Some of the season's lesser-known TV Christmas movies air on Ion. And not only are these movies lesser known, they are also generally of lesser quality. This is the channel that brought you A Golden Christmas and its two sequels.
So, with those low expectations, I found myself laughing with/at A Star for Christmas. The basic premise is that a big time movie star is filming his latest movie, a Christmas action film, in the hometown of a cupcake baker who apparently lives under a rock--she doesn't own a TV, and she must never go to the movies because she doesn't recognize him when he walks into her bakery.
One of the earliest scenes in the movie embraces its kitschy-ness and the general kitsch that accompanies all made-for-TV Christmas movies. The movie star purchases a cupcake from the baker, and time slows down as he takes the first bite. Music borrowed from a love scene on The Bachelor plays in the background, computer-generated stars sparkle on the screen, and the baker's awe at her customer's movie star good looks comes across through her exaggerated breathing. The filmmakers went too far in this scene, but they knew they were going too far, and that's why it worked.
Unfortunately, the rest of the movie doesn't have the same kitschy watchability as the cupcake-eating scene. Despite being presented with the possibility of dating a rich and handsome movie star, the baker never takes her hair out of a ponytail. I guess it's good that she doesn't try to change for him, but I wish she were less of a tomboy.
Other signs that this movie had an extremely limited budget include the embarrassing misspelling of the rival love interest's name ("Sklar" instead of "Skyler"), the fact that the rival love interest looks like she's the age of Demi Moore (which would work if they were going for A Cougar Christmas), and the fact that half of the sets are movie sets and trailers--and therefore capable of serving two purposes, one on screen and one off. Plus, I know from all the Christmas movies I've watched that no one films Christmas movies in December as this movie purports to do. Nor does anyone make Christmas actions movies. Nor should they.
That said, the leading man sure looks good, if you can overlook the fact that he looks like a young George Michael in the "Last Christmas" video. He buys one of the greatest gifts ever given during TV Christmas, an acceptable explanation for the amount of kissing in this movie. Seriously, I've never seen so much kissing between the main couple in a made-for-TV Christmas movie. Just one more reason to watch A Star for Christmas, even though the ending stinks and the entire movie is deeply flawed.
If you want the short version, then please enjoy the following:
I liked this movie. An enjoyable piece of fluff and I don't think it was trying to take itself too seriously. PERFECT Christmas viewing on TV :D
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