I'm a sucker for a good sappy Christmas movie and I can forgive a lot of bad acting for a cheesy holiday plot and some good old fashioned romance. This movie fulfilled NONE of my expectations and the acting was worse than those mushy Hallmark movies.
To start off, the two married couples spend the first half of the movie lusting after each other's spouses (very strange and not at all authentic). This never gets unpacked or apologized for, just glossed over. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop with Brandy's character and make her more likeable. Yes there was a bit of a sad backstory but even that does not erase the supposed perfection of her life.
All of it was about attaining wealth as the main point of life, and all it tried to say was that if you try hard enough you can be anything you want to be. But you still get the feeling that Charlotte feels inferior even though she tries to like her life situation. It by no means brings authenticity, depth, gratitude or appreciation, all of which are much more important than wealth and accomplishment. Of course it did not touch the real meaning of Christmas or even get slightly close to it. It kind of mimics the elements of a bunch of Christmas movies and cobbles them all together into a bland, strange, stinky cheese kind of movie.
It was barely funny, eliciting nary a smile. It was barely sad, not being invested or attached to any of the characters. It was barely romance, with no believability of the attraction for their own spouses. It was not made for kids (not funny or good), nor adults (not deep, not clever, no real message, too cliche).
The main reason I wasted an hour and a half is I had to see where it was going and how it was going to remedy these situations. In the end it was just a waste of time. Watch anything else instead.
To start off, the two married couples spend the first half of the movie lusting after each other's spouses (very strange and not at all authentic). This never gets unpacked or apologized for, just glossed over. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop with Brandy's character and make her more likeable. Yes there was a bit of a sad backstory but even that does not erase the supposed perfection of her life.
All of it was about attaining wealth as the main point of life, and all it tried to say was that if you try hard enough you can be anything you want to be. But you still get the feeling that Charlotte feels inferior even though she tries to like her life situation. It by no means brings authenticity, depth, gratitude or appreciation, all of which are much more important than wealth and accomplishment. Of course it did not touch the real meaning of Christmas or even get slightly close to it. It kind of mimics the elements of a bunch of Christmas movies and cobbles them all together into a bland, strange, stinky cheese kind of movie.
It was barely funny, eliciting nary a smile. It was barely sad, not being invested or attached to any of the characters. It was barely romance, with no believability of the attraction for their own spouses. It was not made for kids (not funny or good), nor adults (not deep, not clever, no real message, too cliche).
The main reason I wasted an hour and a half is I had to see where it was going and how it was going to remedy these situations. In the end it was just a waste of time. Watch anything else instead.