Jonathan Keltz

Christmas by Design

/ Rebekahrox / 1 Comment

I wouldn’t Wear those Pajamas to Walmart, Let Alone to Bed.

So far, Rebecca Dalton seems to have been cast as characters that have really rubbed me the wrong way. This one was no exception. She plays a snotty little pill in this movie who is not rehabilitated until the last 15 minutes or so. She is mean and rude to her newish stepfather, dismissive of her nice family, and looks down on the townspeople in her small town because she is all so important and cool as a NEW YORK CITY semi-successful fashion designer. She also hurts the guy who has been so nice and helpful to her by disparaging him to her friend when she doesn’t know he is listening.

And I haven’t been too fond of her leading man either. He was actually pretty good in this one except for some reason, they have injected the info that he is the hometown hunk who is the object of desire of all of the cute single women in town. But at least he doesn’t play a prince this time. In looks and stature he’s kind on the wispy side compared to the usual Hallmark leading man. As kind of a humble sad widower seeking peace and healing in his new town, he was fine. He also comes across as quick witted and intelligent.

I will admit that because she was such an unlikable character in the beginning it made her repentance and rehabilitation that much more satisfying. That’s all I came to say except that I wish they would use Joanna Douglas more often. I really like her. And the pajamas designed for the contest were spectacularly ugly.

Rating: 5 out of 10.

October 29, 2023

Fit for a Prince

/ Rebekahrox / 4 Comments

So Bad It’s Almost Good. No, Not Really, It’s Just Bad.

Cindy Cordella is a seamstress at premier dress designer Rebecca’s dress shop. Little does anyone know that it is Cindy the Drudge who is doing all of the dress designing without proper recognition. Rebecca’s shop is hired to do the dresses for the wedding of the year that Prince Ronan is expected to attend. Cindy hopes that if she does a good job her loyalty will be rewarded. Prince Ronan visits the shop, meets Cindy, and they hit it off much to the displeasure of two jealous females. Does this sound familiar?

I guess someone there at Hallmark supposes that the narrow-chested, delicate, bland looks of the actor who played Prince Ronan convey an aristocratic aura because this is the second time he has played a prince. To me, he is miscast as a romantic lead unless it is in a romantic dark-horse underdog role. The testosterone is low in this one. And I don’t always prefer a Steve Bacic or a Ben Ayers, Kris Polaha, or Antonio Cupo. I also like sweet and funny types like Luke Macfarlane and Paul Campbell.

Now on to Natalie Hall. Apparently, Hallmark has decided that she is the go-to female lead when youth and prettiness are required. And when I say youth, I mean closer to 30 than 40 or 45. Unfortunately, she has little else to offer. She’s not bad but nothing to be especially worthy of scoring 6 Hallmark lead roles in 2 years. The usual Hallmark workhorses had better watch their backs even though most of them have more acting talent, charm, appeal, and charisma despite their age.

Others have pointed out many of the ridiculous plot points that abound in this disaster. Pro Tip: Don’t eat greasy pizza while handling your dress materials. Tip: don’t roll your rack of dresses anywhere near a chocolate fountain. But their ballroom dance at the end was my pick for “most cringe-worthy scene.” It looked like a losing effort on Dancing with the Stars. I thought it couldn’t get worse until she broke into a solo routine that would have embarrassed famous bad dancer Elaine Benes from Seinfeld. I thought at one point she was going to drop to the floor and twirl around on her butt. The worst thing in the whole mess was the lack of resolution to the mismatch of how a King was going to unite with an ambitious workaholic partner in a global corporation. It’s scary to think this one might need a sequel.

Rating: 2 out of 10.

March 9, 2021

Brimming With Love

/ Rebekahrox / 3 Comments

“Cold and Distant”

The female lead character is a journalist doing a story on a coffee shop whose owner is an incurable and successful matchmaker. At one point the heroine’s best friend reads the reader comments on the one of the stories she wrote for her newspaper. The comment read “writer seems cold and distant.” “Oh Ho,” I thought, maybe this stiff, wooden, bored performance is her version of cold and distant since that is what the character was supposed to be. (Which was very unlikable) I was just about to quit watching this movie because the portrayal of the lead actress was just that bad. Instead, I decided to skip ahead to see if the ice melted and she showed some energy in the inevitable happy ending. Nope. It wasn’t the character, it was just terrible acting. Cute girl but she should be a model not an actress. She has that glum expressionless runway model-face down pat. The secondary romance was pretty good though.

Rating: 4 out of 10.

February 2, 2020