Catch a Christmas Star (2013) starring Shannon Elizabeth, Steve Byers, Julia Lalonde, Kyle Harrison Breitkopf directed by John Bradshaw Movie Review

Catch a Christmas Star (2013)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Steve Byers and Shannon Elizabeth in Catch a Christmas Star (2013)

From Nadia to Nikki

Like most 10 year olds Sophie (Julia Lalonde) thinks her widowed father Chris (Steve Byers) is ancient and knows nothing about pop music. So she gets a surprise when she learns that her father was not only in High School with pop star Nikki Crandon (Shannon Elizabeth) but they were each others first loves. With her little brother's help Sophie sets about reuniting her father and Nikki with the desired effect as it seems that they still have feelings for each other. But between the sudden glare of the media spotlight and a misunderstanding maybe there second chance at love will be short lived.

I am sort of stuck for words when it comes to "Catch a Christmas Star" as there are many things which I like about it but just as many which disappoint me and surprisingly many of them end up in tandem. Take for example the story; the idea of two children trying to set up their widowed father with a pop star who was his first love is quite amusing but then it takes the nice idea and turns it into something cliche as we have the troubled romance set up which you find in so many Christmas movies. In truth it is actually annoying as "Catch a Christmas Star" had potential to be a more original Hallmark Christmas movie but it feels ends up a waste of good ideas.

It is not just a waste of ideas which is annoying as budget constraints mean that some scenes end up stinking up the movie such as those of Nikki performing as the fake green screen work is terrible. Unfortunately that fake green screen work is made worse by the acting of Shannon Elizabeth whose over bubbliness in that scene is more than cheesy and throughout the movie she goes from being sweet and nice to false and annoying. It isn't just Shannon Elizabeth who is at fault as other actors also flip flop from being entertaining to annoying which makes the movie uneven although not unusual for the sort of movie it is.

What this all boils down to is that "Catch a Christmas Star" in the end balances itself out as for everything which is bad there is as much which is good which only makes it an okay Hallmark Christmas movie for those who enjoy these schmaltzy types of Christmas movies.

Tags: TV Christmas Movies, Christmas Movies


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