I saw a promotional interview for this movie and thought, "oh, no, another movie with all the same old overused themes". And this movie does have a bunch of them, but somehow many of them are done just a tiny bit differently than the usual. For example, when the leads meet, it is a situation just ripe for the obligatory antagonism that all Christmas rom/com leads have when they meet. But the movie didn't exploit that and instead the leads had a slightly wary, but friendly encounter. Another example: the lead male, Nate's sympathy and involvement for the cause are a slightly uncommon take on the usual opposite-lead-works-for-the-enemy theme.
The dialogue is interesting and witty. The screenplay is funny. The actors are invested in their roles. Alicia Witt and Andrew Walker have chemistry.
There is a strong current of appreciation for music even beyond Witt's two song performances.
The battle over the destruction of Christmas Tree Lane consumes much of the movie especially the last half and with it the tone is a little sadder and the humor a little less.
The path of the story is such that you can pretty much see how the final scenes are going to go. Part of the final scenes is the musical performances. Alicia Witt is a talented musical writer and performer, both her voice and keyboard. This is not an actor being thrown into a position of doing a song for a movie. This is a singer (and actor) doing what she does professionally.
Alicia Witt said in an interview that she wrote the story for this and at least one source confirms that. As of this writing, IMDb does not credit her for writing or for the original song.
The dialogue is interesting and witty. The screenplay is funny. The actors are invested in their roles. Alicia Witt and Andrew Walker have chemistry.
There is a strong current of appreciation for music even beyond Witt's two song performances.
The battle over the destruction of Christmas Tree Lane consumes much of the movie especially the last half and with it the tone is a little sadder and the humor a little less.
The path of the story is such that you can pretty much see how the final scenes are going to go. Part of the final scenes is the musical performances. Alicia Witt is a talented musical writer and performer, both her voice and keyboard. This is not an actor being thrown into a position of doing a song for a movie. This is a singer (and actor) doing what she does professionally.
Alicia Witt said in an interview that she wrote the story for this and at least one source confirms that. As of this writing, IMDb does not credit her for writing or for the original song.