Have liked Hallmark regular Candace Cameron Bure in many other things, primarily Hallmark's festive output, and consider her one of Hallmark's better regular leading ladies. Have been pleasantly surprised by the quality of some of her films as well. Am a lot less of a fan of Tom Arnold, who often has annoying characters that he tends to overdo and tends to be a not very likeable presence in. While loving Christmas and liking a fair share of Hallmark's Christmas films, part of me was expecting the two to not gel at all.
2008's 'Moonlight and Mistletoe' was a very pleasant and welcome surprise. It didn't blow me away and is not one of my favourite ever Christmas films, but expectations were not massive in all honesty for the film and it was to my relief that it turned out much better than expected and among the best of Hallmark's 2008 Christmas films. There are a lot of good things about 'Moonlight and Mistletoe' and what sounded like they would be problems were not problems at all.
'Moonlight and Mistletoe' isn't perfect. The story does have some too easy and over too quickly conveniences in the latter stretches that felt forced and pat. There is conflict with the misunderstandings but it is forced and rushed again, not unusual for Hallmark.
While the characters generally didn't bore or annoy me, part of me felt like there could have been more development to them. A couple, including Nick, seemed too perfect from the start or too prematurely in alternative to going on a character journey that sees growth. The latter of which being the case with Bure. Barbara Niven overdoes her role and her character was over the top annoying.
A lot is great here however. Bure is immensely charming and her likeability is difficult to resist. The biggest surprise of 'Moonlight and Mistletoe' was seeing how good Arnold is, he is surprisingly very likeable and sympathetic here and not irritating at all. One of his better performances in a long time in my view. The chemistry between the two was another welcome surprise, that sounded like too much of a gross mismatch because of the two different acting styles and character personalities but there is a real warmth between the two and their attraction is believable.
The production values still manage to be pleasing. It's not too drab or garish in photography, the editing didn't seem rushed or disorganised and the scenery has a real charm to it. Some of the music has some pleasant nostalgic moments. Dialogue isn't stilted and doesn't go too heavy on the cheese or schmaltz. While the story was problematic, it was not a disaster by any stretch. Is light-hearted and really warms the heart without going into over-saccharine territory despite being familiar territory in tropes and thematically
Despite not being mind-blowing this surprised me in a good way. Definitely worth seeing. 7/10.
