Let It Snow

This movie was so enjoyable and the cast was very believable. I felt I was at Snow Valley too. Stephanie and Brady (Cameron Bure and Hutch) are both great actors and worked well together. I appreciated Stephanie's humorous antics and the variety of activities both indoors and out for them and the other guests.

It was refreshing to not have serious conflict between the two of them. Instead, they both faced a similar and more realistic difficulty with their dads' expectations. They kissed before the very end of the movie which I liked and Brady supported Stephanie when she approached her dad near the end of the movie so they were working together as a couple. Quite nice to see.

I got so involved in the movie that I when it was over, I had forgotten the "real world" which showed me I really loved this movie.

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.

Not a whole lot to say about this typical Hallmark movie. And to me that is a good thing. I'm kind of tired of the whole high-strung "grim 'n gritty super realistic" vibe of so many movies, and around Christmas I like my no-problem-everything-will-be-alright movies.

Hallmark delivers on that.

It's an enjoyable movie with actors that seem to really like what they are doing, and there's a constant undercurrent of a child-like happiness about Christmas. The leading lady conveys her slowly rediscovering of the joys of Christmas very well, with tons of odd 'n funny traditions thrown into one, giant basket, so to say. (just see what a "spinster" has to go through to see the man in her future in her dreams)

The Vancouver locations are fantastic. Snow aplenty, no need for fake snow, unlike some other Hallmark Christmas movies, and used very effectively for a bit of physical comedy.

All in all, an enjoyable (there's that word again) movie, and clean, non-convoluted entertainment.

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.

Stephanie (Candace Cameron Bure) is an executive with no Christmas spirit who's sent by her boss (and father) to look at a family-owned lodge their company has just acquired. The plan is to turn the cozy rustic lodge into a ski resort, which is news to the family selling it. Stephanie spends the week before Christmas with the family, experiencing the holiday their way. If you think she'll fall for the handsome son (Jesse Hutch) and have a change of heart about Christmas, you must have seen a Hallmark movie before.

I'm always down for a good Candace Cameron Bure TV movie, especially a Christmas one. She's the same here as she is in every role: pretty, charming, likable. Alan Thicke is good as her not-so-likable dad. The fact that Thicke used to play Candace's brother Kirk's father on Growing Pains no doubt led to some back-patting for whoever cast him. Jesse Hutch is an actor whose face is very recognizable if you watch much TV, even if you can't remember where exactly you've seen him before. He's been a guest-star on just about everything that films in Canada. This is one of the bigger roles I've seem him in. He does well and has nice chemistry with Candace. Their meet-cute is funny. I wouldn't mind seeing him in more starring roles. Dan Willmott and Gabrielle Rose are his salt of the earth parents. It's pretty much impossible to dislike them. Oh, and just to preserve it for posterity in case someone changes it: Jesse Hutch's IMDb bio currently brags that he shares a birthplace with fictional comic book character Wolverine and tells a rather odd anecdote about him faking a hostage situation at his high school. Weird but amusing.

The Canadian scenery (subbing for Maine) is lovely. The cast is pleasant and fun. The story is predictable but who cares really? This isn't challenging stuff but it is enjoyable. It has humor, romance, and heartwarming family moments. It's a better than average Christmas TV movie that will make you smile.