Let It Snow

This is one of those Christmas romance movies that the Hallmark Channel specializes in. It stars Candace Cameron Bure as Stephanie Beck, a hospitality industry exec who is sent to the Snow Valley Lodge by her father to assess its profit potential as the newest acquisition by their firm. There she meets Brady Lewis (played by Jesse Hutch), the son of the owners of Snow Valley. From the start, it's an oil-and-water relationship, with no apparent possibility for romance.

But they do have one thing in common---they harbor no affection for Christmas, though for different reasons. Stephanie and her father do not celebrate the Christmas season. She lives in Arizona and has never seen snow fall. Brady, on the other hand, was raised with all the trappings of Christmas at Snow Valley, where they enshrine all the traditions and dedicate themselves to making the season special for their guests. However, family conflicts have soured him on the yearly celebrations.

Stephanie Beck is a role that seems designed for Bure. She does a convincing job of showing us the changes in her character. Though most of the plot is predictable, her enthusiasm carries the viewer along, to share in the magic that is Christmas.

This is a film filled with touching moments, guaranteed to satisfy true romantics.

As has been said quite a few times, Hallmark's Christmas output is very hit and miss. Some though are above average level, and there are some surprisingly enjoyable ones amongst the average and less films that there is in a good deal of in their output. Have been on a roll for the past couple of years watching and reviewing as many Hallmark and Lifetime Christmas films every now and again and it has been interesting despite the quality being uneven.

'Let it Snow' is to me among Hallmark's better festive efforts and certainly for that year. It is light years away from being a masterpiece or flawless and will admit to considering bailing early on, but stick with it as it does get better. 'Let it Snow' was a pleasant watch and is really not bad when taken for what it is and judged for what it's meant to be. Which is an inoffensive if uneven and hardly unique watch and not a cinematic classic or milestone.

It is very professionally filmed and the locations are simply beautiful. A lot of Hallmark's Christmas films suffer from being over-scored, meaning being too constantly used and too loud. That isn't so big a problem here generally. While the characters are not meaty or original, none of them annoyed me and nor did they bore me. The leads were easier to connect to than expected. They also had personality traits that appealed and any negative traits were not exaggerated, which can be a common problem with female lead characters particularly in Hallmark's Christmas output.

Candace Cameron Bure is a big reason as to why 'Let it Snow' works, she has a likeable character worth identifying with and Bure is just beguiling. Jesse Hutch's character isn't as interesting but is an amiable and subtly charming presence too. Their chemistry is genuine and always at ease. Am not usually a fan of Alan Thicke, but this is one of his better performances where he manages to make something heartfelt out of a potentially annoying character. All the cast are fine in their own way.

While the dialogue is not what one would call amazing, it is not as cheesy or as forced as a lot of festive films or films with similar story types. The story is formulaic, but is also immensely charming and heart-warming. There is nothing mean-spirited about it and it is genuinely moving without going overboard on the sentimentality.

As said though, the story is very formulaic and the film is not for those that dislike cliche overload, with most of the characters and situations as cliched as they come it does make things very predictable.

Furthermore, the ending is on the too easy and corny side and maybe some of the music could have had more personality.

Overall, well done. 7/10.

A city girl not used to winter Christmases is sent to check out a resort her father is buying. There she meets the resort owner's son and you know what happens as she grows to love the snow and the resort. One good point is it seems really to have been filmed in the snow not a sound stage. Candace Cameron Bure is quite alright in this movie - not too perky not too cutesy. It is her territory the Hallmark Christmas movie. To balance things Jesse Hutch acts quite seriously so things are balanced out. Alan Thicke has a role as her father and it's quite poignant.

7.5 stars.

This is about a wealthy young woman traveling from Phoenix, Arizona to spend Christmas week at a northern winter lodge in Maine. She works for her real estate mogul of a father who buys resorts and upgrades them to meet the expectations of a specific sort of vacationer: mainly the rich kind. She is not keen on this trip and wants nothing to do with the cold, winter, and snow of the north. She is as icy cold inside as the climate on the outside and it shows, because she is rude and unapproachable from the start.

As the week continues and she begrudgingly participates in the holiday activities, the nice vacationers in this quaint town resort eventually melt her heart. Of course she also falls in love with the owner's son, and he helps transform her anti-Christmas mentality into something wonderful. She finally accepts that Snow Valley must survive as something more than one of her father's soulless acquisitions. She has discovered a special kind of magic here, where snow falls and people wish upon a star, and little children dream of sugar plums dancing.

I enjoyed this nice little excursion and the feeling of being nestled in a snowy, woodsy, and mountainous wonderland. 'Let It Snow' brings a gratifying sentimental feeling like Christmases when I was a child.

So, is it sentimental and formulaic? Certainly, but what they do with that formula is something special. And the sentimentality never crosses over into corny. The leads are charming and wonderful to look at, but intelligent & thoughtful too. Filmed in a beautiful location with sets dressed in a lovely non-cloying manner, this film sets itself apart from the "regular" holiday fare just enough to actually be effective. I quite enjoyed it.