So, this one was a bit difficult to get into at first; the first 40 minutes I had to stop myself several times from multitasking. That said, the last 40 minutes or so are quite good. It is a cute and fun story overall. The writing at times did not make sense. Two examples included having Tyler (the teenager who was helping) fix the plumbing - made no sense but did allow the writers to develop the sub-plot romance. The scene where Natalie (played by Anni Krueger) left Stefano (played by Gilles Marini) at the Christmas carol concert. I get it, she was jealous, but the chemistry (where we start to see that Stefano is interested) between the two had only really started in the carriage ride the previous scene. So, for her to storm off seemed odd. The acting overall was fairly good. Anni Krueger's performance was solid, though she had some awkward scenes early on. She was at her best in her dialogue BeeBee (played by Emma Myers). She also had a strong performance during the last 30 minutes or so. I liked Gilles Marini's performance; he made me laugh a little with his Italian expressions. The chemistry between the two was decent. As I alluded to above, it came late for me, starting at the carriage ride and really shined thru with the exchanging of the gifts. The supporting cast was good. As another reviewer pointed out on here, it was a real cute performance by Emma Myers. The scene in the shop (where she asks Tyler to help) and the scene at the fair (snowball scene with Tyler's list) were both good scenes for her. The movie does a good job of getting the viewer into the Christmas spirit thru several fun and festive scenes. Overall, it is a decent new edition to the 2020 Christmas movie season.
Review of A Taste of Christmas
