Charming Christmas (2015 TV Movie) User Reviews

Is he or isn't he?

[Jackbv123 · 7/10 · 25 November 2017]

In this story about a Nick Claus, some Christmas magic is hinted, but never demonstrated conclusively. Many good things happen to different people in almost miraculous ways.

The biggest miracle is Meredith, played by Julie Benz. Boy is she a Scrooge at the start. She is a rude workaholic that doesn't tolerate anything that isn't business. When she puts on the Mrs. Claus dress and stands in front of the children waiting for Nick dressed as Santa, I expected disaster. Instead she took the first step toward being human.

David Sutcliffe, as Nick, is totally confident. He has a demeanor that makes you think he knows things, and he could really be Santa. He handles Meredith masterfully and the chemistry between him and Benz is complex and grows.

Aidan Wojtak-Hissong is fairly unknown, but quite cute as Tyler. He also plays the you-can't-fool-me kid pretty well.

My only real complaint about the movie is that some transitions are forced which interferes with the flow and feeling of the movie.

A very tasty Christmas treat to leave every Christmas connoisseur's palate more than satisfied

[Ed-Shullivan · 7/10 · 25 December 2018]

I am not sure the film title Charming Christmas does the story justice. Charming Christmas is more deserving of a title such as "Do Not Open Until Christmas", or "Santa, Is That Really You?" Regardless though of the actual film title this nifty little Christmas film bakes up the right Christmas ingredients that will leave a good taste in most Christmas connoisseur's mouths.

David Sutcliffe who plays Nick Claus has a most mischievous wide smile that says "I have many secrets". Nick is hired by the original store owners of Rossman's department store to play Santa Claus and apparently he comes highly recommended. Against the Rossman owners decision to hire Nick to play Santa without vetting him first through their Human Resources department, their daughter Meredith Rossman (Julie Benz) who holds a degree in Business tries to pooh-pooh her mothers' decision. But you know what they say....."mother knows best" so Nick gets a chance to work his magic as the Rossman department store Santa.

Mrs. Shullivan and I enjoyed how Nick seemed to have something positive to share with all the Rossman store employees and he saved his best michievious grins and wisdom for Meredith who was too focussed on expanding the single Rossman store into a franchise industry, and she certainly clashed with the new Santa hire, Nick.

Gradually Nick works his Santa magic with the children who sit on his lap and the Rossman store employees all believe that Nick has lots to offer as their lives seem to be changing for the better after receiving personal letters of wisdom from Nick.. Even Meredith (Julie Benz) agrees to wear the Mrs. Santa Claus and she begins to have mixed feelings for her mysterious store Santa.

Charming Christmas gives the viewers insight into family dynamics at Christmas that many of us can relate to such as single parents raising young children, friends that complain about their current status and worklife balance, and of course what would a Christmas film be without a little romance, tears and laughter?

Charming Christmas has all of the above as well as many fine performances and the screen presence between David Sutcliffe and Julie Benz is fun to watch. I give the film 7 out of 10 stars.

Lives up to the CHARMING moniker

[kz917-1 · 7/10 · 6 December 2017]

Cute premise. Daughter of Rossman's Department store owners is next in line to portray Mrs. Claus at the Santaville are of the department. Initially she eschews the assignment and tries everything to get out of it. Then comes in Nick, famous up and down the coast for is work as Santa Claus. Will Nick melt Meredith's heart and in the process save Rossman's for future generations.

Cute movie. Gorgeous Mrs. Claus dress!

Where did they find that tatty Christmas Tree for the light switch on?

[adamjohns-42575 · 6/10 · 2 December 2020]

Well didn't Julie Benz age well? I hope it's not all plastic? I did wish that Paul Hopkins had been as lucky, he was adorable in "Tales Of The City" as the second of three 'Mice' but in this he looked like he had been covered in oil to go with his greasy character. I still have love for David Sutcliffe, who makes an excellent Claus, but he's definitely better with a beard, despite his similarities to Scott Bakula without it.

However, none of that really has anything to do with the film itself.

