Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Erin Krakow | ... | Ella Dashwood | |
Luke Macfarlane | ... | Edward Ferris | |
Kimberley Sustad | ... | Marianne Dashwood | |
Jason McKinnon | ... | Brandon Williams | |
Anna Van Hooft | ... | Lucy Steele | |
Jan Bos | ... | Lloyd Ferris | |
Ellen Kennedy | ... | Evelyn Ferris | |
Shiraine Haas | ... | Charlotte | |
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Keon Boateng | ... | Thomas |
Deborah Ramsay | ... | Vivienne Laurent | |
Ron Chartier | ... | Jacques Laurent | |
Matt Mazur | ... | John | |
Anesha Bailey | ... | Margaret | |
Emma Pedersen | ... | Sophia | |
Michelle Brezinski | ... | Mrs. Hoffman |
Ella Dashwood (Erin Krakow) and her sister Marianne (Kimberley Sustad) are huge Christmas enthusiasts and own a party-planning business. One of their new clients is a toy company and they don't see eye-to-eye with Edward Ferris (Luke Macfarlane), the company's C.E.O.
These people are wealthy, or wealthy enough. They have perfect skin and exist in well-appointed movie sets. Everything is carefully thought out, including the dialogue. They unwrap gifts on Christmas morning, and they float in an ocean of coloured paper. You don't have to think. It's made for Christmas. Who wants toi think at Christmas time? It's already stressful.
Most awkwardly is the use -- and I use this word "use" purposefully -- of the Af-Am kid, whom the leads, as babysitters, take out for fun and frolic. The attempt to be "multi-racial" is so strained it hurts. The kid seems to be in another movie altogether, one in which he has been abducted by these two white aliens with great teeth. Equally awkward is Erin Krakow, who, when it comes to dramatic turns, displays the gamut of emotions from A to B. Her facial expressions just can't stretch that far.
The only reason to watch this is guilty pleasure Luke Macfarlane. He is gorgeous and watchable, and plays the part suitably. I was in a hotel room when I came across it, and went to the hotel gym and ran on a treadmill and watched the rest of it. It was Christmas and it was fine.