MickyG333

8.0 stars.

R. I. P. Good sir! I'm watching all of Reiner's directorial works, starting with this great film, which I never expected would be entertaining at all. But the great director has passed, just yesterday, and his films are the absolute best works of art in the industry ever. He is one of the greatest directors of all time, just for his string of amazing films in the 1980s and early 1990s. I can't think of any films more quoted than 'A Few Good Men', 'When Harry Met Sally', 'The Princess Bride', and now I see that 'This Is Spinal Tap' is equally as quoted if not worshipped by millions of aging fans the world over (and younger fans). I'm sitting here stunned as I'm watching for the first time and saying to myself: Wow, so that's where Wayne's World came from, where SNL copied the style and material and where stand up comedy and so many comedy films got their inspiration since the 80s.

So I have now given Spinal Tap a try for the first time. I can't remember how many times I've heard it mentioned, figured it's just another Rock and Roll iconic film with too much hype and unfounded sentiment and all that jazz. It certainly has a cult following unlike most mocumentaries, and in the 1980s a movie like this was completely unheard of. I mean, this would have been such a transformative experience for me to see back then when I was in my early teens. And consider the fact it's pretty far out with the extreme innuendo across the board and I am catching a lot of crazy overtones throughout. And the pure comedy and catchy music, which is obviously a spoof of dozens of great Rock songs from that era, is genius. And yet, each song has its own original vibe and the soundtrack is quite wonderful and even sophisticated. Who wrote this stuff? I suppose all the aficionados know the answers to my very rudimentary and ignorant inquiries, but holy cr@p this is good stuff.

And the synopsis of the movie: I won't bother getting specific, because a thousand other people have described it better than I ever could. Such a hilarious film -- way, way, way ahead of its time. And to think Reiner only improved over the next ten years. What a legend.

6.0 stars.

There are a few good emotional moments when the lead has a reality check, or when he's uplifting one of his students and helping people around him to be better (even though he's sort of a flaky jerk). As his character improves, the movie improves, but the story doesn't flow at a pace that works. It's just not the most entertaining film. The only positive aspects are the female actresses, both the lead female and the niece. I really enjoyed both of these women a lot and hope to see them in more movies. I've seen the lead female in several Hallmark films, but not enough.

In the end, I'd compare 'The Snow Must Go On' to a very slow and less enjoyable episode of 'Glee'. I suppose the last five minutes was okay, once we get to see the finished product of the high school Christmas musical and the final romantic scene (which every movie in this genre contains).

6.4 stars.

Not a Christmas movie that I plan on seeing again. 'The More the Merrier' is a lot of bells and whistles, but amounts to nothing. I thought they might eventually give us some genuine emotion and romance and even some humor; but this is comprised of lots of uninteresting conversations between doctors and nurses and some patients and their children (and a few other people in a bakery in town).

I could go on about continuity factors, such as the doctors and nurses supposedly being "busy", yet there are literally almost zero patients in the whole clinic. Also, it seemingly takes place in one day near Christmas. Hospital staff and patients are snowed in and there are several women coincidentally going into labor at the same time. A lot of these people seem to know each other and the town is fairly small town, although it's not THAT small. There is a cool twist near the end, but it's not impactful enough to warrant sticking around if you lose interest.

Overall the atmosphere is not believable, so it feels too tidy and too much Hallmark and too little authentic. Multiple other factors don't seem right either, such as everybody is too clean and happy and there is no pain or body fluids in a hospital, which is not realistic, and I understand why Hallmark wouldn't, but if you are going to make a movie like this, you need it to be more convincing or just don't bother.

The technical aspects are fine, the mood is set appropriately. The music is decent and it creates a Christmassy atmosphere. The lighting, editing, direction -- all fine. On the other hand, I was not impressed by the story or execution and the romance was not timed properly. On a positive, the production value and acting were good, which is why I rate it at 6.4 instead of 5.0. I had high hopes for this film with several actors that rarely disappoint, but we are left with glittery stockings full of coal.