The Noel Diary

I was binging some cheesy Christmas movies and I saw this and I thought ok sounds like another typical 4, 5 average I'll pass the time.

I was surprised, it was a really very nice movie. I even shed a tear there at the end.

I really liked it. Great movie, great acting. It touches on so many painful subjects but not in a heavy way. The actors are all great, nothing cheesy and it does have a Christmas vibe to it. Ok well maybe a few scenes were slightly cheesy but the rest is really good and sad , that I was really thrilled and smiled at those cheesy moments. I finished the movie having a lot of thoughts about my own life and the people in it, so relatable. Definitely not what i expected feeling after a Christmas movie.

I wanted to like this movie because I am a Richard Paul Evans fan. I remember listening to the audiobook of this story a few years ago. In the book, the plot points are dealt with reverently and innocently (an Evans hallmark), unlike the writers of the screenplay who added characters that were not in the book and behaviors that were not in the book. They also left out some important reunions! Huh?!? All of this was very disappointing. I'm not sure Evans signed up for any of it.

In addition, there was a gloom hovering over the entire film. I'm not sure there was a sunny day anywhere. Every day was gray and snowy. The original story (as Evans wrote it) was about joy, forgiveness, and reunion.

Lots of missed opportunities. Skip this one and go to the library, a used bookstore, or Amazon and read the book instead. It's much better.

... the standard Christmas romance. The story had some depth and inspired real feeling and empathy for the two leads, each of whom was trying in their own way to resolve past traumas.

The cast were uniformly strong, and the leads had a believable chemistry. Both were likeable but imperfect (again, unusual in this genre but a welcome change!) Particularly enjoyed Bonnie Bedellia's turn as the romantically-inclined neighbour.

This movie managed to draw me in and make me care what happened to its characters - a sure sign of competent writing and acting.

Please Netflix - more like this! Real life has its challenges, as do real people, but they're so much more interesting than the standard Christmas movie versions we get served up.

I'll admit, after Lindsay Lohan and Freddie Prinze Jr, Netflix was really dropping the ball on this year's cookie cutter Christmas films. But I am a glutton for punishment, so I, of course, had to watch this one immediately. The cast is great. I loved Bonnie Bedelia's character especially. I enjoyed the storyline. The acting was mostly good. The one major negative for me was the terrible editing. There were some really awkward camera zooms and just choppiness throughout and the cgi was unbearable at times. It was really distracting for me. I also really didn't buy the romantic chemistry between the main characters at all. Still, I was happy to see something a little different from the typical holiday film, as this movie delved into some heavier emotions; grief, abandonment, etc, which was a change of pace needed in this genre I think. All in all, worth a watch in my opinion.

I expected a dreaded Hallmark movie with a very weak plot but decided I would give this a shot due to Justin Hartley. I ended up enjoying it. It is a very simplistic movie, but it is far better than anything you would find on the Hallmark channel. It's a sentimental holiday movie that feels very Nicolas Sparks-esqe. There is a believable chemistry between both the leads but because I need to fill up IMBD's 600 character requirement, my only critique would be that maybe the female lead needed to be slightly older because the male lead looked closer in age to the female lead's mother. However, that was not enough to keep me from enjoying it. She was a great actress. Still a very sweet movie that I thoroughly enjoyed.