Kristin's Christmas Past

Delightful story of a 34 year old woman going back to when she was a girl of 17. The lead actress is very good in this role. How at 34 one can see things like they couldn't at 17. This alone is worth the watch. We also get to see two of the characters at 34 and then at 17 (done with different actors). Nicely done. The filming could have been a bit better- in the opening scenes it was hard to hear the dialogue clearly.

I liked how they showed Kristin's family and the conflicts they were having. The contrast between 1996 and 2013 was also well done- smart phone versus AOL dial up internet. I don't rate them this high unless there was something special.

A Christmas story about mending family ties and a magical time travel to your younger years have been tropes for some time now. When used right these tropes can be done very well. Here, the protagonist wakes up next to her younger self on Christmas Eve and she tries her best to change everything that changes her life forever. The story itself was pretty good. There were a lot of moments and events that were given proper thought, showing how different people react to stuff, and at different ages. But the script was very weak as it felt like it wasn't as smart as the story, even if the story itself is a bit derivative. The characters had some nice archetypes attached to them which could have been explored better but a lot of the dialogues really felt very stupid. But the attractive and charming actors really make a lot of those work. The actors carried the movie, even with a lousy script and a relatively low budget. Overall, even though, this feels right up my alley and I really want to like it, the stupidity in the writing makes me feel it is just average.

Story : Kris, a young woman who made wrong life choices at 17 (in 1996) ends up alone on Christmas at 34 (in 2013). She miraculously finds herself transported at her family home of Christmas 96 and meets her younger self, whom she will try and guide to avoid crucial mistakes and breaking up with her mother (and classicaly, 2 boys are involved...)

I happen to be a great fan of Shiri Appleby (Kris at 34), Elizabeth Mitchell (the mother) and a huge fan of AJ Langer, and all three deliver top performances. Hanna Marks (Kris 17) is quite entertaining too.

This movie is a teenage drama comedy about regrets, untold feelings and forgiveness, brilliantly interwoven, illustrating that afternoon TV movie can be superior art.

There are Christmas films that will rightfully forever be considered as classics and then at the opposite extreme there are those movies which forever exist under the radar, known only to a handful of fans. Kristin's Christmas Past falls into this category, an absolute gem of a film almost completely unknown outside of its fan base.

Its central premise is the heroine's emotional return home, a plot repeated a thousand times in a thousand different Hallmark movies. The difference this time is the quality of the script and the brilliant touching interplay between the leads. Kristin's waking up on Christmas Eve 1996, the year she left her family home never to return, gives us comedy moments, teenage angst and some genuinely heartfelt moments involving Kristin, her father, mother and aunt. One moving scene in particular situated under the Christmas tree is an acting masterclass in itself.

Shiri Appleby does a brilliant job as Kristin, a perfectly pitched and nuanced portrayal of someone trying to atone for past mistakes and to compensate for lost time. Elizabeth Mitchell as her Mother and AJ Langer as her Aunt Debbie both provide strong support and the interplay between the three is very touching. In addition, the scenes involving Kristin and her younger teenage self, played by Hannah Marks, are also well written and performed. There is also a bell chiming scene which is perfectly played by the leads.

Kristin's Christmas Past will forever stay under the radar but do yourself a favour and check it out. You'll soon find yourself adding it to your own classic Christmas movies list.

Lastly, for reasons known only to the film's marketing idiots, the film name was changed to Last Chance Christmas and Debbie Ryan was listed as the star on the poster at Appleby's expense. Ignore this re-writing of history and appreciate the skill and care which was put into this film by Appleby and her co-stars.

A bit of a different take on A Christmas Carol. Kristin is a slutty, narcissistic, lush. She is also more or less failing at life. I found this personality difficult to get past, but some might see the humor and enjoy it. The different approach is that Kristin doesn't visit the past in ghost-like fashion, she actually goes to the past and interacts with herself and her family. For much of the movie, only her past self knows who she really is. It doesn't take the older Kristin long to realize she needs change.

The acting is enjoyable. I loved A.J. Langer as Aunt Debbie.

There might be a couple of ways it can go, but neither would be a big surprise. Even so, I thought it was worth staying with.