Feste col ladro

I'm guessing this movie is aimed at the whole family including children since it lacks any subtlety and the PI wannabe, Lana. Is anything but inconspicuous not to mention clumsy. Detective cliches abound like the one at the start with Lana trying to channel Sherlock Holmes with her "deductions" regardless how accurate or inaccurate she may have been. The cliché terminology in the dialogue is even worse than the stereotype roles. Then there is the sting operation. I don't know which is more stupid - that the thief would "toy" with them or using real valuables as bait.

Even though I don't like many of them, Halmark Movies and Mysteries' Signature Mysteries are a definite step up in quality from this movie. Besides quality, another big difference is that this is a one shot movie, so any romance must be accomplished in 84 minutes and that with two candidates for Lana's affections.

The acting is fair to poor unless you adjust for aiming at a younger audience. Likewise the dialogue.

I figured out the theif fairly early but based more on what I know about this kind of story. The clues do build up over time.

Admittedly this, like several Christmas mysteries on Ion, is not the usual Hallmark Christmas Saturday night. It's probably family safe. But that's not enough. For a kid safe movie I might give it 7 or 8 stars. I'm not a kid and no longer watch with any.