Who loves holiday romantic comedies? I do!

Golden Christmas 3 takes third place as my favorite while surrounding fledgling community theatre director Heather (Shantel VanSanten) who re-connects with an elementary school sweetheart Bobby (Rob Mayes). While this wasn’t as strong as the original Golden Christmas, I still enjoyed it. Be warned, the first 15 minutes featured an absolutely ridiculous meet-cute where all of the characters come across as one-dimensional cardboard cut-outs. It’s painful, awful and hideous. But, hang in there. Once you get past the first 15 minutes, the charm instates and the actors slide into character.

Honestly, I can’t speak enough about this cast. Shantel VanSanten did a great job as the lead. Her natural chemistry with Nikki Deloach, her character’s best friend, made the show. I loved Deloach as the slutty, post-teen teen mom in Awkward and I loved her doubly here as the down-to-earth best friend. I also enjoyed the arc that made Shantel’s connection with Rob feel incredibly real, particularly the beach scene.

All of the lead actors showcased a casual, relaxed chemistry which made the film feel like a warm bubble bath. My biggest complaint about most romantic comedies, particularly holiday ones, surrounds the lack of relationship realism. Golden Christmas 3 didn’t rush the relationship timeline. It didn’t shunt the best friend to the side. And, it didn’t efface the difficulties of loving another person. I enjoyed the believable progression of the core relationship which maintained the lead characters’ connection to each other.

Avoid Christmas Wedding Date like the plague. Despite featuring my favorite actors, Marla Sokoloff and George Wendt, in a made-for-TV-movie with a kickass title, this was terrible. Marla and George basically phoned it in. It represented everything that’s bad about holiday rom-coms. Christmas Wedding Date is Groundhog Day meets A Christmas Carol. Uber-successful financial analyst Rebecca is downsized before returning home for her friend’s wedding. But, when she returns home she’s a Scrooge in heels. She’s unnecessarily miserable to everyone — her mother, cab drivers, and girl scouts (who inexplicably sell out of season Girl Scout cookies on Christmas Eve by themselves). There’s only one character even more unpleasant than her – a former high school mean girl who’s still mean in her late twenties.

I expected to relate to the character because I underwent a similar experience in the nineties which was equally tactless, but I hate the hardened business women characters who are hardened without reason. Even if she’s a female Scrooge, Scrooge was a money-loving miser who hated people that wanted to use his money. In contrast, Rebecca’s just one-dimensionally mean. Come on, she texts in the middle of her best friend’s wedding! Considering she doesn’t have a job or friends, who’s she texting?! It just didn’t make sense, neither did her emotional breakdown at a throwaway comment since it lacked build up.

The film needed energy and we don’t see a fire in Marla (or a connection to her character) until the ending. Catherine Hicks did a great job as the widowed mom, although she looks markedly younger than her 7^th Heaven days. Chris Carmack did a great job as the love interest. Despite the script, he seemed incredibly invested all throughout. But, brace yourself for some incredibly awkward non-Christmas singing. There’s a weak running joke they could’ve left out. Who plans a wedding without listening to their music act? Admittedly, I saw an incredibly rough cut. So, my hope is that the film became markedly better in editing.

For my mini-reviews of old favorites, read on!