Will get one thing off my chest straightaway, the premise did not appeal to me at first. It actually sounded rather uninteresting and 'No Sleep Til Christmas' (which also was not the most appetising of titles) struck me as a film where it would be difficult making a compelling film out of it. Still watched the film anyway as part of my festive film quest and after hearing from trusted friends that it was a much better film than the premise made it sound.
Although it is still not a great film and there is nothing truly amazing about it, 'No Sleep Til Christmas' was also not bad at all which did in all honesty pleasantly surprised me. Do agree with my friends about it being a much better and more interesting film than the premise indicated and am glad about listening to my gut and seeing it anyway without any intended prejudices. It is not going to appeal to all for understandable reasons, so if it doesn't do it for some fair enough.
That Lizzie is such an unsympathetic character with quite dubious morals will be, and has been, a big turn off. This was a problem for me as well to be perfectly honest, when you spend too much of the time disliking a character, questioning their motivations and not seeing them go through much change it does rather dampen one's enjoyment (am not trying to be nit-picky or snobbish here, it's just my feelings on that).
Some of the dialogue is forced and could have flowed more naturally. 'No Sleep Til Christmas' was also for me a film that started off on the slow side but did get better once things warmed up and more went on in the story.
Regardless however of my feelings on Lizzie were, the fault does not lie with Odette Annable who gives it her all and never overplayed or looked bored. She has strong chemistry with her real life husband Dave Annable, who is charming as the far more sympathetic character and the supporting cast support them ably as characters that may be stereotypes but have personalities that aren't obnoxious or dull. So the acting was better than average.
Likewise with the dialogue on the most part. It is flawed, but there are parts that raise a chuckle and others that warm the heart with their cuteness. The balance is also done quite well, there isn't too much of one and not enough of the other and there is less excessive cheese and over-sentimentality than there can be with similarly themed stories/films. It is nicely made and the soundtrack puts a smile on the face.
On the whole, a decent film, despite one particularly major problem, as long as not too much is expected. 6/10