I liked this story. Generally where a shop is concerned I can appreciate the story from my years as a retail slave, so it was always going to interest me and I love it when there's a Santa's Grotto.

I did feel that they had perhaps one story too many going on and that detracted from the main romance itself. It wouldn't have been so noticeable if they just made some of these films fifteen minutes longer, so that they could develop all of the characters. You are still rooting for them both all the way through it though.

The question we are left with in the end is, could he possibly have been the real Father Christmas? I'd like to believe he was.

Update 13/10/22 -

The first time I watched this film,I really liked it, so I was probably not in the right mood this time, because it just seemed a bit twee and some of the acting was quite poor, or I probably just fancied David Sutcliffe as Nick a bit more back then.

He was still cute and I liked the idea of him potentially being the real "Saint" Nick, but I prefer to think that there really are good people out there that do nice things for the benefit of others.

Julie Benz was okay as Meredith, but personally I think that the idea of Mrs Claus is cute, but not essential, so I don't see the need for her to be at Santa's village. I certainly don't believe that many people turn up to see her at any point in December, it's all about the man with the bulging sack really. That element of the story didn't hurt anything though.

As much as I loved him as Michael Mouse in 'More/Further Tales Of The City' (1998-2001), I didn't like Paul Hopkins as the creepy Daniel in this one. He had none of that charm from before and seemed ugly for his behaviour.

Not all of the cast were actually even that capable of acting. As usual the child actor was awful, but mostly because the character of Tyler was a brat, which was no wonder when his Mother, Jessie wasn't particularly nice either. Along with Olivia, the characters were not delivered with any nuance or apparent ability, which was a shame, because the film clearly had a fairly good budget to afford stronger supporting artists and the production team seemed to know what they were doing, but I believe that the whole thing could have been far more "Charming".

With that said, I'm not sure I could get excited about the lighting of such an awful looking Christmas tree, which is always where these films let themselves down. It looked like they had seen it fallen down on the side of the road and decided it would do and its decoration was poor at best.

The retail part of Christmas can be magic or awful. When you take the magic out of providing the perfect thing for the perfect person and turn it in to how much money you can make from selling tat, that's when it becomes awful. This film tries to show that here. I believe that Father Christmas had the right idea in 'A Miracle On 34th Street' (1947/1994). It's all about the child and the family of course, being happy on Christmas Day and not about profits and margins. When the world realises this in a more general way, we could start to live in a utopia instead of the dystopia we are already stuck in.

It was easy to watch, but seemed to have lost a spark somewhere.

5.5/10.

Nice little movie

[rightisright · 7/10 · 4 November 2017]

Julie Benz is good as an older female lead. The real magic in this movie are, as usual, the Canadian actors filling out the cast. The actresses playing the single mom and the dancer are super cute and carry the story. They were much more interesting than the main story. The weird thing about a lot of these Hallmark movies is that they are set in dying types of businesses, like department stores and newspapers.

Very Enjoyable

[Christmas-Reviewer · 7/10 · 29 November 2016]

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 MOVIE. 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

If you don't like Hallmark Christmas Films then avoid this. I know their films are not ground breaking and they have a "Cookie cutter" "Color by numbers" quality about them. I want to however inform you that there is plenty of people like me who enjoy these films on cold Winters night. They are enjoyable because they do bring a smile to my heart. This film however is a little far fetched but the leads are cast well and you are rooting for them to fall in love.

In this film a woman Meredith Rossman an uptight heiress of Rossman's Department store. She has made the business her entire life. She has no life outside of her job. But when she is roped into donning the store's antique Mrs. Claus outfit to play Mrs. Claus at Rossman's famous Santaville, her life takes some unexpected turns.

I will watch this one again

Possible Santa seeks un-charming woman.

[malachite-78432 · 4/10 · 28 November 2020]

I don't understand why in the world this movie is called Charming. First of all, Meredith is anything but charming. She's a roaring B-word. Not likable in any way. Because of this, it doesn't make any sense that Nick, whether he's Santa or not, would spend even a second of his time on the likes of someone like her. She's unbelievably off putting. He's charming. But why is he attracted to her? What could he possibly see in her? Let him find a woman who is his match from day one. Not one that he has to pry a smile out of and look for a decent personality. Let her go and curdle her eggnog with the vinegar that is her soul and leave all of us alone. This woman is Debbie Downer on nasty pills.

