This movie was listed by my provider as "A Date by Christmas Eve" and that title appeared on screen. The alternate title "The Naughty List" probably describes it better.
This isn't a common Christmas premise, but it is a pretty solid mix of two older Christmas movies with much better leads and acting in general. "I'm Not Ready for Christmas" with Alicia Witt has the can't-lie angle. "Naughty or Nice" with Hilarie Burton has the Santa's magic list angle. On the other side of this movie is one I just watched yesterday "A Christmas Crush". The last made this one look excellent. The similarity of this one with "Wish" is the magic wish on a potential boyfriend, especially the result on said "boyfriend".
I mention "Crush" because it is an example of doing really badly what this movie mostly succeeds at. This movie has some exaggerated humor, but doesn't let the acting or story get out of control like "Crush" did. This movie does the story pretty well with controlled overacting. In that sense it is similar to "Ready" and "N or N". The difference in the three is the acting, especially the leads. Both Witt and Burton have much better comedic timing. They both probably had better lines to work with also.
Bear in mind that this movie is about magic and it intentionally uses some exaggeration, so judging the acting is a little different than the standard Hallmark or Lifetime pure Christmas Romance.
I really liked the implied message about magic which is a cover for what we as people think in our hearts about other people. In a good Magic story, magic has a cost, or better, a consequence. Chelsea really learns that.
Fisher is the paragon, at least mostly. Chelsea is a bit wimpy but at her roots is honest and giving.
While the premise isn't the usual Christmas movie fare, the audience still has a pretty good idea what's coming. The ending here is decent enough.
This movie has weaknesses but is very watchable if you get into the spirit of fantasy magic mixed with Christmas romantic comedy.
