A terrible Lifetime Christmas film. The formula? Two single lead characters, facing unwanted change and struggles, only to find love after a series of predictable, and nearly uneventful mishaps.
The problems with this film are many. Lazy writing, poor direction, and terrible lead casting, just to name a few.
The leading lady character is Phoebe (played by Beverely Michelle), unintentionally abrasive, inconsiderate, and entitled. Phoebe runs a floral business with life long childhood best friend Laurie (played by Benedicte Belizaire), shamelessly cast as the black token best friend. She's thoughtful, warm, charming and seems more concerned with Phoebes happiness than even her own. Offensive, and difficult to watch, as Phoebe doesn't seem to appreciate their friendship, rarely (if ever) looks into her eyes, and never ask Laurie how her life, or even her Christmas is going. In fact she doesn't really show any interest whatsoever in who is supposedly her BFF. Phoebe, who not only disregards Laurie's feelings, shows no concern for anyone else's happiness either. This leaves us unable to like or root for the leading lady. Uh-oh!
As the film continues on, at a slower than Christmas pace, we meet the leading man, Eric (played by Mark Ghanimé). Eric has a good heart, and he's attractive, but isn't very exciting. He's more like a handsome action figure, whose only animated ability is to smile.
Alas, Phoebe and Eric, are destined to meet and through the magic of Christmas, fall in love and live happily ever after. Except, when that finally happens, Phoebe's reaction to getting everything she wants, is so stoic, dull and lifeless, that we get a more thrilling satisfaction watching the credits scroll up the screen, and there's a feeling of achievement because we've beaten the film writer's attempt to literally bore us to death during the holiday season.
This movie, is extremely slow, lifeless, somewhat annoying, and severely lacking in charm. I give the film a 2 out of 10 star rating only because I would have rather seen any other character in the film finding love and happiness, than the very, whiney, thoughtless, self centered, and egotistical character the film was centered around. A mannequin could have played the leading lady better than Beverly Michelle, and a walk around the yard would've provided more excitement than what the writers give us in this snooze fest waste of 90 minutes. Trust me when I say 2 stars is a generous rating, as you'll get more enjoyment watching molasses crawl down the trunk of a tree in winter, than you will watching this awful excuse of a Lifetime Christmas movie.
Review of Candy Cane Christmas
