Netflix And Chill: The Noel Diary (2022)

Based on a book by Richard Paul Evans, not one I can say I am familiar with, The Noel Diary is, in many ways, a Christmas film with a bit more depth to it than most. That doesn't mean it's unpredictable, and it's far from perfect, but I was drawn into this from the opening scenes, and ended up rooting for the characters to overcome the various obstacles to happiness put in their way. That's the aim of so many of these movies, of course, but not all of them do enough to make you really care about the protagonists. This one did.

Justin Hartley plays Jake Turner, a successful author who has spent the majority of his adult life alone and happy. When he has to head back to his childhood home after the death of his mother, clearing out the items she had hoarded over the years forces him to remember the past events that made him the way he is today. It also leads to him encountering a young woman, Rachel (Barrett Doss), who is searching for her birth mother, a woman she believes once worked for Jake's family many years ago. As the two work together to piece together the journey of Rachel's mother, Jake ends up addressing and re-evaluating his own past, and our leads inevitably grow closer as they are forced to put themselves in a position of vulnerability.

Directed by Charles Shyer, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Rebecca Connor (her only screenplay credit, to date) and David Golden (responsible for many of these films, but this may be his best), this has a sheen of care and polish to it that many of these films can lack. Although there's an ambiguity in the opening act that makes the whole thing feel slightly odd (maybe it's just me, I wondered if Jake and Rachel would find out some big secret that would connect them in a way to rule out any chance of romance between them), everything soon settles into an easygoing and enjoyable vibe while our main characters realise truths that viewers will have suspected from very early on.

Hartley is a very good lead, believable and charming. He's genuinely good at showing someone struggling to learn how to let down the walls that he has built up over many years, and this performance is a reminder of how much screen presence, and talent, he has. Doss is equally good, delivering the kind of performance that has me hoping there will be many more lead film roles for her in the near future. Although the core cast is kept relatively small, both Bonnie Bedelia and James Remar excel in main supporting roles, both portraying people who have impacted Jake's life in different ways.

All of the tropes you expect are here (lots of snow, disrupted journeys, a potential failure or two on the way to success), but things feel fresh thanks to the moments that feel pleasantly atypical. There aren't any major misunderstandings between our leads, with clear and open communication helping them avoid the kind of confusion you usually get in this kind of thing, and the resolution feels satisfying without being as "paint by numbers"as it could have been, which makes this feel like a bit of a rarity: a Christmas movie with characters who don't keep jumping to the worst possible conclusion when one thing goes slightly wrong.

7/10

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Prime Time: A Family For The Holidays AKA Engaging Father Christmas (2017)

The second of three movies, to date, featuring the character of Miranda Chester, A Family For The Holidays (aka Engaging Father Christmas, which makes more sense when sandwiched between Finding Father Christmas and Marrying Father Christmas) is your typical comfort viewing for this time of year. Which means that it is so simple and lightweight that you can easily watch it, as I did, without being aware of the movie preceding it. Oh, the completist in me will eventually watch the other movies in this seasonal trilogy, but things are covered here by a character in the first main scene uttering a sentence that summarises Finding Father Christmas. 

So let's dive in. Miranda (Erin Krakow) is heading back to the small town of Carlton Heath to spend Christmas with her boyfriend, Ian (Niall Matter), and spend some time with her new-found family. It was only last year that Miranda started to enjoy Christmas, you see, when she found out all about her real father, first visited Carlton Heath, and fell in love with Ian. On the way to Carlton Heath, Miranda bumps into an ex-boyfriend, Josh (Andrew Francis). She tells him about the deceased father, now deceased, that she found out about since last time they spoke. Unbeknownst to any of the main characters, Steve Decker (Ben Wilkinson) is also heading to Carlton Heath. He's a reporter who hopes to make an impact with an exclusive story.

Director David Winning has a decent body of work under his belt, most of them being TV movies, and he handles the material here well enough. The script, by David Golden, who wrote all three movies in the trilogy (based on books by Robin Jones Gunn), is the work of someone equally at ease with giving viewers what they expect from these movies. There's a small mystery element, for the first half of the movie anyway, and a decent amount of tension causing the leading lady to stress out as things look increasingly gloomy on the way to a last-minute turnaround that viewers will all know is coming from the very first scenes.

Krakow is just fine in the lead role, and she's paired up with a typically safe and sweet male in the shape of Matter, who remains convincingly lovely and understanding throughout. Francis is let off the hook, and is enjoyable enough, playing someone who could have easily been the big villain of the piece, and Wilkinson pops up often enough to remind you that he's up to something. Wendie Malick is a bit of a highlight, playing the wife of the deceased father figure. Her character is simply okay, but I have to admit that I was just pleased whenever she came onscreen, recognising her from many other roles she has had in her lengthy and varied career.

