A Ring for Christmas (2020 TV Movie)
7/10
Lots of potential but not always done well
3 December 2020
The story is a bit unusual, but it is a marriage of convenience story. The lead female is a bit of a spoiled debutante, so mom cuts her off, abruptly. However, Angie discovers she can inherit a trust fund if she marries. There's a problem with the basic assumptions which create some inconsistency. The first scenes intentionally try to show how much of a spoiled spendthrift, Angie is. Then the entire rest of the movie, Angie is intelligent, generous and even at times diligent and industrious. Her attitude wavers back and forth from a little spoiled to a lot generous. Beyond that inconsistency, the story is awkward at times. Conversations. Situations. It's like everyone is trying too hard.

The eventual romantic outcome is obvious almost from the moment Angie returns home. These two have decent chemistry at times. Almost all of the acting is bad. Liliana Tandon is inconsistent - again, it seems like she is trying to hard to make up for lack of experience and natural talent. Paulette, the friend, is too over-the-top greedy. Lorraine Bracco almost slurs her words at times. Dean Geyer is decent, but there's too little of him.

I said the outcome is obvious, but there were a couple of fun bumps getting there.

There's a side story of Angie working with kids at school. There's some sweet moments, but it's too disconnected from the rest of the story. There is a very cute and funny scene with kids helping her practice for an interview.

I would have liked to see this story executed better including resolving some of the clumsiness in the plot. The basic idea has potential and Angie can be an appealing character. There's some definite pluses. There's obvious minuses. Let's put it this way - I could see myself watching this again next year.

Regarding rating and review distributions, something is hinky. Three 10 star reviews are the only one from that reviewer. And for ratings, the quantity of 10 stars outnumbers everything but the median rating. These together imply ballot box stuffing. My advice is ignore the short, nonspecific reviews and give this movie a chance.
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