jessica Lowndes), an ER doctor who loves her work but is struggling with findings a balance in her daily life, especially, finding time for her love life. The result is a heartbreaking break-up with Josh (played by David Reale) shortly before Christmas. Consequently, her Christmas is not looking very festive this year until she meets Gabe (played by Chad Michael Murray), an angel posing as a barista who helps Ally through this difficult time and regain the Christmas spirit she once had years ago (before the loss of her parents). And so, our story begins as we watch these two grow closer as they check off all the activities on Ally's Christmas list. As others have already pointed out, the story here is similar to the 2017 Hallmark movie, 'Christmas in Angel Falls'. The concepts are similar, but the outcomes are different. If I had to choose between the two, the Hallmark one is (marginally) better, both in terms of the writing and acting. Anyway, the strength of this story, I felt, is the dialogue between Ally and Gabe, the heart-to-heart scenes they have together. The dialogue here is warm and touching with some decent underlining messages to boot. One of the issues I have with the script is the dual romance storyline for Ally: Gabe and Ally vs. Josh and Ally. The first is unsatisfying. The writers could have done a better job of setting this up via Gabe's character. For example, a backstory would have been nice. I thought the acting, overall, was pretty good. Now I agree, Murray had a 'stiff' performance (as other reviewers point out) for roughly the first 30 minutes of the film. This, I believe, is intentional. I think he is trying to portray an angel not accustomed to human emotions, hence the stiffness in his acting, especially early on in the story. Murray's manner, expressions, and dialogue do begin to change as we watch him fall for Ally (experience emotions) as the story progresses. And this is what I think he is going for in the film. Did it work? Well, it did for me, but as you can see in other reviews, it did not for others. That said, the scenes where he teaches Ally life lessons or is encouraging her are quite lovely to watch on-screen. He does a brilliant job of portraying Gabe's passion and feelings for Ally, portraying a sense of sincerity, a sense of caring for Ally that is convincing. Lowndes is at her best in these moments as well. Indeed, in these scenes, the chemistry between them is great. The scene where Lowndes and he sing/play Noelle is one. Their final scene together is another. Lovely scenes to watch. The supporting cast is strong. Samora Smallwood (as Ally's best friend Dawn), Reale (as Josh), and Jane Luk (as Maureen, the other Angel in this one) all have excellent performances. Finally, the movie has plenty of Christmas spirit and festive cheer from baking cookies and decorating a tree to some gorgeous (Christmassy) decorations and scenery throughout. All in all, 'Angel Falls Christmas' is a pretty good Christmas movie. Not one of the best, nor one of the worse this season. If you can manage to get past the first 30 minutes or so, you're likely to enjoy the rest.