Under the Christmas Sky (2023 TV Movie) User Reviews

Clunky

[MickyG333 · 7/10 · 8 November 2023]

6.8 stars.

This film has everything needed for the makings of a fantastic experience. The actors are great, the plot has a ton of potential, the science, Nasa theme with the planetarium sets and even the part with how she is an astronaut...awesome, at least I thought it would be. It only started off ok, but then...there are so many moving parts with so much at stake, yet it doesn't quite come together to make an entertaining and fun experience for me. There are many failed aspects such as the clumsy dialogue and the awkward timing as if the whole production was pieced together by a bunch conflicted producers, writers and directors.

I love all the actors, oh my goodness what a shame and a waste of talent and great potential. On the upside, the editing and acting is actually polished, I enjoyed the new actors to the scene, many new players to see here so it won't kill you to give this a watch.

The kiss was good, but only lasts 5 seconds in a film that is over 5000 seconds long.

Ryan Paevey and the Christmas trees are not enough to make this romance a must watch for the holidays.

[cgvsluis · 5/10 · 24 October 2023]

I know Hallmark is working hard to be inclusive, which I applaud, but I think they need some better scripts.

This was the story of Kat Butler, an astrophysicist who was in a car accident that left her with a blind spot in one eye that is preventing her from completing her mission to go to the space station for NASA to continue her research on the solar probe. (I was a little confused because there was no real mention of her austronaut training which I think you need to go into space for NASA.) She is sent home for another month of sick leave where she is surrounded by the love and support of her family, which includes her sweet and competitive...but teasing brother Andy. Kat ends up volunteering at the local planetarium and helps curator David put on a Sun centric Christmas display.

There were two romantic storylines going that of Kat and David and Andy with the planetarium's barista Celeste, but there was just so much going on I think that the romances really took a back seat. David is a divorcee whose daughter is in a wheelchair and is obsessed with space...so, Kat became her hero.

I absolutely loved Kat's very Canadian parents' Christmas decorations in their home! They had trees of all sizes all over their house and I not only loved it, but I aspire to it! In fact that may have been my favorite part of the film...although I do like Ryan Paevey who plays David. I think my favorite character was actually the brother Andy...even though he didn't have his adult life worked out he was very positive by nature. He is lucky that he has his parents home to live in.

I thought the sun Santa caricature really needed some work. But what I did really appreciate in this film (in addition to the parents' indoor Christmas trees) was the pagan traditions around celebrating the sun for winter solstice...and the idea to bring that to their Christmas opening of their sun installation.

So, to recap...I don't think I would recommend this to my fellow romantics as the romance gets lost in this film which has a little too much going on in it for a Hallmark holiday romance.

The only real issue...

[rdubz-23518 · 6/10 · 14 December 2023]

I feel like this movie would've been better as the ones that Hallmark usually does during January (Winterfest I think? Can't recall) because it wasn't SUPER Christmassy. Definitely cute, but not super Christmassy. That said, I liked the chemistry between the leads and thought it also could've been even better if they'd written in some downtime for them to spend together. So like, outside of the project they were working on. But it didn't detract from the love story imo and I found their interactions super endearing.

The real charmer was Andy's character. Honestly, I wouldn't mind seeing the actor that played him as a Hallmark lead one day. He's funny, cute and charming! As was the subplot with his romance with the sweet redhead girl.

It was nice getting to see Jess Kennedy in something since she left The Flash. And I'll watch Ryan Paevey in pretty much anything. So, not the best HM I've ever seen, but not too shabby either!

Zero Chemistry

[MoosesWin · 1/10 · 23 October 2023]

I always enjoy a good Ryan Paevy movie and was looking forward to this movie. I had the vibe about this movie like I did when Hallmark paired Andrew Walker and Jodie Sweeten together. A HUGE miss. Hallmark keeps pairing these newbies with seasoned actors and I understand why they do it but this movie was painful to watch and the actress just wasn't very good. Maybe I'll try rewatching the movie again one day but it definitely won't be this holiday season! I hope they'll give Paevy much better stories and costars moving forward. Perhaps pair him with Lacey Chabert, Bethany Lenz or Erin Cahill again!

disappointed

[glorialietzow · 3/10 · 23 October 2023]

This is the first time I have been disappointed in a Hallmark movie that Ryan Paevy was in. He was not even listed as a main character, and the movie was all over the place, Too busy. And there was NO chemisty between Ryan and his costar, The character that Ryan played was not like him in any other movie, it made him look weak and argumentative, The main female was all over the place, never stopped talking, it was ridiculous. There was no development of a story line for them to become romantically involved. It had the feeling of being disjointed and no flow that was smooth with a story. I love almost all Hallmark movies and am happy to watch them more than once but would never waste my time on this one again. Very disappointed.

