I'm Not Ready for Christmas (2015)

I'll tell you why so serious

Beautiful, moving film.

Absolutely Fantastic

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This is a good Hallmark Christmas movie. Period. Watch it.Yes, the "I can't lie" plot device may not be original, but it is unique to Hallmark Christmas movies and Alicia Witt really pulls it off here. She comes across as extremely believable and relatable, as if you could know someone like this in your real life (confirmation of a good character, dialog, and acting). I think the way that they had her not lie was why the movie was so interesting - it had good dialog and she blurted out what she was thinking, not just being truly honest. This being a Hallmark Christmas movie there is a can of cheese here and there, but this one refreshingly has a more realistic romance and believable characters, especially the reluctant romantic interest. The "too cozy with the client" subplot was a little much, and the ending climax was done all wrong, but the strong characters, focus on plot, and dialog saved the movie. This is the second Hallmark Christmas movie I've seen this year. These movies are 2 for 2 with having a convenient massive snowstorm shut down the main airport at the most critical time in the plot (how convenient) and having the real Santa appear in the movie for no good reason and pretend to be a fake Santa while granting Christmas wishes with magic. Just a note - I live in Minnesota and it takes one big whopper of a blizzard to shut down MSP. Flights usually get delayed and only cancel when the storm lasts more than a day, and this is rare. The writers need to think up a more realistic way to keep key characters in the action. I'd also like to see the Santa's more integrated into the plot, and not just standing around ringing a bell or walking around aimlessly.

While the concept was cute,(main character not being able to lie) the writers went overboard with "Holly" explaining everything in detail. If the character is going to tell the truth, then tell the truth and move on. Alicia Witt constantly going into longs explanations made the movie, in my opinion, tiresome to watch. Also, the character of Drew (George Stults) was one dimensional with not much meat. It seemed all he did was react with a blank face at Holly's "truthful" comments. This also became boring and tiresome to watch. It seems the writers follow a particular writing pattern but maybe they should change it up a bit.I'm a huge fan of Hallmark and their Christmas movies but "I'm Not Ready for Christmas" was definitely at the bottom of the list. Not one of Hallmark's best Christmas movies.

My wife and I watched a few minutes of this movie last Christmas. We usually get somewhat excited for Hallmark movies, but I forgot why we didn't watch this one through to the end last Christmas season. Maybe there was something better on TV? Maybe we had too much bourbon in our egg nog? Who knows??Well, we didn't think much of it at the time other than the fact that Alicia Witt (aka America's Sweetheart) starred in this movie. We have grown to love Alicia Witt back from her days in "A Very Merry Mix- Up", and we consider her an unofficial part of our family. This movie came on again last week (the week before Halloween, for whatever reason). We turned it on just in time for the scene where Alicia Witt and her niece were about to go ice skating. It was at that point we decided to kick Alicia Witt out of our family. The scene started with Alicia Witt putting on brown ice skates, then it cuts away, and when it cuts back to her, my wife pointed out that she is wearing GRAY ice skates. Seriously??!?! Gray?!?!? Are these some kind of magic ice skates? Maybe Alicia Witt has fallen on hard times and she needs the money, but I never thought she would sink so low as to star in this complete ice-skate- screw-up of a movie.I really hope that Alicia Witt is embarrassed by that gaffe. She is better than this. Maybe now that she has hit rock bottom, she can pick herself up and once again start churning out movies that touch our hearts.

This movie follows your typical Hallmark plot line, but has a nice twist. The main character, Holly, is a single, workaholic whose sister and niece often beg to spend time with her. Holly's main problem is that she has a knack for telling little white lies. This is accentuated when she promises her niece, who is in elementary school, that she will attend her Christmas program but doesn't. Later, when Holly arrives at the school after the program, she comes across the music teacher who she met earlier, who confronts Holly about a lie she told. Holly's niece asks Santa to prohibit Holly from telling lies, and as Holly walks out the school to the car, that wish comes true. Holly cannot lie. This throws a wrench in her otherwise normal life and she finds the true spirit of Christmas.