Sur la route du père Noël

Everything Christmas was a real mixed bag for me. I thought it started out quite well with the over the top Christmas loving Busby and her level-headed friend played by Katherine Barrell on a buddy road trip to the town of Yuletide Springs. They break down and shortly after are helped by a man who resembles Santa in body and spirit. From there are a series of coincidences and almost magical experiences that lead them to believe that he might be the real thing. Oh, and of course there is romance for the both of them. Unfortunately, after a good start with some legitimate laughs provided mostly by Barrell, it starts becoming more and more bland and predictable. I've pretty much liked Busby but here she comes across almost like a child going on and on about "believing," etc. Etc. I thought Barrell pretty much stole the show, and George Masswohl provided solid support as the continually appearing Kris. The biggest disappointment was Corey Sevier who was the major love interest but didn't say or do much of anything. He was always just staring googly-eyed at Busby and was basically just a bubble-brain. The other male love interest wasn't a whole lot better. Kind of a head scratcher and somewhat of a lost opportunity.

Everything Christmas was a real mixed bag for me. I thought it started out quite well with the over the top Christmas loving Busby and her friend played by Katherine Barrell on a buddy road trip to the town of Yuletide Springs. Barrell's character is much more level headed that Busby's here. They break down and shortly after are helped by a man who resembles Santa in body and spirit. From there are a series of coincidences and almost magical experiences that lead them to believe that he might be the real thing. Oh, and of course there is romance for the both of them. Unfortunately, after a good start with some legitimate laughs provided mostly by Barrell, it starts becoming more and more bland and predictable. I've pretty much liked Busby but here she comes across almost like a child going on and on about "believing," etc. Etc. I thought Barrell pretty much stole the show, and George Masswohl provided solid support as the continually appearing Kris. The biggest disappointment was Corey Sevier who was the big love interest but didn't say or do much of anything. He was always just staring googly-eyed at Busby and was basically just a bubble-brain. The other male love interest wasn't a whole lot better. Kind of a head scratcher and somewhat of a lost opportunity.

Here we have two girls on a road trip who keep running into ..... Santa Claus? Well, Kris Kringle, anyway. He continues to detour the two girls in a way that might have been creepy if you didn't have the comfort of knowing you're in a Hallmark movie. The two girls keep running into and traveling with the same two guys, one of whom, Cory Sevier, was in one of our favorites from last year, Noel Next Door. He was great in that movie, but was given much less to work with here. Separately, each of the parts of this movie are charming and friendly. Placed end to end, they don't make a compelling story.

6.4 stars. This film doesn't provide 'Everything Christmas' has to offer, but for certain gives us some insight into the mythos surrounding the holiday. Of course, there are a plethora of beliefs, but I will focus on the two primary ones. The first being that Christ was born and was sought out by shepherds and wise men with the aid of a star in the east, followed by the nativity 2000+ years ago. Second is the magic and mysticism of the Yuletide, A. K. A. The winter solstice (which is what actually happened on December 25, contrary to popular belief). Kris happens to be a false spelling of Chris or Christos (Greek for Messiah, the Anointed) and Kringle is a Norse surname that might be linked to Yuletide. There are those who believe in magic and mysticism of the Yuletide, but the present day Christmas is an amalgamation of multiple fables originating and melding over the past several hundred years by authors, historians, etc... The main characteristics of the west's current traditions stem from Catholicism mingled with Protestantism. Was Saint Nicholas just a good protestant man who was venerated by the Catholic church? Who knows. It appears this film is about combining the two historical figures: Santa Claus, and The Christ. Notice that the emphasis rests upon two aspects of supernatural happenings: magic vs miracles: a little of both. It's Kris Kringle who is supposedly working these Godlike miracles, but he's a manifestation of The Christ, and so we have yet another fusion of traditions portraying the sentiment that Saint Nick is the same person, performing miracles (considered magic) and teaching us to have faith, rather than settle on coincidences alone. He performs "tricks" that cannot be explained, but they manipulate fate instead of being called divine intervention, or maybe a bit of both. And we also have an allegory of different types of people, a woman named L. J. (Busby) who has faith, but what sort of faith? In contrast her best friend Viktoria (Barrell), who has no faith and feels it's all just coincidence (she's the doubter), and the two men who are nothing more than bystanders and love interests (representing the uneducated, ignorant, innocent, vast majority of other peoples). Do I think the writers had all this allegorical, figurative, metaphorical nonsense in mind when they penned this script? Yes. If so, did they wholeheartedly commit to this allegorical Santa/Messiah unification? No. Notice how at the end the mayor explains how this Kris Kringle fellow is simply a magician, a flim flam, if you will. Highly unlikely considering the miracles/magic he performed, which no magician mastermind could accomplish. Is there an agenda? Who knows, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. A bit of an abomination if you ask me.

