Christmas in the City (2013)

good back-story, and good acting

Excellent but underrated film

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Someone else here said you will love this or hate this and I tend to agree with that statement. "Christmas in the City" is not meant to be groundbreaking art. What it is meant to do is to entertain an audience and it does. Maybe a little more effort could have been made in ways of the screenplay and that the final reveal of the department store with its Christmas display could of used a bigger wow factor would of helped the overall experience.This film is all about love. Love you have with your family traditions and fearing of losing them. Not a perfect film but it is made with joy and the lead has a smile that becomes a star in its own right. I saw this on NETFLIX streaming. Available now

This film is so far fetched that it borders on camp however, Ashley Williams makes the film watchable and believable. This is not easy because this film has things that are crazy. Example Angie lives in an apartment that she could never afford. Tom is "Good looking" "Nice" and "single"? Then there is Teeana Setting up Wendy and when she is caught she doesn't even go to jail? Putting all of that aside I still love this film. It all comes down to"Faith" "Hope" "Family" and "Traditions".The main plot of the film is that Wendy Carroll (Ashley Williams) and her six-year-old daughter Grace (Kylie Price) live in a small town where Christmas is everywhere, she gets a foreclosure notice three weeks before Christmas for her father's candy store that she has ran for the last five years. To make some extra money and save the candy store Carroll and Grace travel to the big city. She stays with her friend Angie from back home whom just got a major part in a play. Angie works at Wolman's Department store where she takes Carrol to apply for a temp job. On waiting for Angie to check in she meets Tom who manages the store and offer's her a job in the toy department of Wolmans, the city's biggest department store, Wendy can't wait! She thinks the store is amazing, with all the Christmas holiday cheer, unfortunately her excitement doesn't last long when the store's manager, Teanna (Ashanti), destroys the Christmas spirit throughout the store and replaces Santa. (Michael Durrell) with a hunky male underwear model surrounded by elfin "babes."I don't want to give too much away but I love it when it seems the whole world breaks out and sings "Oh Come All Ye Faithful". I am not religious but that moment is magic to me. This film has a vibe that reminds me of the movies "Disney" made in the 1960's and 1970'sVery family safe. Not for everyone. However if you want to watch a film about a woman trying to hang on to family traditions and succeeding then watch this. I wish this was available on DVD however you can stream it on Netflix. I am looking forward to seeing Ashley Williams on other projects.

I'm a fan of Christmas movies and schmaltz doesn't bother me a bit. Spirit of Christmas triumphs over nasty commercialism, fine. Hackneyed predictable story, not a problem.This movie has all that. Unfortunately it also has a cast that mugs it's way through the entire hour and a half. There isn't one believably delivered line through the whole thing, let alone any kind of emotional connection between the characters.Santa was very disappointing. He should have been a key element but just didn't get it done. Good voice and chuckle, but that was about it. His beard changed from one scene to the next,and never looked good, they didn't even bother to groom his mustache. And don't get me started about the cheesy, ill-fitting, off the shelf suit.To top it all off, the gratuitous use of sleazy, shirtless, male models renders the film unsuitable for small children.

Ashley Williams is adorable, BUT that constant huge smile throughout the entire movie was distracting and it took away from the sincerity of the production. I feel that it really watered down the show. It's wonderful to seem happy in a Christmas movie as long as it doesn't come across as cheesy and I believe that it crossed that line.Unfortunately, this movie had a few cheesy scenes. Also, some of the other main characters (and background actors)were very weak and also unbelievable, especially Ashanti. The little girl who plays the daughter was more convincing than the rest of the cast. Overall, I was disappointed because I had such high hopes after seeing the previews and I feel that everyone could have done a better job telling this story. Sorry.The good news is that I've seen much worse...