While the concept is not a unique one, it did interest me and if done right the story had potential to be entertaining in a romantic comedy sort of way. Paul Greene is more often than not worth watching and always shines when he is given likeable, sympathetic characters, while Lacey Chabert is one of my favourite Hallmark regulars. 'A Wish for Christmas' was also watched as part of my Christmas Hallmark film quest that has been ongoing since 2019, so three reasons for seeing it.
2016 did see some good Hallmark Christmas films, like 'Journey Back to Christmas', 'Love You Like Christmas', 'Finding Father Christmas' and 'A Christmas to Remember'. It did also see some mediocre or less ones, such as 'My Christmas Dream', 'A December Bride', 'My Christmas Love' and 'A Rose for Christmas'. 'A Wish for Christmas' is one of the mediocre or less films unfortunately, one of the worst of the batch despite having Chabert and Greene in it. The former comes off well, the latter does not.
'A Wish for Christmas' does have a few good things. Chabert is immensely charming and very easy to like throughout, with no signs of overplaying, overdone mannerisms or phoning in, and the supporting cast give committed performances as well.
Did think that it was slickly made and some of the soundtrack is pleasantly festive.
However, there are so many things wrong and the worst of them are so bad that it is easy to forget the good points. Count me in as another person that absolutely despised Greene's character, an absolute self-absorbed jerk with no respect for anybody but himself with no sense of character growth or change. Greene looked stiff and strained throughout, his usual subtle charm and easy going-ness absent. Actually got the sense that he hated playing the character and realised too late that it was way out of his comfort zone. He and Chabert have absolutely no chemistry at any stage, the disconnect seen so blatantly in the early parts are maintained throughout so the central relationship never grows. Which is what makes the final decision at the end so abrupt and impossible to swallow, as well as that it is so hard to believe how Chabert' character or even anybody could find any appeal in Greene's.
Very few of the characters are interesting or easy to get behind in development, the exception being Chabert's. The script is clunky and has a lot of cheese (more cheese than in a cheeseburger) and schmaltz (like having too many sugars in a cup of tea). Also found some of Greene's character's dialogue on the distasteful side. The story lacks energy, needed a lighter touch than what was given and is completely lacking in charm and heart. The character decisions could have been less vague and forced.
Summing up, weak. 3/10.
2016 did see some good Hallmark Christmas films, like 'Journey Back to Christmas', 'Love You Like Christmas', 'Finding Father Christmas' and 'A Christmas to Remember'. It did also see some mediocre or less ones, such as 'My Christmas Dream', 'A December Bride', 'My Christmas Love' and 'A Rose for Christmas'. 'A Wish for Christmas' is one of the mediocre or less films unfortunately, one of the worst of the batch despite having Chabert and Greene in it. The former comes off well, the latter does not.
'A Wish for Christmas' does have a few good things. Chabert is immensely charming and very easy to like throughout, with no signs of overplaying, overdone mannerisms or phoning in, and the supporting cast give committed performances as well.
Did think that it was slickly made and some of the soundtrack is pleasantly festive.
However, there are so many things wrong and the worst of them are so bad that it is easy to forget the good points. Count me in as another person that absolutely despised Greene's character, an absolute self-absorbed jerk with no respect for anybody but himself with no sense of character growth or change. Greene looked stiff and strained throughout, his usual subtle charm and easy going-ness absent. Actually got the sense that he hated playing the character and realised too late that it was way out of his comfort zone. He and Chabert have absolutely no chemistry at any stage, the disconnect seen so blatantly in the early parts are maintained throughout so the central relationship never grows. Which is what makes the final decision at the end so abrupt and impossible to swallow, as well as that it is so hard to believe how Chabert' character or even anybody could find any appeal in Greene's.
Very few of the characters are interesting or easy to get behind in development, the exception being Chabert's. The script is clunky and has a lot of cheese (more cheese than in a cheeseburger) and schmaltz (like having too many sugars in a cup of tea). Also found some of Greene's character's dialogue on the distasteful side. The story lacks energy, needed a lighter touch than what was given and is completely lacking in charm and heart. The character decisions could have been less vague and forced.
Summing up, weak. 3/10.