A Ring for Christmas

A Ring For Christmas (2020)-

We all know that I only watched this film for Dean Geyer and that's probably the case for a number of other viewers too.

I just loved him as Brody in 'Glee' and that cute, perfect smile, Swoon!

It was therefore such a shame that he didn't get the support of a decent cast and direction. Some of the others actors are actual, full on caricatures of humans and some quite vile.

I would have turned it off after 3 minutes if I hadn't known Dean was going to be in it. His character, Gabe, is way too nice for her and that's putting it mildly.

It could have been a good story if it hadn't been for the silly marriage element or the bratty rich kid thing. Maybe they should have picked one, but not both. I really didn't like her as an actress or her character and not just because I'm jealous of how close to Dean she was able to be, although that is definitely a factor.

The story jumps ahead in places without a proper script to move it forwards, just when you think that they are going to show you what they've just talked about, they are already the next step ahead and that bit is forgotten.

I'm pretty sure that her other potential fella, Tyler, was having an affair with the obviously gay bar man.

There was also a bit too much charity work going on for it to be realistic, which proves what a cynical and horrible world we live in, but no one can possibly give so much. As a result the warmth about those thoughtful ideas seems to get lost. Most of these films try to make that the moral of the story, while the romance happens around it, but they focussed too hard on the romance and just used the meaningful acts to push it on and too quickly for me.

There was real snow for a change, but not a huge amount of Christmas, at least to start with, but I have to say that it did grow on me, which combined with Dean is the only reason it scores so high.

6.24ish?/10.

When I saw that the writer of this mess was the female lead, that mystery was compounded. The acting of virtually everyone in this show was really really bad. Angie's former teacher, in a dialogue with her did not even make eye contact with her but was looking over her shoulder to read her lines. I kid you not. Check it out. The school scenes were painful to watch. The writer obviously has never met a real child in her life.

The leads were badly cast. The "hot jock/coach" was not only not hot, he was not even fit looking. The female lead did not look the part of the spoiled rich beauty. I thought she was attractive, but she should have been glammed up and had conventionally pretty features. (Because let's face it, if she was spoiled and rich, work would have been done.) The script did not make sense. Why would a loving mother just "just cut her daughter off" from her allowance. Angie was kind and generous hearted and very intelligent. She had some large bills, but no foundation was laid for such an action. She should have insisted her daughter get a job and become self supporting, yes, but get a job first. And put her on a budget. Put a limit on her credit cards.

The whole thing was very disjointed like it was put together with scotch tape. The characters were not consistent. Their personalities did not match their actions. It had a whole "Hey gang, let's put on a show!" feel.

The writer/actress, Liliana Tandon, has an impressive resume. What happened here? Why would she write herself such a dumb part in such a amaturish movie. How did it get green-lighted? The preview made this look funny and entertaining. I hate-watched the last hour and a half. Very disappointed.

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.

Granted I watched it just to see the scenes of my Newburyport (and they were beautiful as the city is) but I really did not expect it to be as bad as it was. Terrible script, truly awful acting. How desperate for money would Lorraine Bracco have had to be to be involved in this? It made all the dreck on Hallmark and Lifetime look like great cinema.

First i want to say that i am a big fan of Christmas movies and sucker for a nice romance... But..... Allthough i found the story very nice, i found especially Liliana Tandon very very cold! It felt like she was reading her lines, didn't have chemistry with any other actor. And to be honest except Dean Geyer who was as always good and sweet in his role i don't think any other actor or actress played with heart! I think he would be even better with the right cast. The script was good enough (written by Liliana Tandon) but the plot had holes and except being set in Christmas time had nothing to do with the festivities or spirit of Christmas and most certainly didn't put me in the Christmas mood....