Many Christmas movies have had retreats and training camps and variations on a theme, but somehow this is different. Maybe it is the fact that Emily played by Emily Kinney gets drafted into it practically kicking and screaming. Or maybe it is the feeling the viewer has that Belle is more than she appears. It becomes pretty obvious that Chris and Belle are some sort of Santa and Mrs. Prototypes. Are they cupids also?
Once Emily is firmly entrenched in the bootcamp, the rest of the movie is mostly a chance to watch Kinney and Justin Gaston together. They have good chemistry, but even so, Kinney's character steals the show. The movie and Kinney have plenty of energy, but they are almost too sugary sweet and the story lacks any tension. I cannot say I have ever seen a movie that leaves out such an important plot element as this one does. It is done well with nice results, but many viewers will not like the missing element.
There is one things about this movie that really pushes one of my pet buttons. I am a Senior citizen. I depend on closed captions. This movie extensively uses sign language with subtitles. Hey guys. Two problems with the way you did that. The biggest problem is no one watched the end product to see if all the subtitles are readable against the background. Most are, but a few aren't. They blend into it in places. The other problem is that the sign subtitles and any closed captions compete for the same space. Again, it doesn't happen often, but it does happen.