While this may be slightly lower-tier than many other Christmas TV movies I have watched over the years (and anyone who knows me will know that I watch a LOT of them), I am still going to eventually check out the films on either side of it. So it wasn't that bad. It was just average, as so many of these things are.

5/10

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Once Upon A Holiday (2015)

Briana Evigan plays a princess, Katie, who escapes from the busybodies around her to spend an enjoyable day in New York. Unfortunately, she is robbed, losing her handbag and a camera, the latter of which was a very special gift that she had managed to keep hold of for years. But she does get to meet a nice guy named Jack (Paul Campbell). The two of them enjoy the company of one another, Katie gets to meet some interesting people while she tries to evade those who are growing more frantic in their search for her, but can things have a happy ending for two people from such very different worlds?

Compared to many other Christmas TV movies, Once Upon A Holiday doesn't feel as if it is exactly overflowing with the spirit of the season. It has a number of Santas involved in one or two scenes, and people are occasionally shown to be celebrating in a festive manner, but the whole thing really feels like a "rich person pretending to be just like normal folks" plotline that was given a minimal addition of tinsel and holly to allow it to qualify for the Christmas schedules.

Between them, director James Head and writer David Golden have a good deal of experience working within the parameters of TV entertainment, but you wouldn't know that from this particular example. It has the comforting familiarity to it, in terms of the way thngs play out, but it doesn't do enough to make it all that enjoyable, despite the bonus of having Evigan in a lead role.

Speaking of Evigan, this winning performance serves as another reminder for me of the puzzling way in which her career seems to have halted before it even really took off. The same actress who was eminently watchable in Burning Bright, Step Up 2: The Streets, Sorority Row, and Mother's Day, to name the main titles that I have seen her in, remains eminently watchable here. But I can't think of the last time that she had a role worthy of her personality and presence. The rest of the cast aren't on her level, although Campbell tries hard to be acceptable as the standard safe, nice and sweet guy who our leading lady could find happiness with. Briana's father, Greg, does decent work with his limited screentime, Jay Brazeau is the sorta-Santa figure of the piece, and that really covers the supporting turns worth mentioning.

It's a real shame that this is so bland throughout, with the exception of Evigan. It never feels as if there are any decent stakes involved and there just aren't nearly enough gratuitous Christmas moments shoved in to make it all more appealing.

3/10

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Christmas Festival Of Ice (2017)

You know how it is. You slave away for years, working on a career in the world of law, being an upstanding member of the community, life opening up ahead of you like an oyster about to show you the biggest, shiniest pearl. Everything could be yours for the taking, if only you could satisfy that insatiable urge to indulge in some ice sculpting.

As ridiculous as that sounds, that's only a slightly exaggerated summary of this movie, which is indeed about a young woman (Emma, played by Taylor Cole) who tries to balance her legal career with the chance to do some ice sclupting in the run up to Christmas. It is something she always used to do with her father, and it's bad news when the town decides that they can't afford to have it as part of the festivities this year. Asking what can be done about it, Emma is told that the council may be able to put up $5000 if she can raise the other $15000, which would then be enough to let everyone have their ice sculpting fun again. Emma sets out to raise the funds, and she also meets another local talent (Nick, played by Damon Runyan), so the scene MAY be set for a third act involving ice, the sculpting of that ice, and the warm glow of affection in the cold weather of Christmas. Maybe.

Directed by Bradley Walsh (for UK folks, like me, I don't think it is THAT Bradley Walsh . . . . but please let me know if I am very incorrect in that assumption) and written by David Golden, this is another harmless bauble to fill up the TV schedules at this time of year. While the premise may seem a bit sillier than some, it really isn't. Let's face it, so many of these Christmas movies revolve around someone deciding whether to be safe and sensible or whether to pursue their true love.

Cole is bright and pleasant enough in the lead role, making up for the fact that Runyan is a bit, well, dull (not his fault, he's just not given anything more to his character than whatever leads to him being compatible with Cole's character). The rest of the cast all hit their marks, smile or look concerned as required, and are just a-okay. Teagan Vincze does her best with a small role, standing out more than anyone else, but this is a film about ice sculpting that doesn't even have enough great ice sculptures dotted around. There are a few impressive pieces, but I was hoping to see a LOT more.

It may not have too much magic sprinkled over it, and it somehow feels a lot less Christmassy than many of the other Christmas movies I have watched in recent weeks, but this still isn't that bad. For this kind of thing.

4/10

Here is a large selection of Christmas movies to enjoy.
And American elves can pick the same set up here.