Skunkyrate
Gripping story with well-crafted characters
Robert Joyner
The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
Abbigail Bush
what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
Lucia Ayala
It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
rich-494
Alicia Witt is one of my favorite Hallmark actresses. Add in Wallace Shawn, and I was ready for a delightful ride. Unfortunately, this movie never got out of the garage. Usually engaging, Alicia Witt seemed to struggle with this part. Wallace Shawn did not have his heart in his performance. Maybe it was the writing. Or maybe this was just not a good vehicle for Alicia Witt. I do not know that I will ever figure out what ruined this movie for me. The basic idea is ingenious and could have been a source of a lot of lighthearted fun. Instead, everything seemed forced and two-dimensional.
Christmas-Reviewer
BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE FILM. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 HOLIDAY FILMS. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM HONEST! "Christmas at Cartwright's" is a 2014 American-Canadian romance television film directed by Graeme Campbell and starring Alicia Witt, Gabriel Hogan and Wallace Shawn Written by Margaret Oberman, the film is about a single mom who gets a holiday job as a department store Santa to pay her rent. Now I don't mind if a film goes into uncharted territory but this film doesn't. The filmmakers think the fact the idea that "Santa" is being played by a woman is "Shocking". I think the filmmakers should of re-thought this project. I think the film should of focused on "Santa" giving advise to the men who work at the store. Complications happen when her ex-husband starts working at the store along side her new boyfriend. Disguised as "Santa" she sees both of these men in a new light. She learns why her ex-husband left her and why he is behind in child support. She sees that her current boyfriend isn't perfect but also see's that a female co-worker is out to steal her boyfriend. That would of made a more interesting film.
archiecm
I really did enjoy this movie but I yelled at it for the first half of it. She needed rent money so she took this job (a man's job) wearing a Santa suit disguise. She doesn't know she's in the hands of an angel (Wallace Shawn) and thinks she's fooling him and the kids and the Department store staff. Fine. But how's she going to get paid? The check can't be made out to a woman for a man's position can it? Later, I realized her name is Nicki so I suppose she can get a check in her real name since that is a boys and girls name. (There's Nicholas and there's Nicole). If I'd remembered her name I wouldn't have needed to yell, "How did she get paid?" a dozen times. The point is she was good with kids and the angel thought she needed a break. So he helps her read the minds of the kids and she's a smash success. I enjoyed that part. Her lying to the male love interest was irritating. Lies get discovered. Also, why not just be who you are? If he has a problem with her being a good Santa and with her needing to pay the bills then he's the wrong guy for her. I had to stop the DVD when she failed the honesty test on their first date. Again I screamed. My dog hates screaming and bounds off the bed and scrambles underneath whenever he hears me yell and that seems to happen two or three times a night. Sorry Biscuit but she really really disappointed me. She got the guy back in the end but I'm not sure she deserved him. Guess that's it.
Brandon Maynard
Once again, Alicia Witt makes a great Hallmark Christmas film, this time playing Nicky, a single mom who loses her job right before Christmas. By a stroke of magic, she becomes the Santa at Cartwright's department store, thanks to Harry, the Christmas consultant, who may or may not be who he seems.Nicky also begins to fall for Bill, head of the men's department, but he doesn't know she is Santa. He asks her out, but she gets nervous and leaves halfway through. Eventually, through the scheming of Fiona, special events head who likes Bill, Nicky is exposed and fired.Thanks to a little bit of faith, "Christmas magic", and forgiveness, Nicky gets an even better job at Cartwright's and a second chance with Bill. What's more, her daughter, through a lot of practice, has improved her reading and reads the Night Before Christmas to Bill and Nicky to end the movie.Thoroughly enjoyable and a movie to definitely re-watch this season!