Cindy Busby isn't great to watch. I don't know what it is, but I'm not loving her acting. She's too much. I'm not sure if they made her character purposefully obnoxious or she's just that way herself. I wasn't even sad for her when her ornament broke which was totally predictable by the way. She's just not likeable at all. Corey Sevier isn't great to watch either. I'm very underwhelmed by his acting. He adds nothing to the movie whatsoever. Cindy and Corey's interactions with each other were really obnoxious to watch, too. No chemistry. The romantic storyline did not pull me in at all. I like Katherine Barrell though. She was good. Cute. The Kris Kringle actor was good too. Just the right touch of magical personality without being too cheesy. The movie overall was super cheesy though.

This movie was 115 minutes too long. Where to start... 1. The geography. They kept talking about going to Ohio and clearly they were no where near Ohio, and I mean nowhere near!! 2. Acting over the top and at times bad. 3. The story is confusing, halfway thru my viewing partner and I said, "what is the point of this storyline." 4. The sets. Why are the Hallmark sets over decorated? Have some taste and pull way back. Way back!! 5. The fake snow! Put some money behind these sets and make the snow look semi real. 6. The enchanted forest was full of fake trees. Tacky sets. 7. The ending. Predictable and stupid. If you like to make of terrible movies, you will enjoy this one.

I'm old enough to recall when Hallmark would make one special holiday movie a year and everyone would wait excitedly for it. It was a big deal. Now they crank them out for any and every occasion like bunnies with access to those little blue pills. No quality, all quantity. This is another awful Christmas movie. The worst part, by far was the Cindy Busby character. She was ridiculous. She had bubbles for brains. Her sister's character tried to have some common sense and the Busby character continuously tried to suck it directly out of her. Ridiculous. Busby would ride the short bus and her sister would drive it. The male characters were goofy as well, but not like the silly sister. I know these are supposed to be lighthearted, fun, happy movies to either get lost in or have on in the background while doing something else, but it's ok to call out bad for being bad.

As a connoisseur of Hallmark movies, I especially enjoy Christmas storylines that tug on my emotions, by illustrating the spirit of thoughtful giving. Some of their holiday movies empasize the romance, while others, it's the "journey". To me, "Everything Christmas" is nothing original - there's a redundant storyline, ie. Big-city protagonists leaving on a road-trip to a snowy, small-town, steeped in Holiday tradition. Nor, is it about the quality of the acting, or magnetism I sense between the love interest(s). At times, there are exciting Hallmark casts that will influence my desire to watch, more than the teaser storyline (Corey Sevier, here). Although, Cindy Busby doesn't usually draw my interest in romance themes, here she was a believably reminiscent (teary-eyed) woman. But, I found myself more entranced by an unfamiliar actor portraying Kris - his mystique (ie. An illusionist) and his aura as the true Santa. There was nothing surprising with the twists in his "illusions", but each one creatively tied-in as a true gift of the heart. The romances really weren't the core, or excitement, of this film, and I didn't feel the storyline built up any tension to warrant a "final kiss". Definitely, a feel-good watch, not for a kiss, but one I would recommend to lead-off in sparking your Christmas spirit, say after Thanksgiving dinner...

Bon film !

Bon film !