Christmas Cupid's Arrow

I usually love all the mushy, sentimental, silly Christmas movies. I don't miss a one on multiple channels, even tracking them with lists 82nd calendars. This one is written so obnoxiously I could hardly tolerate it. The premise is that a woman who has worked hard on getting her PhD & is a professor feels like she hasn't done anything valuable with her life & must get a man ASAP. AYFKMWTS? It's offensive from the outset & so misogynistic I could barely get through it, when usually I can ignore much of that stuff. The actors do a decent job with the crap they've been given (& remember, if this sappy movie lover says that about the writing, IT'S BAD). The sound and visual quality are terrible as well, sadly. Avoid this one like the plague. The above reviews must have been written by the writers' family, is all I can think.

This poor movie is SO bad. I am a Christmas movie junkie, so I am predisposed to like, so it is truly bad. It looks like it was filmed in a closet, except for the lawyer's hangout bar. You will not see any tourism shots of Lafayette LA. The dialogue is completely unnatural. The requisite little girl is very cute, but her dialogue stinks too. The story is Cyrano de Bergerac. There is very little Christmas in the movie. The two leads are planning a faculty ball, which my university would never do. I had to look up the references, I don't know what age group this was aimed at. Stephen King IT, is that in literature classes now?

Script. Plot. Camera work. Direction. Sound. Lighting. Acting. There are absolutely no elements in this movie that work, neither alone or together.

The story is obviously a take on Cyrano de Bergerac. Even Holly mentions that in the movie. There are a few of the common Rom/com tropes, but a lot of the common Christmas ones are not in this movie. The general outcome is predictable.

For me, two things were noticeable on the negative side. The audio sounded like it was cut in a busy area like a bar because background conversations were distracting. Very annoying! And many of the conversations between Holly and either of the two male opposites were awkward. Strange dialogue. Those with Josh might have been meant that way, but it was even true with David on too many occasions. As a result it was hard to see chemistry with Elisabeth Harnois and Jonathan Togo, but there was some.

There are a couple of funny moments. The confrontation between Josh and the recruiter with what followed was a good one. David's "date" to the prom is a nice touch also.

According to this website, the filming location is Lafayette LA. That's interesting because snow on the ground is prominent throughout the movie. A web search confirms that snow is rare, even problematic, in Louisiana.

This movie had all the makings of a good Christmas movie, until the dialogue starts! Frankly, the sound recording is absolutely dire. Dialogue sounds mumbled and quiet and then tinny and loud. Was the sound guy taking advantage of some recreational chemicals?