A CHRISTMAS MOVIE CHRISTMAS

A CHRISTMAS MOVIE CHRISTMAS is a television movie from Up TV. It’s about two sisters who suddenly find themselves magically transported to a perfect town for Christmas, where they have to figure out how to salvage the Christmas season as well as their love lives. The romance in A CHRISTMAS MOVIE CHRISTMAS is sometimes a little sappy, but the movie is sometimes very humorous and inspirational, with wonderful messages of family, community and helping other people.

In the story, two sisters, Eve and Lacy, are roommates but couldn’t be more opposite. Eve is a happy-go-lucky romantic while Lacy is a cynical, moody young woman. The sisters each make a wish on Christmas Eve as they pass by a Salvation Army Santa on the street. At the stroke of midnight, magic starts to happen. Both sisters are transported to a magical Christmas movie world in Holiday Falls, where they have to figure out how to salvage the Christmas season as well as their love lives.

Eve is of course very happy to be in a Christmas movie world because her wish has come true. She has a grandma who makes waffles and cookies, she’s in a town with a lot of Christmas spirit, and two good looking guys are chasing after her. Lacy, however, hates being stuck in a fanciful world and worries she’ll miss a work meeting. Lacy pushes Santa to give her answers as to why she’s there so she can go home, but instead she finds a reason to stay.

Lacy meets a bakery owner, Paul, when she runs into his bakery to buy a cookie. Paul almost knocks Lacy over, but catches her just in time. Paul immediately becomes infatuated with Lacy and offers her a free cookie, but his feelings for her turn into an obsession as he continues to pursue her with handmade cards. Paul leaves cards for Lacy at many different places and even in her window. At one point, he draws her while she’s sleeping.

In most cases, a man having an unhealthy fascination about a woman and stalking her until she returns romantic feelings would be the storyline of a horror movie, but not in this movie. Although Lacy at first thinks Paul is being creepy, she eventually sees his actions as sweet and falls for him.

Eve’s problem is that she has two handsome beaus swooning over her. Eve first meets a handsome and sensible innkeeper, Dustan, who bumps into her. The second guy Eve meets is her celebrity crush, international superstar, Chad (or Russel as he’s known in the imaginary world). Russel has a very over the top, exaggerated persona, but he is also very sweet and charming. Eve knows she can’t date two guys at the same time. What complicates matters is when Dustan’s ex-girlfriend shows up and tries to sabotage Eve’s relationships and ruins the town’s Christmas celebration. Eve is faced with the decision to choose between the two men she likes. Whom will she choose?

Eve and Lacy both have character traits they want to change. Lacy points out that Eve is a pushover, because she doesn’t stand up for herself when her grumpy boss treats her poorly. Eve refuses to see her flaw, but she eventually realizes she needs to find her confidence and show her boss what she really does. Eve points out Lacy’s flaw when she calls her a “Scrinch,” which is a combination of Scrooge and the Grinch. Lacy is always in a foul mood and doesn’t care much about helping other people. Both girls need to learn they can change what they don’t like about themselves and become the person they want to be.

The love stories in A CHRISTMAS MOVIE CHRISTMAS are a little sappy, but the movie is also very inspirational and often hilarious. The over the top performances are played more for laughs, intentionally so, but they don’t always succeed. However, the movie has many uplifting themes of standing up for yourself, the importance of family and friends, and helping others. It’s a feel-good movie with comical characters and funny situations.

Although A CHRISTMAS MOVIE CHRISTMAS is very family friendly, it does have some negative content elements. Because Paul’s persistence of pursuing Lacy is painted in such a positive light, impressionable young girls who watch the movie may think that boys or men like Paul who send them cards every day and stalk them, are being romantic, when, in real life, this could be a potentially threatening situation. So, MOVIEGUIDE® recommends that parents use the movie as an opportunity to talk to their children about the difference between real life and fantasy elements, and to warn them about the real dangers in today’s world.