A Christmas Detour

I didn't get a chance to watch this movie the year it came out but I did watch over Christmas 2018 and I adored it. I love CCB so naturally I was happy to see this. I thought there was good chemistry between her male counterpart. I must say, I absolutely loved the supporting actors, the married couple that traveled with them... they were very good in their roles!! All in all, I thought it was a good movie - worth the watch.

Candace Cameron Bure plays a writer who believes in vision boards and soulmates. She's engaged to a stuffy, insipid man and is supposed to meet his equally stuffy parents for the first time on Christmas. But bad weather stands in the way of her plans so she's forced to share a ride with a bickering married couple and a handsome bartender (Paul Greene) down on love. Along the way sparks fly, proving once again that opposites always attract in TV romcoms.

It's never a bad thing to see Candace Cameron Bure in a Christmas movie, even if she is playing a more obnoxious character than usual. It took me awhile to like the character as she's pretty much the exact type of person I try to avoid in my life. Eventually they do flesh her out a little and you grow to care about her some. I still wasn't completely enamored with her by the end. Which is saying a lot since I adore Candace and will sit through just about anything to watch her. For his part, Paul Greene is a step above the usual bland male lead these things tend to have. He's got a lot of charisma (and knows it), straddling that fine line between charming and cocky at all times. Candace and Paul have a nice chemistry together but, as fun as these two are, the real highlight of the movie is Sarah Strange and David Lewis as the married couple. They prove you don't have to have movie star good looks to be a compelling romcom relationship. In a perfect world actors like this could be the stars of the movie. As it is, we have to settle for them as supporting players who steal the spotlight. The guy playing Candace's fiancé and the actors playing his parents also do an admirable job with cardboard roles. I'm sure it wasn't easy.

Candace rarely disappoints with her TV movies. This one isn't among my favorites of hers but it is very enjoyable, despite a few flaws. It's predictable (as these things always are) but it does what it does well. If you're looking for a pleasant way to pass the time on a lazy Saturday afternoon, you could do a lot worse.

The real good part - the couple Maxine and Frank Harper. The predactibility and the doses of realism. The atmosphere and, off course, Candace Cameron Bure. A film about small , significant things, defining us. And that does it just lovely.

Candace Cameron Bure is a sweetheart and even a better actress. Her on screen chemistry with her leading man Paul Greene also worked charmingly. What I had a hard time swallowing was the amount of air time in this movie that Paul Greene who plays Dylan Smith spent trying to convince Ms. Bure who plays Paige Summerlind if she was sure that she was marrying the man of her dreams, or the man who exists only on paper. In fact it is Paige Summerlind who has written one of those itemized lists in a popular women's magazine on 100 ways to ensure you have the right partner.

Mrs. Shullivan and I liked the theory of an unexpected road trip romance, but the constant bantering between Ms. Bure and Paul Greene became quite tiring until the films last 30 minutes kind of redeemed itself as the love/hate/love/hate/love relationship ended with a heartwarming climax.

I give this Christmas romance a 6 out of 10 IMDB rating mainly on the strong performances of the two (2) lead actors Candace Cameron Bure and Paul Greene.

If one's idea of entertainment is a goofy script, irritating character, and very far-fetched engagement, perhaps this film would by okay. But I think many people besides me will find "A Christmas Detour" a real drag. The lead character, Paige Summerlind (played by Candace Bure) is flying from Los Angeles to New York to meet the parents of her fiance for the first time over Christmas, and to plan their spring wedding. If one can bear with the film to near the end, and see her fiance, Jack, and his parents, the big question would be when and where did she meet this guy, and how did they ever get engaged? Was she smoking something strange at the time, or under the influence?

For there to be a detour in flights, there has to be a cause, and that's the unforeseen snow storm that hits New England and closes all the New York City area airports. Fortunately - or otherwise, for Paige, and some others, their plane can land at Buffalo. By this time, though, I was worn out by the motor-mouth Paige who appears to passengers, including Dylan Smith (played by Paul Greene) as a ditzy blonde. And, that's just exactly what this character is right up until the last few minutes. It's so bad and irksome that I would not have watched this film all the way through had it not been for a couple on the same plane and who were part of the story. Frank and Maxine Harper (David Lewis and Sara Strange) are an odd couple, married 20 years, and constantly bickering or squabbling over something. And, it's mostly humorous. So, to see how they would come of this, I stayed with this film.

Their part in the film is the only reason I give it even three stars. The conclusion with Paige and Dylan, which anyone who has watched Christmas romance movies knows, isn't worth sticking it out for - it's that mundane. Dylan's character probably is supposed to be a sort of balance to Page's silly and erratic manner. He's clearly irritated with her in the beginning, but then he just seems like a dumb ox with a smiling, smug look most of the rest of the movie. .

This is one holiday film that discerning movie buffs will want to avoid entirely.