Prime Time: A Shoe Addict's Christmas (2018)

Noelle (Candace Cameron Bure) is the shoe addict of the title, a woman who works in a department store and seems to have nothing too wrong with her life. But think again. Not only has Noelle abandoned her dream job of making the most of her talent for photography, but she also doesn’t have a man. It has been years since her last relationship, which means the most important thing needed to make her life complete is a man. Of course. Maybe it could be her new upstairs neighbour, a nice fireman named Jake (Luke Macfarlane). That all depends on the changes she can make when given a chance to revisit crucial past moments by an angel named Charlie (Jean Smart).

Based on a novel by Beth Harbison, writer Rick Garman and director Michael Robison show that they know their stuff when it comes to the perfect seasonal TV movie for their star/producer, Bure. The slim plot is a fun riff on A Christmas Carol, and there are enough decent supporting characters to keep it all from resting completely on the shoulders of the leads, although Bure, Smart, and Macfarlane are more than up to the task.

Bure is a likeable lead, and it’s obvious why she makes such a good leading lady for this kind of fare, and she veers easily between confusion, excitement, dejection, and determination to prove someone right/wrong. Macfarlane is the perfect guy, of course, and his main characteristic is a longing to be taken seriously while also still having some fun, and Smart is wonderful in her angelic role, sometimes seeming nervous as she learns some tricks of the trade and spending other moments almost winking at viewers as she pretends to be ignorant of pieces moving into the exact places she wants them. Dam Willmott is Noelle's father, Tenika Davis is an understanding and supportive friend, Lorna, and Kristian Bruun and Marcia Ricossa are Noelle's main bosses.

It’s very predictable, of course, but the script and direction take you to the expected destination with one or two welcome attempts to wrongfoot you while the plot unfolds (oh, I forgot to say, Charlie gives Noelle shoes to wear, and those shoes take her to certain points in her life that can change the path she is due to stay on). For the kind of film it is, this is superior fare. I would happily watch it again, and recommend it to others, if only for the sense of fun and mischief that Smart brings to every scene she's in.

6/10

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Yule Love It: Journey Back To Christmas (2016)

If there's one thing I enjoy more than a Christmas movie, it's a good bit of time-travel fun. So when I heard that Journey Back To Christmas mixed in both of these things, well, I was sold. Yes, I have said this so many times that anyone who has read some of my other reviews will know it doesn't take a lot to sell me on something. But it keeps me happy.

Candace Cameron Bure plays Hanna, a nurse in WWII who ends up somehow transported to the future (2016) and has to figure out a) how to convince people that she's not insane, b) how to get back to her own time, and c) how to teach people a valuable lesson that feels in the spirit of the season. Luckily for her, she ends up in the company of some people who believe her story quite easily, and who are quite willing to learn a thing or two from Hanna, which really only leaves her having to figure out how to get back, if that's at all possible.

Although she doesn't seem to be someone I have seen in many other movies (strange, considering how many of these things she has starred in, although I reviewed the poor A Christmas Detour here), Bure is a likeable enough leading lady, portraying the sweeter than sweet heroine we often see in these Christmas features. The supporting cast are fairly bland though, although that's also often the case for these particular movies, with the only two standing out being Oliver Hudson, playing the police officer who seems strangely trusting of this woman who claims to have come from the past, and Tom Skerritt playing someone who reveals his identity in a timely fashion during the third act. Brooke Nevin isn't too bad in the role of Sarah, who obviously holds a candle for Hudson's character, but the rest of the supporting players may as well not have been there, for all they add to the experience.

Of course, part of that is the fault of writer Maria Nation, who takes a fun central idea and then tries to ruin it with unnecessary distractions. A few less scenes showing the local resident who views Hanna as a danger and a few more scenes of Hanna adjusting to 21st-century life and this would have been a lot more fun.

Director Mel Damski also could have done more. The film feels Christmassy enough, there are plenty of decorations on display and the requisite supply of snow, but it doesn't quite tick everything off the checklist that viewers may want from this kind of fare. I'm not saying that I REALLY wanted a sequence showing Bure being taught a song & dance routine for "Christmas In Holliston" but I'm not saying that including such a moment wouldn't have elevated this into one of my new favourite holiday movies.

I'm surprised that I liked this as much as I did. That may say as much about all of the other movies I have watched recently, and I've also already started to overdose on hot chocolate and advent calendar sweeties, but I'll recommend this one to anyone who wants yet another one to add to their overflowing viewing schedule this month.

6/10

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A Christmas Detour (2015)

Candace Cameron Bure plays Paige Summerlind, a woman who writes magazine articles about finding your perfect man and planning your perfect wedding, and is just about to get married herself. This Christmas is a huge deal for her. She is about to meet her future in-laws (played by Barbara Niven and Michael St. John Smith) and finalise a lot of the wedding details. So having her flight diverted and delayed couldn't have happened at a worse possible time. Her situation isn't helped by being stuck in the company of the cynical (but we know there's a good reason for it, don't we?) Dylan, played by Paul Greene, and a married couple (Maxine and Frank, played by Sarah Strange and David Lewis) who alternate between showing the best and the worst of married life.

Directed by Ron Oliver, who has turned out a whole load of TV movies over the past decade, this is the usual lightweight holiday fare hampered by two major failings. First, the script by Mark Amato does nothing to make us actually root for the leads, and gives us one of the most annoying central characters I have seen in some time, in the shape of Paige. All she does is witter on about herself, her great life, and her point of view, even being introduced in a scene that has her giving money to a woman that she expects her to use to buy the latest issue of a magazine that contains the latest article from . . . Paige Summerlind. That is her introduction. Even the potential love interest is mishandled, introduced in a scene that has him advising a colleague on the importance of maintaining fresh snacks on the bar for potential customers. Maxine and Frank fare slightly better, and Paige's future hubby (played by Marcus Rosner) and in-laws feature in a scene that introduces them as people who just might not be the shining stars that they think they are. Second, and also really the fault of the script, there is nothing here to make us believe in love between any of the characters (apart from Maxine and Frank). Nothing. Apart from it being set at Christmas, obviously, which is a time for such improbable happenings to occur.

The major script issues make it hard to properly judge the quality of the acting. Bure comes off the worst, but her character is also given a lot of the worst lines. Greene just about does okay, mainly because he gets to spend a lot of the movie rolling his eyes and being the cynic who calls out Bure on all oh her sugar-coated daydreams. But everyone else does a lot better, even when playing up to the very core of their cliched characters (Strange, Lewis, and Niven, in particular), which makes the film almost bearable.

If only the supporting characters had been given more screentime, and the leads given less. Or if only the leads had been made more likeable. This could have been yet another innocuous Christmas TV movie bauble. Unfortunately, it's just bad, even when judged only alongside other Christmas movies.

3/10

R1 disc is available here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hallmark-A-CHRISTMAS-DETOUR/dp/B018TNKDOW