Feliz NaviDAD

I really enjoyed this Lifetime Christmas movie. I think it is one of their best thus far this year. The story is cute, fun, festive and, maybe, a bit quirky. The latter element was part of its charm, I felt. There were several heartfelt scenes and dialogue, especially between father and daughter. This is the second Christmas movie that I have seen this season where the daughter tries to set-up her father via online dating; My Dad's Christmas Date, the other film I am referring to, is very good, by the way. This was a cute and fun dimension to the story. The dates that David (played by Mario Lopez) go on made me laugh a little, at times, which was a plus. The acting was great. The leads (Save by the Bell meets 90210, sorry, I could not help myself) both had strong performances. I thought Lopez was great in this film. He had such a warm and fun vibe to his performance. I especially liked his more heartfelt scenes with his daughter. A good example is a scene about 20 minutes into the film; there was some nice dialogue and acting here. AnnaLynne McCord's portrayal of Sophie was very good. The chemistry between the two, especially on their dates, was excellent and, more importantly, very convincing. The second date scene, where they were going to kiss but did not, had a lot of chemistry, I thought. The supporting cast, overall, had a solid performance. Paulina Chávez's (as Noel) performance was wonderful: some superb acting with some beautiful singing to boot. The ending of this movie, the climax, is quite festive and entertaining. You don't want to miss it. The singing and dancing performances by the students were fun and bright; I started singing along myself at one point (when the audience on screen did). A great way to end this one, I felt. Overall, it is a cute, fun, and festive Christmas movie, with some impressive acting, a nice new addition to Lifetime's 2020 lineup. I highly recommend it.

Cute & Funny. Directed by Melissa Joan Hart who also cameos centers on David played by Mario Lopez as a single dad with a teenage daughter. At the urging of both his daughter & sister David begins dating with comedic results. Look for a cameo of Mario's wife as the mother that hits on him!

So far this is my favorite of the 2020 christmas movies. The cast is all likeable, chemistry is great with the leads and its full of cute moments. The daughter has a nice voice and it has some really good singing moments. My favorite part was when Melissa Joan Hart shows up being that "Holiday in handcuffs" is my favorite christmas movie. This will for sure go on my yearly christmas movie list. If you like upbeat and funny christmas movies then give this one a try

Christmas films can go either way, which has been my experience watching overtime the festive output of Lifetime and Hallmark. They can either be well-meaning, charming, warm-hearted and don't feel too heavy. Or they can be too over-sentimental, cheesy, contrived and bland. There have been many films of theirs that have fallen in both camps and in the camp where there is a bit of both. And 'Feliz Navidad' did have the sort of premise where the execution could have gone either way.

Luckily, for me, on the most part, 'Feliz Navidad' is in the former category. As far as Lifetime's uneven but generally not bad 2020 Christmas output goes, 'Feliz Navidad' is one of the better ones and interesting for it being directed by Melissa Joan Hart (have always liked her as an actress and had no idea she could direct). It's not great or perfect, with a few story issues, but the performances, upbeatness and charm more than compensate and help make it very enjoyable.

'Feliz Navidad' doesn't succeed in every area. There are moments of overdone comedy and occasional over-talkiness in the more dramatic moments. The conflict could have done with more tension, was very rushed and really didn't buy too the too abrupt and too easy way the film ended the main conflict.

Also did find the music repetitive and really did pine for much more variety in the music choices. Hearing "Feliz Navidad" the number of times it featured felt like overkill, it is a fun song but is used heavy-handedly here.

However, 'Feliz Navidad' does benefit from the acting. Mario Lopez and AnnaLynne McCord are very engaging and easy to relate to leads, Lopez especially is funny, charming and affecting in equal measure. Paulina Chavez gives a heartfelt performance and a contender for the best child performance of Lifetime's 2020 Christmas output. The chemistry between Lopez and McCord was genuine and had wit too, while Lopez and Chavez have a bond that was quite moving to watch. Hart directs sympathetically while still giving the drama momentum.

It looks attractive, especially the scenery which at its best is picturesque. Most of the comedy is genuinely funny and the drama on the whole is poignant and not too sentimental. The dialogue flows well on the whole and doesn't come over as too cheesy or soapy. The story is very sincere and heart-warming, as well as upbeat in its energy. The characters are worth caring for all the way through and the acting is to primarily thank for that.

Overall, not great but nicely done. 7/10.

When watching holiday movies on TV, you never can expect much from them. But while flipping through channels I just happened to see this one starting on Lifetime and was intrigued by the fact it had Mario Lopez both in it and as producer along with Melissa Joan Hart as director. The whole cast, was terrific. Mario played single dad to his daughter very well. AnnaLynne McCord was also terrific in her role, as always. Like all Christmas movies, it was pretty obvious what was going to happen in the end, but the characters made this one very entertaining and enjoyable throughout the whole movie. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys fun holiday movies.