Just as a heads up: you have to really like the song Feliz Navidad if you're going to watch this movie, because you'll hear it over and over and over again. The end of this movie is practically this song on a back-to-back loop.
That out of the way, this is a pretty cute movie. Mario Lopez (David) plays a believable dad and has good chemistry with AnnaLynne McCord (Sophie), which the movie enhances by giving them fun, light-hearted banter as dialogue. There's also an enjoyable Pitch Perfect aspect to this film with the acapella group, led by Sophie, which allows her to form an organic bond with David's daughter Noel.
On the negative side, the movie seesaws a bit drastically sometimes between over-the-top comedy (like the ludicrous dates David goes on with downright impossible women) and deep, personal conversations (which mostly revolve around David's passed wife and how her death has affected his family). The climax of the movie also focuses on a few completely unnecessary conflicts, even if they are resolved quickly -- for instance, Sophie brings the EXACT items needed to save the day (and Noel's performance at the Christmas show) without having any prior knowledge of this problem. Also not helping is that the big issue keeping Sophie and David apart (they live in different cities) is sort of swept under the rug via voiceover by David at the very end in which he casually says they'll just commute from city to city to see each other. Not quite the satisfying wrap-up I was hoping for.
All in all, though, this was a sweet family movie, and it was nice to learn more about different holiday traditions and see more representation in these movies.
That out of the way, this is a pretty cute movie. Mario Lopez (David) plays a believable dad and has good chemistry with AnnaLynne McCord (Sophie), which the movie enhances by giving them fun, light-hearted banter as dialogue. There's also an enjoyable Pitch Perfect aspect to this film with the acapella group, led by Sophie, which allows her to form an organic bond with David's daughter Noel.
On the negative side, the movie seesaws a bit drastically sometimes between over-the-top comedy (like the ludicrous dates David goes on with downright impossible women) and deep, personal conversations (which mostly revolve around David's passed wife and how her death has affected his family). The climax of the movie also focuses on a few completely unnecessary conflicts, even if they are resolved quickly -- for instance, Sophie brings the EXACT items needed to save the day (and Noel's performance at the Christmas show) without having any prior knowledge of this problem. Also not helping is that the big issue keeping Sophie and David apart (they live in different cities) is sort of swept under the rug via voiceover by David at the very end in which he casually says they'll just commute from city to city to see each other. Not quite the satisfying wrap-up I was hoping for.
All in all, though, this was a sweet family movie, and it was nice to learn more about different holiday traditions and see more representation in these movies.