Yes it was a Charming Christmas Movie

[gehewe · 8/10 · 14 February 2017]

Julie Benz is about 43 in this movie playing a 30-ish Meridith, but it was just fine. David Sutcliffe as Nick is about 46 and I didn't realize it was him playing Rory's dad on the Gilmore girls about 10 years prior (he looked and sounded familiar). Julie and David were great together. The kid was also great. We did doze on this one about 30+ minutes into the movie, we re-winded and revitalized and enjoyed the movie.

One scene in which she was looking at Nick's resume quickly. I paused it and read that he had been CEO of "Toys for the World" located in Spitsbergen which is an island in the Arctic Circle. The movie was OK but not great. Enjoyed it.

Charming indeed

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 5 October 2021]

Throughout my whole Hallmark/Lifetime Christmas film completest quest undertaken namely late last year through to early this year, an interesting quest but very mixed one, there was never the mentality of expecting a classic or the film in question to be flawless. Something that was never managed with Hallmark's output. There was always the expectation of seeing a film where one can see at least some effort rather than merely cash-in level. One could see that with most of Hallmark's output but not all.

'Charming Christmas' as far as Hallmark's Christmas films go fares quite well and is definitely worth watching and remembering. It is not flawless or a classic, but have come overtime to not expect any of those things watching a Hallmark Christmas film and have always tried to not judge them too seriously. Have seen the two leads in other things and they have shown that they can be good with the right material, which they do have once 'Charming Christmas' gets going.

It is a bit slow to begin with, the set up taking a little too long and Julie Benz's character is not easy to warm to at first. Grinch-like characters are not easy to play, and the grinch-like personality here is a little too overdone.

Some of the dialogue early on is pretty ropey too, the cheese really stinking up the room. The music could have been toned down too tonally and in placement, too constant and too loud.

However, it is worth sticking with 'Charming Christmas' if in any initial doubt as to me it did get a lot better. The production values still manage to be pleasing. It's not too drab or garish in photography, the editing didn't seem rushed or disorganised and the scenery has a real charm to it. Some of the music has some pleasant nostalgic moments. The dialogue is not great to begin with but improves when the plot properly kicks in, not being too sweet and it flows at least.

Furthermore, the story is light-hearted and really warms the heart without going into over-saccharine territory. The characters were on the most part ones easy to get behind and carry the film well. The acting is well above average, with Benz being very engaging once her character became easier to warm to and expressive. Every bit as good is charming David Sutcliffe and the two have genuine and natural chemistry together. The two characters actually grow, Benz's character does become easier to warm to and Sutcliffe's is not too perfect too early. The supporting cast are good too.

Concluding, worthwhile and worth remembering if not quite a must watch. 7/10.

bland Hallmark

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 28 December 2018]

Rossman's is a family store. Meredith Rossman (Julie Benz) is a driven business woman looking to take over from her parents who are concerned about her lack of personal life. Her mother hires Nick (David Sutcliffe) as the new Santa. The old Mrs. Claus costume is discovered and her mother pushes her to play the role. Window designer Jessie wants her son Tyler to spend more time with his father in the custody negotiation. With no daycare, Meredith reluctantly allows Tyler to be an elf. Her assistant Olivia is pushing everything aside to hold onto her dancing dreams.

This is a Hallmark movie and has that level of realism. It's fluff and Christmas fluff at that. This is not a real store and these are not real people. I do like Benz as an ice queen and Sutcliffe is perfectly nice to melt her heart. These are two veteran actors who can act the hell out of the longing stares. That is this movie's only essential need. The chemistry is fine and the side characters have something to do. The story does ramble around with no apparent destination. Even at a lower bar, this does struggle to clear it.

