Welcome to my first Christmas movie review of the 2008 season! I've reviewed 33 Christmas movies over the last two years. Here are my wrap-up posts from 2006 and 2007. Maybe I'll get to 50 by the end of the year!
Anyway, as a reminder, a true Christmas movie generally follows a few basic formats. There's the twist on A Christmas Carol, when someone is cranky, grumpy, a workaholic and given up on Christmas but by some sort of magic, they regain their love of the holiday and become a better person. Then there is the person or organization or company that is struggling and has until Christmas to try to turn things around. They always do, of course. There are the ones that personify Santa or reindeers or elves and bring those mystical creatures to present-day US to get help from some lucky kids or single women. Also, there are a lot of romantic comedy Christmas movies where someone desperately wants to find a husband/date/boyfriend by Christmas. They always do, of course. Each year, Lifetime, The Hallmark Channel and ABC Family dedicates most of their December programming to Christmas movies and typically introduce at least a couple new movies each year so there's plenty to go around. Anyway, on to the first of 2008...
Rating: B
Moonlight & Mistletoe is new for Hallmark Channel this year and stars Tom Arnold and Candace Cameron Bure, who I didn't even realize was still acting. So, Tom's character is obsessed with Christmas, fancies himself a Santa stand-in, and runs a tourist attraction called Santaville that - surprise! - is struggling. Candace plays his daughter who left home a long time ago, fed up with Santaville, and only comes home after her dad gets in a sleigh accident. She of course realizes the financial problems of Santaville and through trying to fix those problems and reuniting with a boyfriend from when she was young and just spending time at Santaville again, learns to love Christmas all over again and gives up her workaholic, father-avoiding ways.
It's an okay if not somewhat overdone storyline. Candace is enjoyable, very pretty and not a bad actress at all. Tom, who I normally like, is less enjoyable in what really is a minor part. I found Candace's romantic interest to be entirely unappealing, too. Overall, while it wasn't a bad movie, I felt like some of the plot was unexplained and rushed, like they tried to put too much into one movie. I'd recommend it if you are bored but there are many out there that are much better.
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