WHAT’S IT ABOUT
A single mum tries to make her daughter’s Christmas special since her dad is working overseas for the holidays. She partners with her daughter’s favorite baker for the Holiday Ball.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
A very disappointing, though easily predictable, Hallmark holiday movie, Tamera Mowry and Carlo Marks don’t quite succeed. It is just so frustrating how fast this Hallmark holiday movie becomes boring with just an idea of modern family structure with diversity, not just in race. The rigid, emotionless character Tamera Mowry presents causes every interaction of hers to come off unfeelingly stilted and artificial. As a mother who is supposed to be loving, she speaks to her bright-eyed 10-year-old daughter in a strangely uncaring way. This makes their relationship feel very uncomfortable and not real, more like two people who do not know each other well than a caring parent and child. Carlo Marks, who is usually charming and engaging in other roles, surprisingly does not show any chemistry with Mowry. Their on-screen relationship is painful to watch, as every scene feels forced and unbelievable. The dialogue between them is stilted and uncomfortable the whole time, never quite meshing or feeling real. The only slightly real moments happen during the scenes with the young daughter and ex-husband, which provide some respite from the heavy awkwardness. The only bright spot in this otherwise dreary film is the very talented young actress playing the daughter, Audrey Wise Alvarez. She delivers a very natural and impressive performance that sticks out from the awkward acting of the adult cast. Her real talent is visible; thus, she certainly deserves better and more substantial roles in the future. Hallmark’s recent crop of holiday films is rapidly losing that special something. What was once a wellspring of warm, happy entertainment now feels like a tired rehashing of old storylines with ill-chosen actors doing the same things. This movie really is showing the quality of the channel going down —a big missed opportunity for diverse families and interesting stories. The movie tries hard to present a more inclusive and modern family but fails miserably because the acting is stiff, with no real chemistry between actors, and the dialogue stilted from beginning to end. For those audiences who are looking for their honest representation on the big screen, this movie does more to let them down than to make them happy. One good thing is the exciting promise of future potential, especially for the very talented young actress Audrey Wise Alvarez. She shows such real talent that she really deserves a better script and much more interesting co-stars. Verdict: Strongly skip this boring Hallmark holiday movie and hopefully look forward to slightly better ones in their increasingly similar Christmas movie collection. One last and very personal ask of Hallmark: Please work on your stories. Your audience deserves better stories—ones that represent the reality and richness of today’s families.
OUR RATING – A PREDICTABLE 4