Follow the science, but include Santa

[Jackbv123 · 8/10 · 26 October 2023]

Wow, I am surprised to look at the overall rating and other reviews for this movie. But it is still early.

Perhaps it is the science nerd in me that peaked my interest. There was a lot of interesting science, and besides that the scientist, Kat, brings out a lot of the mythology around Christmas.

I also like the fact that we weren't "saving" anyone's job or business. And the mutual project worked on by the leads was not a Christmas pageant or festival, although I suppose you could say it almost was.

The constant banter between Kat and her brother gave it some spice especially in the dialog. These actors had more chemistry than Kennedy and Paevey. His David seemed a little too stiff, but Kat and David's relationship was still enjoyable. Andy and Celeste provide a second romance.

A cute kid almost always helps a Christmas story and I thought her handicap gave some depth to the overall story as she connected with Kat. One of the highlights of the movie was when the two of them visited Kat's NASA office.

Minor BTW - I really would have thought that a exhibit such as theirs would have taken advantage of a meet and greet with someone who actually worked on the NASA project, at least for opening night.

The Stars Did Not Align

[kbeck8261 · 3/10 · 23 October 2023]

Generally speaking you can't go wrong with a Hallmark/Ryan Paevey combination on a movie night. This one is the exception. It seemed a vehicle for the actress playing the lead dealing with a medical issue. The romance was there but secondary until very late in the work. I have to believe that the issue with this movie is script and direction that was so inexperienced, uneven and inconsistent that even the actors could not lift this to the stars.

While I can make the stretch that the lead actress is an "esteemed astrophysicist" (and it is a stretch) how does that one character have such extremely long stretches of dialogue on parenting and child psychology?

Ryan Paevey's character of the father who curates the museum began the movie as a confident, consistent father figure who is having some issues with his boss. Far later in the movie than we would expect, he explodes/falls apart when he sees his daughter is upset. It doesn't make sense to bring on that chink in his armor so late or to make the potential astronaut scientist a child psychologist.

Hallmark movies are those that you want to watch over and over again, they were shooting for the stars here and missed. I don't want to watch it again.

It's a wonderful film about overcoming disabilities

[byester · 9/10 · 28 October 2023]

As someone who recently had an injury (eye stroke) that caused partial vision loss in my right eye, I can say that the depiction of Katz's eye injury is spot on. Her eye injury appears exactly like mine so it really lended an over all feeling that the director and FX department did their homework, not to mention the entire "science + Christmas" theme of the movie. My wife and I loved seeing two romances going on at once. The inclusion of a wheelchair bound daughter for Ryan Peavey gave us lumps in our throat several times. Such a sweet little actor! The overall plot was definitely out of the ordinary but that's what made the film so interesting. Not your typical Christmas rom-com but definitely worth watching!

The Christmas movie that isn't.

[csatex-71253 · 3/10 · 28 October 2023]

This movie was not a Christmas movie at all. The set may have included some Christmas decorations but it was devoid of any Christmas feel. There were a few winter songs for background music. I barely heard one true Christmas song in the background but unless you are listening for it, you will not notice it. I never felt anything about the characters in the movie. I had expected a typical Hallmark romantic comedy. It did follow the typical formula for Hallmark but the plot was just so shallow. Save your time by NOT watching this movie. Die Hard would have made a better Christmas movie that this piece of tripe.

Under the Planetarium Dome.

[gfrasmd · 4/10 · 23 October 2023]

The movie follows two intertwined romantic stories, both developing in a Planetarium. Kat, a should-be astronaut, grounded after an accident, is teamed to work at creating an exhibit with David, the divorced father of a preteen girl on wheelchair,. Kat's buoyant younger brother, Andy, who is trying to find a role in his life, helps Celeste, a volunteer in charge of decorating the location. To add some zest to the otherwise ordinary amorous themes, this production inserts marginal references to space traveling and astrophysics, less than relevant Christmas content, and the necessary, superficially dealt with, human message that disabilities do not hamper human dreams. In reality, the movie is not about space traveling and little about Christmas. The main romantic story is bland. Ryan Paevey looks unexplainably subdued and Jessica Parker Kennedy alternates graceful moments with many others where her gestures, poses and expressions are awkwardly exaggerated. Being Italian, I do understand speaking with your hands, but her body language appears inappropriately on steroids. Andrew Bushell, as Andy, is quite vivacious and single-handedly offers moments of genuine warmth. Overall, the film is inoffensive, family-friendly and watchable, though way more generic than the window dressing tries to sell it for.