Sucker Punched My Tear Ducts

[xetaprime-64257 · 10/10 · 15 November 2015]

I am not unfamiliar to Hallmark Christmas Movies. I actually enjoy the silliness, playfulness and often 'come-on-ness I don't believe-ness'. And as I started this movie I first thought Julie Benz was miscast. I'm sorry but I thought 'she's too old' or 'not warm enough'. But I kept watching and yes it is formulamatic Hallmark. Yes it tugs at your heartstrings as should! But early on Julie Benz won me over and the schmultz won me over and I'll be, an occasional tear did flow... ehem, Family friendly, great characters all over the place and the ending I'll leave to your imagination. One thing that bugs me is when you type in full cast, you don't even get the child star and unfortunately I can't find out his name. Full cast does not bring up the full cast! I will say he acted up there with the best of them and that counts a lot in any venue. Thank you for an entertaining way-pre-Christmas evening.

Charming Christmas

[studioAT · 6/10 · 28 November 2021]

Charming by name, charming by nature.

This is an above average Hallmark film, that benefits from the fact it fleshes out the supporting characters a little more. It's almost 'The Sisterhood of Travelling Pants', but with a Mrs Claus outfit.

It does take the female lead a long time to soften, and that might be off-putting (as is the moment where they clearly mute the sound when she goes to say 'Monopoly'), but apart from that this was everything you expect in a Hallmark Christmas film and a little more besides.

Dull not much story

[phd_travel · 3/10 · 8 September 2016]

This Hallmark Christmas movie is a bit of a yawn. It's a pity because the actors are quite good. The story isn't about very much. She wants to sell her family store to a nationwide franchise. A man who does a good Christmas store Santa comes along. Julie Benz is quite a watchable actress and she is okay as the uptight overworked woman. David Sutcliffe is usually quite good too. It wouldn't really have been that bad to sell the store and give her parents a break after all. But what is boring is between all the Santa suits it isn't just very funny or romantic. It isn't so much a lack of chemistry between the leads as the lack of a build up of romantic plot before the last few minutes and a sudden kiss.

Not worth watching.

All over the place

[MickyG333 · 7/10 · 11 January 2023]

7.0 stars.

An uptight woman who runs a family department store is softened by the store's seasonal Santa.

This film is all over the place, but what's not to love about Julie Benz? I consider her to be like a golden child of Hallmark-esque films. She is the perfect good girl, with the perfect smile, and a very soft and sweet manner. She can do kind, she can do gentle, and bubbly, and fun in a marshmallowy fashion. And what is truly truly great about her is that she is so versatile that her vile persona is more convincing than the good one.

The lead male (Sutcliffe) who plays Santa has an infectious way about him. In this story, his current mission is to soften and win her heart. He is a very capable actor, I was impressed by his solid performance. Not just any guy can keep up with Benz.

One of the side stories was partially developed the other not so much. They could have dropped one and focused a bit more on the other (with the little boy). That's why I say this movie was all over the place.

90% of this film's setting is in the department store, which is a strangely limiting factor.

I enjoyed Benz and Sutcliffe, could take or leave the rest of the cast. There are no extra stars for entertainment or x-factor, this is simply an average film with a couple of above average leads.

Poorly written and poorly acted

[bilc-01949 · 1/10 · 29 October 2018]

This has to be in Hallmarks record book as one of its worse movies ever. The story line is lacking and unrealistic. Why would her parents put more faith on a stranger than their own daughter? Bad bad movie.

Mrs. Claus doesn't really want to meet the right Mr. Claus, but she just might change her mind!

[inkblot11 · 8/10 · 27 November 2015]

In a small city, Rossman's department store has reigned supreme for ages. Now, its daughter Meredith's turn to run the place, her parents being semi retired. As the head honcho, Merry sometimes has ideas her parents need to get used to liking. Most of all, our Ms. Rossman is a workaholic who doesn't have time for men or much else. Mom and Dad want to help change this. So, they hire an engaging man, Nick (David Sutcliffe) to be the store's Santa for the holidays. Uh oh, Meredith already ran into him at the dry cleaners and gave him the brush off. Yet, the folks get their way. They even unearth a Mrs. Claus costume from the storage room and encourage Merry to wear it around the store part of the day. What?!!! She relents. Its also slowly clear that maybe Nick can charm even the beastly beauty called Meredith. Will it be so? Hallmark, PLEASE never, ever go away. As the strongest force in romance films at present, your unending gifts to fans are greatly loved. This one echoes all the usual elements for a fine sample of love; that is, an attractive main couple, a talented supporting cast, nice sets, gorgeous costumes, a lovely script and a lively direction. Do, do romcom fans, reach for Charming Christmas at the earliest opportunity.

