Meet Me Under the Mistletoe

Nothing special but a few nice moments.

It's a big plus that the main male character is not an abusive, toxic male, which the main female character has to endure in order to discover some of his good sides and, in the end, fall in love with him.

The guy in this movie was actually a decent guy from the beginning. Even the characters' initial rivalry was set up without us hating the guy!

It is a lovely fairy tale about the mistletoe growers - from their relationship, through their 'magic' to how dreamy their house was.

Unfortunately, despite having all the good elements, something didn't work in this movie. Perhaps the lack of chemistry between the two leads... Or the lack of chemistry between the main lead and her girlfriend characters...

The first 30 minutes of the movie which plays out the competition between the two real estate agents feels very forced.

The relationship between the aunt and the niece, their giggling like a little teenagers also, doesn't feel natural.

Slowly, ever, so slowly, they start to decide that they like working together, and being together.

Very typical Hallmark plot, but it moves so very slowly. I'm an hour into this and it feels like I've been watching it for three hours.

Simon Arblaster as Jeff is stiff. Sarah Fisher is Eva does OK, but I'm not feeling the chemistry.

So much of the dialogue feels stiff and forced.

This is when you can skip.

We bagged this one after the male real estate agent inserted himself into a meeting between a couple and a female real estate agent. That was after I already had serious doubts because all the women in every scene were so perky and smiley I developed a concern they'd crack our TV screen.

Back to the real estate side. I've had real estate agents as clients, friends, and agents for more than 30 years. I've never seen ANY indication that one agent would break into another agent's meeting to poach a client. First of all, I don't think there's a broker in the business who would tolerate it. Complete turn off, and so we turned this mess off.

Sarah and Simon do a fantastic job sharing a story of how two rivals with personal internal struggles come together at work to accomplish a huge project. The push-pull of the relationship gets your heart pumping at key moments. Love the concept of a niece living with a relative for education purposes, including that the niece is not a boneheadded teenager but a balanced teen that can enjoy the education pursuit and still enjoy the romance of her aunt. Extremely purehearted movie with a few Christmas capers tied in. Despite other reviews, I think the chemstry is fantastic and Sarah Fisher's natural beauty is a huge draw. Robin Dunne is one of my favs as he has done awesome work and this one is no exception. All the supporting cast is FABULOUS! NIce to see Paul and Jan together again this year as a power couple! Enjoy!!

In the beginning, I hated Jeff with a passion. He was everything I hate which is one thing, but the Jeff of the first 20 minutes was the antitype of a romantic lead. Guess what? His personality magically softened, as well as his attitude toward Eva. Instantly, which is typical in these movies. I had problems with Eva too, even though she was a little more generous and upbeat. But her arrogance and competitiveness almost matched Jeff's.

What was worse, was the actors. Sarah Fisher often looked like she had severe gastric discomfort. Her delivery was poor. Simon Arblaster wasn't much better less the uncomfortable demeanor. The two have no chemistry. They each look so uncertain when being nice or saying something nice to the other. Most of these movies have friends commenting on how the couple must be in love because of the "way you look at each other". There are none of those looks here.

Many of the supporting actors were also bad. One exception was Jerni Stewart as Bonnie. She is meant to be appealing from the start plus being the mediator. Only trouble is that she looks and acts like an adult or at least college age. The actor is 22.

The dialogue was a little flat. The movie lacks the spark that makes it fun.

The story is slightly unusual with two competing realtors working together to sell one house. But the point is to throw Jeff and Eva together so they can develop a relationship. Selling the house becomes their Christmas project together. There isn't much of a story except for Eva's dream of being a novelist which she has put aside while she sells houses.