A Rose for Christmas

Actually liked the idea of the story, which had a setting that set itself apart from a lot of Hallmark's festive efforts. Even if it still sounded formulaic, which is pretty much what one expects from Hallmark anyway. The title was quite cute, refraining too much from being too cheesy like film titles from Hallmark can be in game attempts to be cute and catchy. Still saw the film for completest sake and as someone who has never immediately written a Hallmark Christmas film off, enough of their stuff is watchable.

There is plenty of films of theirs that are average and below. While not one of their worst, 'A Rose for Christmas' is one of them. In no way is it a masterpiece, with too many major flaws. It also isn't an abomination either, as there are a few good things. Not one of Hallmark's best by any stretch from that year or overall, but also not one of their worst on both counts. 'A Rose for Christmas' was hardly doomed from the start, but the potential it had is not lived up to unfortunately.

It does have good things. It looks pleasant and professional enough visually. The scenery is particularly lovely. Did like everything to do with the float preparation, which was interesting and charming and never forced and that it isn't focused on too much was appreciated.

Marc Bendavid is an amiable male lead, while Michael Kopsa is touching and his story has a good deal of heart.

However, there are many major flaws with 'A Rose for Christmas' which stops it from blossoming. A big weak link is Rachel Boston, have liked her in other things but she didn't work for me here. To me she over-compensates and her delivery all round lacked any kind of shade or subtlety. Really didn't like her character either, too abrasive and selfish and she doesn't treat others well, she also never really grows as a character. There is no chemistry at all between Boston and Bendavid, with a completely underdeveloped, rushed and abruptly introduced (late in) romance.

Furthermore, the script is cheesily awkward, treacly and even repetitive. There is an awful lot of bickering and it got too much and very old fast. It made me struggle to care for the lead characters with that amount of negative energy. Of the characters, the only one to be interesting or connect with her was the father. The story is dully paced, very thin with an over-stretched-feeling middle act and no surprises at all. Emotionally, it is very bland as well, the charm is not there, it takes itself too seriously and the only heart comes from the father.

All in all, lacklustre. 4/10.

Even by Hallmark standards, this film is dreadful. Companies do not send liaisons to oversee the structural designs of parade floats. If they did, it wouldn't be a pompous middle management who conducts international business for the company. The dialogue is just horrible and seems like it was written by an amateur. Rachel Boston must not read this scripts or she is obligated to do whatever Hallmark throws her way. Sad.

The movie was well done. The writers put in the little things that make a movie interesting and memorable (e.g., a quote from Van Gogh was used, we develop some nick-names, an auction scene). The two main characters Andy "chaos" (Rachel Boston) and Cliff "bulldozer" (Marc Bendavid) were well developed with the supporting cast adding humor and advancing the story well. The focus on the main characters is always a plus for me, so many Christmas movies fail because they needlessly develop the supporting cast too much. Rachel Boston was always there to move the story along with her smile and enthusiasm. I was impressed that the movie was still fresh and exciting right until the end. Michael Kopsa was used well in the key role as the father. I disagree with the 2 previous reviews. This one is worth the watch.

This movie is predictable to a T. It follows the typical romantic comedy recipe where the female lead and male lead are at odds and fall in love in the end. The female lead is your common daddy's girl who likes art, and the male lead is supposed to be this hotshot Mr. Business city boy type who ~~just doesn't understand ART!~~ You pretty much know they're going to end up together as soon as the male lead walks into the room.

Another huge problem is that the movie fails at creating any tension. Okay, so Rose needs to build a parade float because her father is too sick to do it. And if she doesn't make the float on time...what happens? She's just not in the parade? Why wouldn't she be able to do it next year? Why should I care about this float and how it's made?

Part of the movie is just them advertising for help they need to build the float (which begs the question: how has Rose's father has been making this float for a while if he's not getting the same people or amount of people every year to make it, and why is it a problem this year?). This brings in a bunch of side characters who I suppose are adding a little comedy to the film (like how the blonde college girl sneezes a lot while making the float), but all the jokes just fall flat.

There are also some details that the director and crew overlooked while making the film. For example, in the beginning of the movie, Rose is welding something together. She wears the suit and the mask (in a way that hides her face so we can have the clichéd joke where the male lead thinks Rose is a man because he can't see her face and she is doing something some people consider masculine), but she doesn't tie her hair up in a ponytail or bun. (I would've given this movie two more stars if her hair had caught on fire in the middle of the scene.)

Overall, this movie is boring. You know how it's going to end, and the writers don't add anything different or unique to try to make this movie stand out. Give this one a skip.

A nice romance around creating a float. Not impressive, maybe not real credible but good spices for an old recipe. Seductive and charming in few scenes, it has, in essence, as main characters, the huge bear and the waterfall. And, unfortunatelly, not real much.