The title would indicate that a snowy cityscape and a jaunty Christmas carol should open this film, but instead, we get some rather ominous music and shots of folks in togas looking anguished against an ancient Greek seascape. In the 12th century, Daphne spurns the hunky Pericles, and his mom puts Daphne under a curse to become a mermaid until she can return to land, find the reborn Pericles and perform a selfless act. In the present day, she finds Pericles (as a depressed widower named Travis who is about to lose his Florida beach town bar) and tries to redeem herself with him.
This isn't a traditional Hallmark Christmas movie. Its holiday tropes are more inspired by Dickens than by Hallmark. But that winds up being a good thing. I wasn't familiar with the actors, but it turns out that most of them are soap opera stars .In terms of talent, they can generally hold their own against Hallmark regulars. Arianne Zucker is particularly good, having fun with the villain role. At one point, someone says to her, "You sound like a character on a soap opera" and later when she's asked why she's being so mean to Travis, she replies, "Because I'm the bad guy!" Jessica Morris as Daphne is fine; Kyle Lowder as Travis is a little less so, but I'm shallow enough not to care because he's pretty darn hot. The Christmas elements aren't played up very much and It also has a hard time keeping the balance between serious and humorous from tipping occasionally. But as a change of pace from the usual holiday fare, this was kind of refreshing.
