Christmas in Tahoe

6/10 - I will admit to really enjoying the trope where one of the exes has made it big and is now super famous and this certainly captured the heart of that trope which made it stand out ever so slightly among the rest of the 2021 holiday movies.

The story was good enough, had a couple of twists not obvious in the first ten minutes. The main complaint i have is that tahoe is beautiful but i doubt it was actually filmed there. Other than one line, this could've just as easily been christmas in kansas city, or albany, or anywhere. The few outdoor scenes were not in identifiable locations; the most tahoe the viewer sees is in the opening montage, possibly all stock footage.

There is some real life reality in this film where personal careers and goals temporarily take priority over Ryan (Kyle Selig) and Claire's (Laura Osnes) own relationship. The Christmas period is that magical time when forgiveness is on everyone's mind and reconciliation between estranged family and friends occurs more often than anytime of the year.

The supporting cast was just that, very supportive in their respective roles and to have the lead singer of Train, Pat Monahan, play Jackson, an administration assistant to Claire was a Christmas gift for all of us.

The only knock against this made for TV film was the producers and film editor decided to insert that irritating musical "bing bong Christmas tingle" interlude through most of the films conversation and I for one just get tired of hearing that cheesy bing bong twinkle background sound throughout. Never the less, I would recommend the film to both romantics and Christmas film lovers. I give it a respectable 6 out of 10 IMDb rating.

First of all, how do you NOT lead with George Lopez? He's not even mentioned in the trailer. Believe me, I would have watched this sooner had I known he was in it.

The best acting performances in the movie were by Lopez, Pat Monahan, and comedienne Alex Gullason. The other performances seemed to be from the Hallmark school of acting: pleasant, sincere, but without the authenticity of the great supporting players.

Given Monahan's involvement in the project, I take at face value the behind-the-scene workings of the music industry (if not the timeline). It was harder to accept Kyle Selig as a rock star. But then, this is a Hallmark movie and we're used to suspending disbelief.

It's worth watching "Christmas in Tahoe" for the great supporting cast.

Hallmark produced 42 Christmas movies this season (including one for 'Christmas in July'). Naturally, some of these were going to get lost in the crowd as it were. I'm afraid, 'Christmas in Tahoe' is one of these movies. Don't get me wrong, the movie is entertaining. It is a lighthearted and fun story with some strong acting performances, though the musical performances are a bit of a mixed bag. The movie follows Claire (played by Laura Osnes) who helps manage the family's beautiful hotel in Lake Tahoe. While she loves working with her father at the hotel, a place she has fond memories of growing up, her passion is in the entertainment industry, and her dream job is a talent booker at the Resort Center Entertainment in Las Vegas. To make this dream a reality, all she needs to do is make sure that her Christmas Eve variety show at her family hotel is a success. However, the main act cancels and the show quickly falls apart. Meanwhile, her ex-boyfriend Ryan (played by Kyle Selig), the lead guitarist for Wild Lynx a popular band she used to manage, returns home to Lake Tahoe for the holidays. And so, our journey begins as we watch these two team up to save the Christmas Eve variety show (and potentially Claire's dream job) while (re)discovering their deep feelings for each other. Though formulaic and unoriginal, the storyline in this one is entertaining nonetheless. The writers do a decent job with the dialogue between Claire and Ryan, and Claire and her father. However, there is nothing about this story that makes it stand out in the crowd. It has no 'X factor', no real noteworthy quality. The closes we get to this is Osnes's performance, which was very strong, I thought. She has an air of sweetness to her performance with a touch of scorn (as those who have been dumped often do). As another reviewer put it, 'she is the IT factor' in this one. It took me a little while to get used to (or, rather, get over) Selig's youngish looks. Once I did, I started to connect with his performance, which was pretty good overall. I was also impressed with his singing at the end of the film; a pity he and Osnes didn't do a song together. The chemistry between the two was OK, I guess. They came off as close friends, which worked well on-screen, but I wasn't completely convinced of their romantic chemistry. Given the 'second chance at love' theme of the story, I will give them the benefit of the doubt in this one. Another aspect of this movie was the musical performances. As noted above, these were mixed. I thought Pat Monahan from Train was surprisingly entertaining as both an actor and musician. It was a bit amusing when Claire was speaking to Jackson (played by Monahan), trying to come up with a replacement act for the show. As others have pointed out, the acapella group wasn't very good. I'm not sure what the producers were thinking or, rather, listening to. Finally, the film had a decent Christmas vibe to it. For example, the decorations in the hotel were beautiful, and though not filmed in Lake Tahoe, the snow-covered landscapes were a plus. If you're a lover of Hallmark Christmas romance movies (with a touch of comedy), you should check out 'Christmas in Tahoe'.