Nothing to do with Christmas

[Lady_Siwan · 2/10 · 26 November 2023]

Another crappy Hallmark movie, which is unfortunately common lately. This has really nothing to do with Christmas and everything to do with an agenda to pretend the actual meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ, is not the true meaning of Christmas. No thanks. Hallmark, the majority of your viewers are Christians, but you rarely mention that in all the "Christmas" movies you advertise all the time.

Aside from that, the lead actress is 40 next year, but looks way younger and acts that way, too. I cannot imagine anyone striving to be an astronaut complaining that her physical therapy exercises are boring. Astronauts are hard workers who go beyond the basic and get picked to be part of the space program. No one would pick a girl who isn't willing to do what she needs to in order to get back into the program. Really annoying. An old classmate of mine is an astronaut and she's not the type to sit around and say she doesn't want to do that work. Apparently no one at Hallmark has ever worked with athletes or military.

I'm only finishing this because I'm making ornaments. It's not very interesting. Nothing to do with Christmas.

Enjoyable without being cloying

[Jzsimdb · 8/10 · 15 November 2023]

Under the Christmas Sky is one of my favorites so far this year. An attractive and really pleasant cast in a story that's a bit of a change from the usual formula. The leads were great together and the cute couple in the secondary romance were adorable. In fact, the casting was one of the best parts of the movie. The best friend was especially well done. Plus a story involving NASA, a planetarium and a bit of Christmas history is a big win for me. A nice change from the Christmas pageant/parade/small town plot.

I am a little puzzled by the negative reviews. Maybe people don't like science being included in Christmas? A shame. If you enjoy science and space exploration this will be fun for you.

Worst chemistry between the two stars....it was painful to see this hallmark movie...20 minutes I turned it off

[andrew_garduno · 1/10 · 29 October 2023]

Bad chemistry between the actors. Totally unenjoyable turned it off after 20 minutes. I love Hallmark but you guys are putting characters or actors together that do not have any chemistry whatsoever I've watched on the new ones and you are missing the mark on all of them I'll still hallmark movies but when the characters don't have any chemistry like these two and a couple of other movies that I've watched for the new season it doesn't work. I don't know what's going on with Hallmark lately but a lot of the characters male or female they're not working they just don't have any chemistry and your storylines are getting really stupid. I'll still watch them but if I don't like them I won't be watching the show anymore or Hallmark sorry.

Won't watch again

[LtlHippo · 3/10 · 27 December 2023]

This is one Hallmark movie I won't be watching again. The plot had potential but it seemed like the casting was way off. I didn't see any chemistry between the two lead characters. I would have liked to see Ryan with the lady that worked with him. The family just didn't seem like a family. More like 4 people who liked each other who lived together. Hardly any hugs, it was missing the love and warmth. The best friend needed a bigger part. It's just a bad move to have all that animosity at the very beginning of the movie between the two lead characters. The one scene that was awkward was when she got in his face while reading his email on his laptop with him. I didn't really care about everyone. And didn't the lead say her parents were both librarians? That was some heck of a giant gorgeous house, how much do librarians make these days?

So terrible

[mblake-62426 · 1/10 · 13 November 2023]

Didn't feel very Christmasy. I'm all for different storylines, but this one felt weird.

Main actress was hard to watch. Really hard to watch. She displayed the wrong emotions at the wrong times which makes her very unlikable as a character.

No chemistry between the couple. The first kiss in his office was terrible. Very forced and unnatural. Made me uncomfortable.

No enjoyment watching this one.

I did like the actors who played the brother and father. They were good. There was more chemistry between the brother and the redhead.

The background music seemed like it was trying to make up for the terrible acting but it was honestly a little distracting.

Underwhelmed under the Christmas Sky

[mramzguitar · 1/10 · 4 December 2023]

Every time the actors sat on the couch they had their feet on it with their shoes on. I wanted the mother to yell, "Get your damn feet off my couch!"

I appreciate trying to include a biracial family, but the casting was terrible. They didn't look like a family, they looked like someone said just grab random people off the street.

Kat should have gotten her eyesight corrected and gone to the space station.

The minor characters-Kat's brother and his love interest had more of a romance going than the main characters.

All-in-all, this one was really a waste of time, especially since there have been some really good movies this year.

Meh

[12101968kaw · 4/10 · 14 March 2024]

I liked the science theme to this Christmas movie. The movie was ok to watch. I like Ryan Peavey in pretty much anything he is in. He's a good actor. I didn't feel a connection between him and the lead. Her acting was ok. Sometimes it's ok to not get them together but that's not what Hallmark is about. I felt like no one really connected with each other in this movie. They were merely actors just saying their lines to put a movie on. Her brother kind of bothered me. He was an adult living at home still trying to figure out what he wants to do. Imagine my surprise that he has it all figured out by the end of the movie. The conflict came pretty late too and the wrap up felt just off. I think this is a movie one can skip.