Christmas Is You

Trying to watch this movie but just can't get in to it. The lead actors have zero chemistry. The story is kinda all over the place. After fast forwarding several times I just gave up and stopped watching..

Another save the festival movie. The other half of the story is another common one. Emma is sent back to her home time to connect with an old flame and do a deal so she can earn a promotion.

The way Emma's backstory is revealed is a bit unusual in that it is done by her brother telling her boss.

You can see the conflict coming from a thousand miles away. I don't really understand Emma's hesitance to admit her mission. She has a lot of confusion because one minute she says one thing and the next it's another. I really don't understand Tyler's reaction given what he owes Emma. Things get a bit twisted so maybe that is explanation enough, but not for me.

Emma's boss is way too nice, but totally stupid in what she does.

Tobin looks her mid thirties age and perhaps even younger, but the almost decade older MacCaull obviously isn't the same age which the characters are supposed to be.

There are several performances by Becca Tobin and Matthew MacCaull. There duets are good including what appears to be an original song. MacCaull does OK, but when not doing harmony, he's not quite superstar singer material.

Yikes, every line in this movie is either expository, or pointless.

The shooting is way better than most Hallmark movies, and the editing as well. But the script is just awful. I can't even imagine how this script was greenlit. The director has given the actors nothing to work with, so the whole film is like a very well made table read of inane dialogue.

I wanted to like this film , against cliches, music as new pretext and crisis of space for significant show of young people.

In part, I was enough lucky to discover its good points , from family spirit and the wise mother, to the provocative tensioned moment when the hope of no nice final was real fresh.

But , sure, romance and Christmas, the return of hero and the feelings from youth more than present are useful details for not ignore the consacrated recipe . And reproches are far to be fair , the acting being decent, the story not boring and the supporting actors , near the romance of young couple working not awful.

So, nice .

And it is just enough - grace to some music, off course.

GAC continues to give very decent entertainment for the Holidays. The story is simple, the actors, Becca Tobin and Matthew MacCaull are unspoiled, down to ground, and work quite well together. All characters feel genuine, never offensive, and not conveying subliminal messages. As seen in other GAC productions, the decor of the interiors is rich in colors and tradition, reminiscent of Norman Rockwell's art. You may like it or not, but it seems distinctive and feels comfy. The stars duet, "Silent Night", sung with no frills, goes straight to the heart. It is done exactly as it was created by Franz Gruber and Joseph Mohr in 1818: just simple voices and a guitar. Certainly, one could be critical of this or that detail. Regardless, in my book, simplicity, tradition and kindness go a long way in a Christmas movie.