This week I made one of the best decisions I've made in a long time. I subscribed to Hallmark Movies Now. My husband may not agree that it's such a great thing, but holy moly, I had a great weekend. The first movie I watched was A Cinderella Christmas. I know this isn't a popular opinion, but I hate the Disney cartoon Cinderella, so I'm always on the search for a good Cinderella story. Basically every version I've seen out-ranks the Disney cartoon. Even the ABC version, A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song. So fair warning, my bar for good Cinderella movies is set pretty low.
This incarnation seems to be set in California, although it's never explicitly clarified. Our Cinderella is named Angie. It's made pretty obvious at the beginning that Angie is an orphan (no idea what happened to her parents) and was raised by her Uncle Otto along side her evil, conniving cousin, Candice. Candice is the stereotypical antagonist. Vain, aloof, lazy, entitled, what have you. Uncle Otto is very supportive of both of his girls, and owns several small businesses. He's only in a few scenes so it's difficult to get a real take on his character.
Angie and Candice have been running the event planning/catering business, but we learn early on that Angie does all of the work while Candice takes all of the credit. In the opening scene the two cousins are discussing what Uncle Otto is getting them for Christmas, and Angie reveals her plan to ask Uncle Otto to let her buy the business. Before Angie can do this, Candice convinces her father to retire, and hand over the business to the both of them. Angie is obviously devastated. Candice takes this opportunity to strike a deal with meek little Angie. If Angie will do everything Candice tells her to until she finds a man and gets married, she will hand the business over to Angie. Heartbroken Angie reluctantly agrees.
The event planning business (which has no name and is referred to as "the event planning business" throughout the movie) has been hired to plan and cater a Christmas Ball for local millionaire bachelor playboy, Nicholas Carmichael. (Side note: why are there so many romantic heroes named Nicholas? Whether in these movies, or the terrible novels you can get for $1 on amazon, the market seems be be flooded with an above average number of heroes named Nicholas.) Angie has planned a beautiful, extravagant garden party, and has decided to make it a masquerade where everyone's identity is hidden. Two days before the masquerade ball, Angie and Candice meet Nicholas, seemingly for the first time. Candice uses her feminine wiles to convince Nicholas that she alone planned this party, and he invites her as his plus one to the ball. I think we're supposed to hate Nicholas at this point for being so superficial, but I had no strong opinions of him at this point. After securing her invite, as well as making fun of all of Angie's ideas for the party, she tells Angie that she has to help her get ready for the ball by schedule a facial, full body wax, hair, makeup, etc.
As Candice's slave, Angie is obliged to give into her outlandish demands. After this, we are introduced to the Fairy Godmother in the form of a dress maker. While picking up the custom dress, Fairy Godmother aka Natalie from The Facts of Life aka Zelda. She's very weird and all-knowing. But she is rocking a pink pixie cut, so she kind of gets away with being so weird. Soon after, as luck would have it, Candice has an allergic reaction to her diamond facial (which is all Angie's fault) and has to miss the ball. The hair and makeup has already been paid for in advance, and she has the dress, so Angie decides to take Candice's place at the ball. She'll be wearing a fancy mask, so no one will know it's her. Perfect, right? Wrong. Candice is onto her scheme and says that if anyone sees her at the ball before the midnight cleanup, she's dead meat. These threats do nothing to sway our sweet Angie, and she goes to the ball and meets her perfect, handsome prince. Because this is a Cinderella story, she must disappear before midnight, before she can reveal her identity. Her prince is decidedly heartbroken.
The prince comes up with a very creative way to find his Cinderella, all while Candice tries to connive and scheme to make him believe she's the woman he's looking for. Earlier in the movie there are all kinds of hints dropped to help him uncover the truth. Will our Cinderella get her happily ever after, or will her evil cousin ruin everything? Let's be real, this is a Hallmark movie so we all know how it's going to end.
Again, this movie hits all my marks for a terribly awesome made-for-TV-rom-com. Shirtless hero, heroine who has no idea how beautiful she is, campy drama, and a seemingly insurmountable dilemma. My favorite part though is probably the fact that Angie's best friend is a bunny named Jenny.