Very sad

[greenwood-16434 · 1/10 · 14 November 2015]

I cam only emphatically recommend avoiding watching this movie if you've read 'The Secret Life of Mrs. Claus. The movie has morphed three amazingly wonderful and entertaining tales into on confusing drab movie. Sadly the best and funniest parts have been edited away. None of the characters bear any resemblance to Carly Alexander's delightful book. Maybe the movie is okay if one hasn't read the book, I couldn't say, being unable to unring that bell.

This book was written as three different tales, taking place in three different cities, three separate years. To do the book justice, this should have been done as three consecutive movies, so as not to ruin the individual stories. I so wanted to see The Nutcracker part played out and there's not one mention of that particularly entertaining portion of M's. Alexander's book.

Charming Movie for a Charming Christmas!

[Harbinger_3781 · 10/10 · 16 March 2016]

This is an awesome experience. The movie was awesome, head to end.

Been a while since I saw the last young Santa Claus... that was 2006, with Master Tom Cavanaugh's Nick Snowden. He portrayed Santa really good. Man, now Master David Sutcliffe? Think I like the idea of having YOUNG Santa Clauses in Thanksgiving-Christmas movies - Santa Claus doesn't always have to be the traditional "white beard, big belly, ho ho ho, old man" figure, and getting younger males to portray Santa - as a store-costumed character or as a saintly character - really seems like a good idea.

Master Sutcliffe's Nicholas Smith character - his behaviour, his words, knowledge, actions and wisdom - they really are nothing short of saintly, and that reveal of his resume, of him being a CEO(instead of 'just a store Santa' like Meredith thought), pushes Nick to the point that he really IS Santa Claus. Also, I like Nick's temperament. Unlike some other Santa characters where their love interests fall out with them and they goes into a mopey mood, this Nick simply expresses his disappointment with deep cold and in perfect dignity, then carried on to work - something the Santa characters from movies like "Meet the Santas", "Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus", and "Merry In-laws" can learn.

Also, it's really cool to see Master Julie Benz portraying Meredith Rossman and costumed as Mrs. Claus alongside Master Sutcliffe, their chemistry was really good. Meredith gave an aura of "icy snow queen" first time she appears, as Nick commented, "Brrr, did it drop ten degrees in here?" Then for the most part, she's this typical "Christmas means sales" character like a lot of fictional and real-life business figures. But boy is Nick's Santa magic effective - slowly, under his influence, Meredith slowly begins to really accepts what the true essence of Christmas really is. Meredith said Mrs. Claus should be "kind, motherly", and should be "older-ish"... but as Nick's influence affects her more and more, her "motherly" side really starts to show, and that eventual kiss at the finale - my gosh, that was SO beautiful. I don't think I'll ever get tired of watching that - or any Hallmark Christmas movies, for that matter. Amazing. Awesome.

The rest of this cast goes - without a doubt - some of the best. Matsui and Leggat, perfect Mrs. Claus shifters, Grey and McNally, portrayal of a very happy elderly couple(with great names in rhymes too!), and young Master Aiden Wojtak as the "rambuncious" Tyler... simply the best.

Great movie. Great cast. Great story. Great Santa portrayal. Wishing for way more this year.

Ho Ho No.

