The Angel Tree

Another one that got great ratings but it's a no for me. Normally I love Jill Wagner but she seemed so downhearted in this movie. Most of the characters were sad in my opinion except the annoying daughter. Yes, the premise of the Santa Tree was a sweet idea but overall this movie lacked joy. Personally, I prefer movies like The Nine Lives of Christmas. Romantic, humorous, and realistic. Lately I haven't been loving the most recent Hallmark movies.

I enjoyed the movie and the chemistry between the main characters. However, the inaccuracies in the military uniforms really bugged me. The lead actress, Jill Wagner, is married to a major in the US Army - they should have asked him, or another military consultant, before airing this.

The romance TV movie genre has a special privilege that no other genre has: a free pass for using the most insanely unbelievable plot devices in order to make the story move forward. This movie abuses this concept to the point that even hardcore lovers of cheesy romance with a well trained suspension of disbelief would find it impossible to stay immersed in the story without getting constantly disrupted by "What the hell...!" moments. To give a non-spoiler example, an overweight military mom with a ridiculous amount of badges that would place her in the war hero category. But that's just to keep this review spoiler free, it gets much worse, especially in things involving the actual plot. Besides that, it had the potencial to be a really nice movie: the chemistry between the protagonists works really well, the character development of the female protagonist is quite decent and, this is something rarely seen on these movies, child actors that are actually good and not completely cringeworthy. I say watch it only if you're absolutely sure you have no better option.

Good cast. No way could Jill Wagner's character be so clueless about how wrong her intention was. Also, everyone supported her. Waste of money to make. Didn't anyone pay attention to the plot?