Christmas at Cartwright's

7.3 stars.

The female lead is above average for me, she's not in my top 10, but she's in my top 20 for sure (there are so many leading ladies, so this is a good rating). The lead male I've seen a thousand times (not much of an exaggeration) in 'Heartland' as a regular, so he's very familiar. And I figured this movie is Canadian being he's in other Canadian productions.

The story is semi-original if you can believe it. It's a bit different, a woman Clause. And her name is Nicky, so no mystery there. Her daughter is endearing, she makes a third of what is magical about this film. The angel guy, well he's ok, but just because he looks funny and talks strangely doesn't mean they need to make him an angel that looks like an elf. It's a strange concept, and it's not cool in my opinion. Whatever, just my soap box.

The lead male is a great fit, the perfect good guy executive who loves the lead female because of her character and not her physical attributes. The way we know this is because he likes her also when she's disguised as Santa. The writers are showing us he has redeeming qualities, we can root for him as a gallant fellow.

The antagonist is her boss, who doesn't know she's her boss. It's complicated, you'll see.

50% of what is special about this movie is the leads, 33% because of the daughter, and the other 17% was entertainment value. I feel they had enough time to grow an enjoyable on-screen romance.

I didn't planned it but it's great to write this review on Christmas day!

So far i failed all my Christmas time : All along December month, i would like to decorate my home, have a advent calendar, share sweets with my friends, write greetings cards, read moving stories about this holiday and watch the best movies about it near a warm fire and sipping infusion! At the end, i usually have fun just for Christmas day. This year it's a bit the same … until checking TV programs and noticing that there are a lot of Christmas TV movies.. When i see this one had Alicia, i was just really motivated to see it ! Alicia is among the rare artist I knew as a kid (see Dune, Twin Peaks) and now she is a lovely, fun, caring young woman who plays with the best (Pacino, Bullock). In a way, you can feel that it's movie for TV as the action happens in sets : there's not a lot of outdoor sequence in lovely Chicago so we have a Christmas movie nearly without snow.. But except this, this a wonderful, family movie : Alicia is really good being a single mother and showing courage and efforts to support her family ! She is kind, polite, generous, wonderfully dressed and always smiling even if things turn bad. Sure the story can be guessed since the start but that's what I want : Christmas magic, romance, happiness and not more politics, violence, money, guns, nudity, hysteric, crazy people… Her daughter is totally sweet and as i have always like malls, this movie was really a great gift for me !

Alicia Witt does a lot of these Christmas movies, and she's one of my wife's favorites in them. There's a good reason. Her films are generally a cut above the average cliched Christmas plot. It's not necessarily that her plots are more original, but her slightly confused and sometimes disgruntled acting style gives her roles a lot of separation from the overly perky performances turned in by many other actresses who float through these films with plastic performances.

In this movie, Alicia is a down-on-her-luck single mom (of course!) who, with an assist and a push by an angel, gets the job as a department store Santa. Overlooking the fact that there is no way she could be mistaken for a male Santa, the movie moves along with a funny story concerning her employment coinciding with a predictable but satisfying story concerning a romance with store exec.

Nothing about this story is new or inventive, but it is a fun watch.

Enjoyable Hallmark movie starring Alicia Witt as an unemployed single mom who, through a series of events, gets a job as a department store Santa without anyone at the store actually knowing she's not a 'he.' Helping her along the way is angel (I think?) Wallace Shawn. Other characters include the adorable daughter struggling at school, the wealthy (but bland) love interest, and the villainous woman who causes problems for our heroine every five minutes. It's hardly a Miracle on 34th Street but it'll get the job done.

Alicia Witt is immensely likable and carries the movie on her shoulders. Wallace Shawn is fun whenever he's around. Gabrielle Miller makes for an easy-to-hate villainess. T.J. McGibbon plays the daughter and steals every scene she's in. Gabriel Hogan is the weakest part of the cast as the completely forgettable love interest. He's the usual Hallmark clichéd rich guy that every woman is apparently aspiring to marry. He's also unexciting in every possible way. I think Alicia's character can do better but I didn't write the movie. It's worth a look if you enjoy these sorts of things. It won't rock your world or anything but it's a good way to pass the time.

This is a great film. I especially liked the actress playing Nicky. She seemed believable yet magical. Angel stories are always great and this one did not disappoint. The little girl was cute without being precocious. I liked how everyone at Cartwright' s loved Santa Nick, except the evil Fiona. It was fun to see Gabrielle Miller play a baddie after seeing her as the nice, but insecure Lacey on Corner Gas. Hallmark has the best films! I also applaud Patricia Heaton for producing this sweet movie. The store sets were really beautiful.The only thing that puzzled me was 2 stories that Bill told to Nicky. One concerned questioning his father about Santa and in the other he mentions being raised by a single mom...what happened to his dad? That was the only inconsistency I spotted. But otherwise I recommend this film.