A Star for Christmas

Watching this movie was like driving past a car crash. I didn't want to look away even though it was bad.

While the premise was promising (Yes, I noticed the Notting Hill plot), the writing was sub par, the acting okay, and the chemistry between the two leads non-existent.

The ending was also weird. I know it was a romantic comedy so it's supposed to have a "happily ever after", but the writers just completely rushed it, and got rid of the main antagonist but having her magically pair off with Cassie's strange brother.

Disappointed. They could have done better. 1.5 hours of my life I'll never get back.

This rating and some of the review is probably going to sound like it has been written by somebody who hates Christmas and criticises anything Hallmark and festive. Far from the truth on all counts. Have seen some surprisingly good Hallmark films, festive and overall, and have liked some of the Christmas films seen recently from this year because they succeeded in charming the viewer and warming the heart regardless of the cliches and formulaic storytelling.

'A Star for Christmas' is not one of the best of my recent Christmas film viewings seen as such a fan of Christmas and needing some serious distracting from health woes. Neither is it one of the worst. Somewhere in the low middle if anything. It is certainly semi-watchable and much better than the basic plotline looks like on the page, with some things noticeably done quite well. 'A Star for Christmas' is also not a great film either, with some obvious flaws that are as noticeable as the good things. So not a must see but far from a must avoid as well.

Will start with 'A Star for Christmas' good things. It is nicely photographed and has a quite magical atmosphere in its best parts. Always love nostalgic festive soundtracks, and 'A Star for Christmas' is no exception to that. There is nothing mean-spirited about it and there are moments of charm and heart.

Corey Sevier is a likeable male lead and Brooke Burns steals every scene that she is in.

Briana Evigan is significantly less good though, she looked and sounded wrong for her role which needed someone younger to pull it off rather than someone trying too hard and coming over as annoying and affected. The rest of the cast felt overdone too in very cliched and unsubtly written roles. The dialogue has its moments but really could have done with more energy and too much is very forced and cheesy.

Direction tends to be too routine. Predictability is inevitable in festive Hallmark films, but the predictability here was excessive with at times contrived situations and stereotypical characters and the pace was like the dialogue, more energy was needed. The ending is even cheesier than the dialogue and is also incredibly rushed and unrealistic, especially regarding the antagonist.

In summary, pretty mediocre. 4/10.

I decided to check this out because it has a few people we've liked in later movies, including Briana Evigan. Corey Seivier was excellent in Noel Next Door in 2022 (last year as I write this).

The film started out with two of the most annoying pieces of "new wave" Christmas music I've ever heard, and my first impression was that we would bag this one quickly. Second, it was obviously going to include baking, which I'm exceptionally tired of in Christmas movies.

However, we hung in there for a while and the movie had just enough cute or funny moments to keep me from opting out. It got better as it went along, and gave us some audible laughs.

Briana Evigan is a strange sort of actress. Many of her lines are delivered with too much understatement, and she sounds constantly hoarse. She overcomes that to provide charming characters you root for, however.

This isn't a repeat watch for us, but we were glad to see it once.

The storyline in this movie was abysmal. I hope the writers have gone on to bigger and better things because the world does not need more movies like this written. But what saved it was the acting. Movies like this tend to be really over-acted, and this one wasn't. Specifically, kudos to the girl playing Cassie, who I thought had wasted her talent playing this poorly written character.

A STAR FOR CHRISTMAS Personally I loved this lighthearted quirky movie. Loved the eye candy, Corey Sevier, Travis Van Winkle and Sean Stone, all who carried their characters nobly. Well done guys, amen. Kudos to the girls also to Briana Evigan, Karissa Vacker, and Brooke Burns, job well done. The storyline was funny and enjoyable. I say it was well worth my time. Funny, quirky, cute, steamy. All those nay sayers who think that it is inconceivable that a guy who seems to have it all would fall for a cute, small town gal, I feel sorry for you. Grow up Love is so much more then ill-conceived fantasies. Thanks producers, director, crew for a fun time.