I'd give this move a 9/10 on our rom-com scale. There are a few continuity issues, and the obvious requisite plot holes, but I'd still watch it again. Probably several times. My husband was able to hold in most of his snarky comments throughout, so I'd give it a 3/10 in real life ratings.
A Cinderella Christmas is available for streaming on Hallmark Movies Now. If you're not wanting to subscribe, there is a 7 day free trial.
Angie and Candice have been running the event planning/catering business, but we learn early on that Angie does all of the work while Candice takes all of the credit. In the opening scene the two cousins are discussing what Uncle Otto is getting them for Christmas, and Angie reveals her plan to ask Uncle Otto to let her buy the business. Before Angie can do this, Candice convinces her father to retire, and hand over the business to the both of them. Angie is obviously devastated. Candice takes this opportunity to strike a deal with meek little Angie. If Angie will do everything Candice tells her to until she finds a man and gets married, she will hand the business over to Angie. Heartbroken Angie reluctantly agrees.
The event planning business (which has no name and is referred to as "the event planning business" throughout the movie) has been hired to plan and cater a Christmas Ball for local millionaire bachelor playboy, Nicholas Carmichael. (Side note: why are there so many romantic heroes named Nicholas? Whether in these movies, or the terrible novels you can get for $1 on amazon, the market seems be be flooded with an above average number of heroes named Nicholas.) Angie has planned a beautiful, extravagant garden party, and has decided to make it a masquerade where everyone's identity is hidden. Two days before the masquerade ball, Angie and Candice meet Nicholas, seemingly for the first time. Candice uses her feminine wiles to convince Nicholas that she alone planned this party, and he invites her as his plus one to the ball. I think we're supposed to hate Nicholas at this point for being so superficial, but I had no strong opinions of him at this point. After securing her invite, as well as making fun of all of Angie's ideas for the party, she tells Angie that she has to help her get ready for the ball by schedule a facial, full body wax, hair, makeup, etc.
As Candice's slave, Angie is obliged to give into her outlandish demands. After this, we are introduced to the Fairy Godmother in the form of a dress maker. While picking up the custom dress, Fairy Godmother aka Natalie from The Facts of Life aka Zelda. She's very weird and all-knowing. But she is rocking a pink pixie cut, so she kind of gets away with being so weird. Soon after, as luck would have it, Candice has an allergic reaction to her diamond facial (which is all Angie's fault) and has to miss the ball. The hair and makeup has already been paid for in advance, and she has the dress, so Angie decides to take Candice's place at the ball. She'll be wearing a fancy mask, so no one will know it's her. Perfect, right? Wrong. Candice is onto her scheme and says that if anyone sees her at the ball before the midnight cleanup, she's dead meat. These threats do nothing to sway our sweet Angie, and she goes to the ball and meets her perfect, handsome prince. Because this is a Cinderella story, she must disappear before midnight, before she can reveal her identity. Her prince is decidedly heartbroken.
The prince comes up with a very creative way to find his Cinderella, all while Candice tries to connive and scheme to make him believe she's the woman he's looking for. Earlier in the movie there are all kinds of hints dropped to help him uncover the truth. Will our Cinderella get her happily ever after, or will her evil cousin ruin everything? Let's be real, this is a Hallmark movie so we all know how it's going to end.
Again, this movie hits all my marks for a terribly awesome made-for-TV-rom-com. Shirtless hero, heroine who has no idea how beautiful she is, campy drama, and a seemingly insurmountable dilemma. My favorite part though is probably the fact that Angie's best friend is a bunny named Jenny.
I'd give this move a 9/10 on our rom-com scale. There are a few continuity issues, and the obvious requisite plot holes, but I'd still watch it again. Probably several times. My husband was able to hold in most of his snarky comments throughout, so I'd give it a 3/10 in real life ratings.
A Cinderella Christmas is available for streaming on Hallmark Movies Now. If you're not wanting to subscribe, there is a 7 day free trial.
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