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Good story, Not enough for a whole film

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This is a fairly run of the mill story for Christmas. Candace Cameron-Bure as Holly scrambles when she finds out her dad has failed to manage Santaville, the family business, and the debt is huge.I thought that Holly changed her tune about Santaville a little too quickly from - I want nothing to do with that place I grew up unnoticed by my father; to - I have to save MY home.There was barely any screen time for the romance. There wasn't much in the usual stock of Christmas nostalgia besides Santa and lighting the tree.The story is pretty much predictable from early on. The acting is decent.(Since I watched Christmas Land first, I didn't realize how blatantly Christmas Land stole its plot from this movie only the ending was more insulting than this one.)

Unlike some reviewers I found this film to be a typical Christmas movie. Candice Cameron Bure has matured very nicely in my opinion and I did not find her shrill. Her acting was good enough for this show. I have always liked Tom Arnold and while his nasal voice can be a little annoying at times he still is a good actor. In this picture Tom Arnold is not the real Santa but a man who loves Christmas so much he has made a whole town called Santaville dedicated to Christmas. It is open every day of the year, no exceptions. Candace his his daughter, Holly. She gets enough cheer while growing up and has moved to the big city where she is the consummate sales manager for a big company. She returns to Santaville after years away and finds out daddy is close to losing it all. A seeming miracle occurs when a financial adviser shows up and says he might be able to help. Of course he is a bad guy and while he gets backers the contract calls for Tom to pay off his debt by Christmas, three weeks away. Trying to save the place leads to Tom doing a blog and calling past visitors. This leads to hundreds of people and their families coming out to the town. Then there is Peter a very gifted craftsman who makes one of a kind hand made Christmas related toys(?). Turns out they are what saves the day as they sell so well that, with a substantial commitment from Candace's boss, they manage to raise enough to save Santaville. Since this is a feel good Hallmark movie Peter and Holly also fall in love. I liked it.

I thought it was a clean movie and I sat down with my kids to watch it. We enjoyed it very much. Candace still looks as beautiful as ever and my 13 year old has a crush on her. I didn't have to cover the kids ears or eyes during the movie. Thank you. I thought the story line was overall a 10 very sensitive and adorable. The sweetness of the romance moved me. I wish we had a Santa town like that it would be fun. Traditions are fun specially when it brings the family together. Hardships are displayed here as another way to get them working together for the same cause. The villain did a great job too. There is such a reality to that. So many schemers waiting out there to take your money.Great movie.

I'm afraid I find the performances in this drama about a man who runs a 365-day-a-year Santa Claus Village that is about to go under (Tom Arnold) and his daughter who moved away (Candace Cameron Bure) rather poor. Tom Arnold is clueless and nasal until the plot calls for a bit of warmth and Miss Bure, while very pretty, is shrill.The other actors are good, but their roles seem to be matters of revealing the secrets that made them come to Santaville for some warm fuzzy moments. In fact, that seems to be the entire set-up of this movie: conflict, then warm fuzzy moment, and the performances make it all seem very calculated.Even the camera work supports this: consider, if you will, the scene where Tom Arnold and Candace Cameron Bure finally bond. The are sitting at the dining room table, going over his mementos of his dead wife. Instead of shooting it in an extended two-shot, which would have been more difficult to achieve and hence more expensive, but more effective, it is shot in a series of close-up reaction shots: basically, instead of two people together, it winds up two people apart. Using a yellow light for atmosphere does not make up for missed opportunities in the service of a small budget, alas.