Christmas at Cartwright's

2014

Comedy / Drama / Family / Fantasy / Romance

6
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 48%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 48%
IMDb Rating 6.4/10 10 2294 2.3K

chicago, illinois department store single mother mall santa guardian angel christmas

Plot summary

With Christmas approaching, a struggling single mom finds herself working as a department store Santa Claus, as a real-life angel delivers good fortune and the possibility of holiday romance.

Director

Graeme Campbell Photo
Graeme Campbell

Top cast

Ron Lea Photo
Ron Lea as Mr. Mathews
Alicia Witt Photo
Alicia Witt as Nicky
Wallace Shawn Photo
Wallace Shawn as Harry
Linda Kash Photo
Linda Kash as Peg
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
797.92 MB
1280*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 26 min
Seeds 7
1.45 GB
1920*1080
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 26 min
Seeds 10

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by utgard14 6 / 10

Another fine Hallmark Christmas movie

Enjoyable Hallmark movie starring Alicia Witt as an unemployed single mom who, through a series of events, gets a job as a department store Santa without anyone at the store actually knowing she's not a 'he.' Helping her along the way is angel (I think?) Wallace Shawn. Other characters include the adorable daughter struggling at school, the wealthy (but bland) love interest, and the villainous woman who causes problems for our heroine every five minutes. It's hardly a Miracle on 34th Street but it'll get the job done. Alicia Witt is immensely likable and carries the movie on her shoulders. Wallace Shawn is fun whenever he's around. Gabrielle Miller makes for an easy-to-hate villainess. T.J. McGibbon plays the daughter and steals every scene she's in. Gabriel Hogan is the weakest part of the cast as the completely forgettable love interest. He's the usual Hallmark clichéd rich guy that every woman is apparently aspiring to marry. He's also unexciting in every possible way. I think Alicia's character can do better but I didn't write the movie. It's worth a look if you enjoy these sorts of things. It won't rock your world or anything but it's a good way to pass the time.
Reviewed by jromanbaker 6 / 10

Quirky Charm

Alicia Witt has a quirky charm, and she is excellent as the first Santa at a department store. I have to thank the wonderful film ' Bros ' for my addiction to Hallmark Films, and the goodwill that they deliver to many people. I am not sure this is one of my favourites, but it has a great premise. Women can be just as good as men portraying Santa, and Witt has the right approach in playing this role. As we all know these Christmas fantasies have a male lead as well, but sadly in this film I did not think the one chosen for this was not quite up to make the heartbeat, either for female as well as male viewers. But to return to Alicia Witt she is much less passive than some of the female actors in the Hallmark genre. I really believed she could bring magic to the children she meets, and her mentor played brilliantly by the muti-talented Wallace Shawn was a magical choice of its own. ' Real ' life should have more female Santas. Worth watching.
Reviewed by TheLittleSongbird 6 / 10

The first noel(le)

Despite being a lover of Christmas, that is not to say that every Hallmark Christmas film is great. A fair share of them are watchable enough but there are average and less ones about, still watch them out of curiosity and also because of them being part of a completest quest. Alicia Witt is a bit hit and miss for me, she's a regular in these films and while there are times where you can see why there are quite a number of other times where she really could have toned it down.Something that is luckily not the case here. Witt comes off very well here, as do a number of other things. 'Christmas at Cartwright's' would not fit my definition of a great Christmas film or even a great film overall, and this is all personal opinion not an objective one. 'Christmas at Cartwright's' is though a very pleasant, inoffensive diversion and not a bad way to pass the time for a couple of hours of a bleak afternoon for instance.As said, Witt is immensely charming and injects a lot of personality without forcing it out, nothing affected here about her performance. She does make a potentially strange character work, considering the concept that is. Wallace Shawn still has a loving twinkle in his eye and doesn't phone it in. Gabrielle Miller has fun in her role and doesn't overplay, which is great as she had a type of character where it was easy to do so. The characters are not complex in development but at least don't bore or irritate, while the central chemistry has spark and is quite sweet.'Christmas at Cartwright's' looks good. The interiors for the store really stand out, very beautifully eye-catching and the photography doesn't cheapen that. The script doesn't come over as stilted, over-cheesy or over-saccharine and the story while far from flawless is charming, warm-hearted and emotionally investable without taking itself too seriously, enough of a lightness of touch to avoid heaviness.However, the story does execute its concept a bit too ordinarily and brings nothing new to the table. This is standard Hallmark Christmas, with little to set it apart. So while it is pleasant to watch, the predictability gets excessive as do the silliness and coincidences (meaning that it was not always easy to take the final third completely seriously).Another thing that felt excessive was the music, which should have been used much less, as it did get too much, and felt very over-scored and intrusive. Distracting from the atmosphere and from some of the dialogue which was sometimes swamped by it.In conclusion, worth seeing but not a "two thumbs way up" sort of film. 6/10
Read more IMDb reviews

No comments yet

Be the first to leave a comment