Christmas 365 Days a Year
From the age of five Holly (Candace Cameron Bure - Christmas Under Wraps) became immersed in Christmas, you see for Holly Christmas was everyday thanks to her father, Nick (Tom Arnold - Chasing Christmas), who runs Santaville, a Christmas themed town, 365 days a year and has Holly working as one of his elves as soon as she was old enough. It is why when she was old enough Holly packed her bags and headed to Boston where she became a huge success as a sales executive for a toy company, prefering to stay rather than returning home to see her dad, doing her best to avoid all things Christmassy. But when Nick hurts himself, putting him out of commission in the process, Holly returns home to Santaville where she not only discovers her father's business is seriously behind the times but close to financial ruin despite a small band of volunteers including Peter (Christopher Wiehl - Farewell Mr. Kringle) who Holly met when they were teenagers. With her city acumen Holly decides to try and find a way of saving the place, which is easier said than done.
"Moonlight & Mistletoe" is a 2 hander movie. On one hand it is another ridiculously predictable made for TV Christmas movie as we have the city girl who heads to her dad's home and not only falls back in love with the life she ran away from but also finds romance with the guy she met when they were teenagers. On top of that we have the family business in financial trouble and so she sets about using everything she has learned to turn it around. Then on top of that it uses the changing times when these days kids have so many high tech options that a visit to a theme town isn't going to appeal. All of it is extremely predictable and for some the lack of new ideas in "Moonlight & Mistletoe" is going to be a bit of a roadblock to enjoyment.
But on the other hand "Moonlight & Mistletoe" is a made for TV Christmas movie which has been engulfed in a covering of Christmas warmth and beauty. From the nostalgic look of Santaville with the beautiful wooden decorations and snow dusted trees through to the casting of Candace Cameron Bure, who looks stunning when ever she stands next to a Christmas tree. Okay so the acting from everyone involved isn't of the highest calibre, there are times where it feels like the actors are just saying their lines rather than delivering characters but they have the look and the right sparkle to make "Moonlight & Mistletoe" appealing in a Christmas movie way.
What this all boils down to is that "Moonlight & Mistletoe" isn't one of those Christmas classics but more the sort of movie if you spotted it on the TV listings in December you might watch if you had nothing else to do.
Tags: TV Christmas Movies, Christmas Movies
