A '90s Christmas

The look of all the 90s "kids" really took me out of the story. Not only Lucy and Matt but also the sister and best friend look like they're at least in their mid-twenties. None of these people look like they should be playing teens OR 40+ year olds. I had fully expected different actors when we jumped back 25 years(!!) in time. One really has to wonder why it was done this way, because it's baffling and utterly distracting.

I'm not even getting into time travel paradoxes here, because for something that had the 90s as a hook, it was quite sloppy on that end as well.

The premise wasn't bad but the result is.

I like Hallmark movies, and I even like the cheesy Hallmark movies. This was, however, SO bad that after it's over I'm angry. The idea for the movie was good, but it did not remotely deliver - hence the frustration. The writing, acting, casting, costumes & makeup, even the sets - no real thought to the eras they're in, how to make it believable, or why we should care. The mom was good (I actually could believe she was grieving) and the ride share driver/spirit? Angel? Was likable. One star for each. But dear god, the rest of it was unwatchable.

For good time travel Christmas movies watch: Journey Back to Christmas, Kristin's Christmas Past, A Shoe Addict's Christmas, A Timeless Christmas, and one for Hanukkah - Round and Round. They're good! And I'll still be waiting for a good time travel '90s centered movie.

"Next Stop, Christmas", "Christmas at the Plaza" and "A Biltmore Christmas" are my three favourite Hallmark Christmas time travel movies.

"A 90's Christmas" - despite it's Joshua Jackson, Lou Bega, Palm Pilot and Y2K references - isn't quite on the same level as that trio, but it's a fun film that admittedly takes a little while to get going. The finale is worth the wait.

Eva Bourne is great as workaholic, friendless but professionally successful lawyer Lucy. She is given a chance by a mysterious ride share driver Grace (Katherine Barrell) to go back to her home town of Milwaukee for Christmas 1999 to right some wrongs.

There are some fun moments and some poignant ones, and the montage right near the end of the movie - no spoilers here! - was touchingly done.

Glad I stuck with this one, despite an uneven first fifteen or twenty minutes.

This movie has a nouveau Hallmark feel to it; it's progressive, aka, featuring same-sex couples, and the humor is edgier and more modern.

It starts with what I would estimate is a 30-something attorney, who has just made partner at her firm. (Turns out, she is allegedly 43, but this actress is not a day over 34.) As she contemplates her mom/sister's invitation to go back home for Christmas (she currently lives in Chicago), she stays staunchly married to the idea of avoiding it. Eventually, she takes a ride-share with mysteriously intuitive driver (*cue the magic chime sound*), then falls asleep. It's then and there that the movie drifts back to 1999, complete with her living at home in her 90s bedroom.

As just about 80% or more of most Hallmark or GAF Christmas movies tend to do, there is a need to suspend reality and go boldly into 'pretend'. Nothing is meant to be truly realistic, except for the moral of the movie -- which does a decent job of exploring what matters vs. What may not (in life). I loved the actress playing her Mom, who is also in "To Have and to Holiday", and I also appreciated the super funny references to old dial-up sounds, the fact that we all considered "ask jeeves"-type search engines to be THE authority of information, and the truth that Mambo #5 was absolutely a one-hit wonder for...whomever that was.

There were almost no slow or boring moments, and the chemistry among the actors was palpable. It looked like they had fun making the movie.

I did wonder what happened to her assistant, as just about every character had a new life outcome, but he just didn't get shown or mentioned again. Maybe his role was to establish the progressive feel of the movie.

I will say that the one thing I didn't love was the Friends reference to "Lobster". I can still hear Phoebe's voice in that scene, and I'm so over Friends now; most of all, I would much rather the writers of this movie come up with their own creative terms/ideas, vs. Leaning on old Friends humor.

I loved Maxey, the dog, and the adorable trick he did mid-movie. The ending montage was enough to make me - a perennially dry-eyed hallmark watcher - tear up.

On my personal ranking scale, this was nearly a DND for me. ("Do Not Delete" from my DVR)

My partner and I love the 90s and so were really excited to watch a ridiculous Christmas movie about traveling back in time, however, this has NOTHING to do with the 90s. It's almost as if no one in the movie actually lived through them. The clothing was just modern Christmas. The makeup was 2024. There was one 90s song and that was it. If someone didn't explicitly tell you this was 1999, you would never, ever know it. Also, to go from supposedly 44 to 19-years-old all she did was remove her fake glasses (yes, they legitimately had no lenses). I was ready for a trip down memory lane and they absolutely did not deliver.