Ellen Langford has become a party girl in New York City which makes her father unsure whether she is actually ready to take over the family gift business. In order to teach her values and get her back on track he tasks her with taking a Christmas letter to the man he set the business up with. A small town named Snow Falls with only $100 and no credit cards.
You will have noticed by now that these types of films become a guilty pleasure of mine over Christmas and we don't have to try and find those Hallmark films anywhere on UK TV anymore as Netflix have given us quite a few new originals this Christmas period. Early on I am going to admit that I actually liked this one, more than I ever thought possible! I feel as though it actually had better messages than many of the films in this genre. Yes, it has its own genre of Cheesy Christmas Films. I am making that official now, haha!
The thing with her task she is not allowed to tell anyone in the town who she really is, she must attempt to hand deliver the letter and survive on that $100 which includes paying for a room and food. That money quickly runs out and she must then help out around the place to earn her keep. She also lies that she is a baker and must actually learn how to cook with Debbie who is the Auntie of the man she is obviously going to fall in love with even though her fiancé is left in New York. Who we quickly find out is not really a very nice guy at all.
Certain parts of the film are rather predictable but I really don't think that is a bad thing when we have a film like this. We know things aren't great for Ellen to begin with but positive she can really turn it around, I like that message a lot she learns it is not all about her but about what she can actually do to help others. That was the idea from her father so she had true values something he blamed on himself for the way he raised her following the death of her mother. It is not a Cheesy Christmas film without a slight sob story as well though!
But as much as I am saying how cheesy the film is, that is meant in a good way as I thought the performances were good enough in this one with Eliza Taylor leading and having some good scenes with Andie MacDowell. Those were the highlights, but also that the romance whilst it was in the background was never a driving force of the film but using Christmas as the time to really learn how you can help others was actually a good thing. If only more emphasis this time of year was placed on that instead of about getting presents! I think that is something society has ended up doing whether it meant to or not.
This is a very good Christmas film from Netflix I don't care what anyone else thinks. You might have read and heard a lot about A Christmas Prince but this is easily the better film, with much better morals and values coming from it!