[Pjtaylor-96-138044 · 4/10 · 6 December 2021]

When I first started watching 'Charming Christmas (2015)', I felt as though I was a commentary YouTuber researching films to make fun of in an upcoming video. It soon became apparent, however, that my time would've been wasted if that was the case; this isn't bad enough to make fun of in an entertaining way. It's bad, don't get me wrong, but it's bad because it's so bland that it isn't even interesting to criticise, not because it's especially incompetent or nonsensical overall. Having said that, there are certainly parts that could be described as incompetent and parts that could be described as nonsensical. For instance, the film frequently resolves conflicts that haven't even been established, setting up a problem and fixing it within the very same sentence. It also features two subplots that feel as though they're only included to pad the length and get the picture to the measly eighty-four minutes it ultimately is (no doubt for the purpose of putting in as many advertisement breaks as possible). The flick is about a guy, who may or may not be the real Santa Claus, coming to work as a department store Santa and sticking his nose into the lives of everyone he meets, essentially manipulating them to behave in a way he perceives to be 'better' and more 'Christmassy'. He's presented as the piece's love interest, but he's honestly really smarmy and controlling and not at all appealing, no matter how much the movie tries to trick you into thinking he's a literal saint who knows what's best for everyone. The actual protagonist is a business-owner who wants to franchise her family-owned store. This legitimate goal is treated as something bad that she can't possibly want 'deep down', and a big chunk of the movie is dedicated to Nick (yes, that's the possible Santa's real name) guilt tripping her into changing her mind about the whole affair. It's really annoying, actually, because his potential love for her appears to rest entirely on whether she sells the store or not, even though he doesn't work there permanently and has no reasonable reason to be upset if she does so (his job isn't in danger or anything like that). The flick tries to instil a sense of Christmastime magic, but it's so cheesy and forced that it actually does the opposite. It's honestly the sort of thing I dislike the most about the holiday season, a Christmas movie that actively makes me less excited about Christmas. It's just a bland, bland affair all the way through. It doesn't feel like it tells a story worth telling. Though its acting is (mostly) serviceable and its cinematography is clean (a bit too clean, if you ask me), its script is just too insipid and uninspired for the end result to be anything other than the same. As I said, it's typically competent and it's inoffensive enough, but it's so unremarkable that it almost hurts. 4/10.

A jumbled mess

[ichsachmalso · 4/10 · 9 January 2023]

Usually these types of films are very straight forward: A person who isn't into Christmas meets a person who is (most likely in their place of work/town), romance happens.

It's always very clear who the sympathetic and the unsympathetic characters are, and who the redeemable ones are. Usually.

Not so in this film. For the first half of the movie Meredith is so irredeemably rude/dismissive to everyone and grossly greedy with nary a positive trait in sight that she comes across as the absolute villain of the movie. That's her whole personality in every scene.

On top of that we constantly get shown the much more likable struggling single mom, which genuinely made me think that SHE would be the actual love interest.

Then Nick appears and pursues Meredith romantically for literally no reason (she's consistently rude to him as well). And somehow that turns her whole personality by 180 degrees within a day??

I am willing to suspend my disbelief a great amount for these types of movies, but that was just ridiculous.

Now I've read in the comments below that this used to be a book with 3 different stories and suddenly the mess makes a lot more sense. This definitely wasn't consolidated well and the side plots seem very disconnected and only confuse the main storyline.

Overly-focused-on-work Lady Grinch has her head turned...

[rcr1608 · 10/10 · 9 November 2015]

Overly-focused-on-work Lady Grinch has her head turned by what maybe/maybe-not a son of Santa. Their chemistry was great together. I kept expecting him to move on in and kiss her but he showed remarkable restraint. She wasn't giving any indication that she'd slap him if he did. I love these warm and fuzzy Hallmark Christmas movies. This one is my favorite one so far this year. (as of 11-9-2015) Hallmark's own blurb describing their movie: "Rossman's department store prepares for the Christmas season but its employees are not quite in the holiday spirit. As the no-nonsense manager, Meredith, is busy with the store's possible expansion for her parents, Nick comes to work as Santa Claus and spreads holiday joy throughout Rossman's. Between making Christmas wishes come true and cracking Meredith's tough exterior with some holiday romance, the mysterious Nick seems nothing short of saintly. Could this "Saint Nick" be the real Santa Claus?"