Prime Time: Royal New Year's Eve (2017)

Why did I decide to watch this? Simple. It was new year's eve, and this film obviously has some tie to that day. That's really the only reason to watch this.

Jessy Schram plays Caitlyn Enderby, a woman who is kept busy in her job by her demanding boss, Abigail Miller (Cheryl Ladd, and, just in case it's a detail added to ensure that people stayed awake throughout the film, I am sure that I saw her name spelled as Abigayle at one point). Abigail is the head of a high-fashion magazine, Applique, and she is looking forward to hosting some royalty at a major new year's eve party, where Prince Jeffrey (Sam Page) is rumoured to propose to Lady Isabelle (Hayley Sales). Caitlyn meets Prince Jeffrey when he's just trying to enjoy some time in the sity as Jeff, and the two get on very well. She also ends up showing off a dress of her own design that gets Lady Isabelle very interested, much to the chagrin of Abigail, who wants the party to serve as a springboard for her daughter's career.

With the steady hand of Monika Mitchell directing this and the experienced writer Rick Garman very much aware of the various plot beats that need to be hit on the way to the fairytale happy ending, it's hard to be too critical of Royal New Year's Eve for doing pretty much exactly what you expect it to do. When it comes to the many movies made in the past few decades about someone catching the eye of a stifled-by-duty royal then this isn't, on paper, much better or worse than any other.

The big problem is the cast, although it's not entirely their fault. Schram is an inoffensive and sexless lead, Ladd becomes a very tame Disney villain at times, and Nicole LaPlaca tries hard in the thankless role of the pleasant daughter not actually wanting her mother to use any sneaky and morally-dubious tactics in order to give her career a push. Crystal Balint is very good as the friend/colleague named Doris, and gets some decent moments in the second half. Page and Sales, however, have to spend their time delivering their lines in horribly fake English accents. Sales manages to at least stay consistent in her accent, but Page feels like he's overthinking every word, and even takes an occasional mis-step into Scottishness with one strange utterance in a coffee shop. As for Andrew Kavadas, playing a manservant named Barnaby, he's somehow quietly menacing in almost every scene, despite his character being nothing but quiet and pleasant throughout.

I didn't hate this, but I did spend quite a bit of time gently mocking it as things moved from one predictable moment to the next. Despite the focus on the looming new year's eve party, most of the set dressing is committed to making everything bright and Christmassy, which helps it to sit alongside the other comforting distractions of the season. If you can tolerate some of the accents, and the fact that Page looks like some mushed-together blend of Mark Ruffalo and Billy Zane, then you might enjoy this more than I did. I doubt anyone would consider it a good viewing choice though, even compared to other Hallmark movies filling up the schedules around this time of year.

4/10

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Christmas In Evergreen (2017)

Ashley Williams may not be a name familiar to many movie viewers, but she is probably know to those who enjoy Christmas TV movies. She's appeared in a good number of them, including Snow, Snow 2: Brain Freeze, and Christmas In The City. None of those movies were actually very good, yet all of them managed to benefit from the presence of Williams in a main role. They were completely passable, disposable, entertainment.

Christmas In Evergreen is also completely passable, disposable, entertainment. It's directed by Alex Zamm (who has a filmography made up of child-friendly films and other Christmas movies, including Snow and A Christmas Prince, which may well be the jewel in his crown - no pun intended) and written by Rick Garman, a man responsible for at least a dozen more films in this vein. In fact, checking out the filmography of Garman on Letterboxd is akin to viewing that list titled "Christmas movie posters with white heterosexual couples wearing red and green". Go ahead and check it out for yourself. I'll still be here when you come back.

The plot here revolves around a snowglobe that may well make your wish come true, which is handy when circumstances conspire to stop Allie Shaw (Williams) from leaving her smalltown home of Evergreen to spend Christmas with her long-distance boyfriend, Spencer (Marcus Rosner). Nobody really wants Allie to leave, she's beloved by pretty much everyone in the community, and she becomes even more valued when she helps Ryan (Teddy Sears) and his young daughter, Zoe (Jaeda Lily Miller), both of whom end up stuck in Evergreen on their way to an atypical Christmas holiday in Florida. Zoe wouldn't mind if they actually ended up spending Christmas in Evergreen, especially when Allie is so nice to them.

Williams has the perfect onscreen personality for this type of thing. She can seem cheery and kind without becoming too annoying, she is cute and wholesome, and she manages to stay enthusiastic for events unfolding around her without seeming too childish. Rosner has to play the man that we know isn’t right for our leading lady, but it’s nice that the script doesn’t make him an irredeemable asshole. He’s just focused on his career path, which requires him to keep his life in the big city. Sears is the standard bland and harmless male lead, although his dialogue is often punctuated by a slightly creepy laugh that is always disproportionate to anything said that may seem amusing, and Miller is the young girl who spends a lot of time pleading to make her Christmas everything she wants it to be. Holly Robinson Peete is the woman trying to organise the local Christmas festival, with all of the stress that entails, Chris Cope is a mayor who resents losing our lead to the lure of the big city, and Barbara Niven is  the mother of the character played by Williams, as well as someone underlining the potential power of the snowglobe.

If you like this kind of stuff at this time of year, as I think we all know I do, this is distinctly average, but enjoyable enough. It helps if you like Williams onscreen, and everyone watching this should be able to call out every plot point at least three scenes before they actually happen. But you can say that about most of these movies.

I appreciate anyone who decided to read through this full review. Especially as I can end almost exactly where I began, by summarising this as completely passable, disposable, entertainment.

5/10

P.S. Here is a huge list of every Christmas movie I have ever reviewed, either here or over at Flickfeast.

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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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