EVE'S CHRISTMAS

REVIEWED BY RISSI C.

Our rating: 4 out of 5

Because of: mild innuendo

Rated:

Some Christmas movies are downright silly, some have a nice plot but lack in the acting department, and some have decent acting but have no real tangible or brilliant stories. The surprise “hit” for me this year comes in the form of this Lifetime channel movie, Eve’s Christmas. It has heart, valuable lessons and quite enjoyable performances from the leads. 

Back when she wasn’t so self centered, Eve Simon (Elisa Donovan) used to love Christmas… she even was going to get married on Christmas day. But, unfortunately, now she has little time for much of anything but work and her newest boyfriend, who just happens to be her boss in the prestigious advertising company she works for. After he dumps her on Christmas Eve, right before their romantic getaway, Eve goes out with high-school friend Mandy (Erin Karpluk) and after one too many drinks she finds herself wishing on a star to change her past. When she wakes the next morning, she has been transported back eight years by her guardian angel (Peter Williams). As Eve struggles to make sense of her surroundings, she quickly learns the week she’s reliving is the eight days prior to her wedding to fiancé Scott (Sebastian Spence), who she dumped for “bigger and better” things. 

Seeing Scott, all her friends as they were and the parents (Winston Rekert, Cheryl Ladd) she hasn’t seen in eight years, eventually gives Eve a deeper appreciation for all of them. As Eve’s days in the past become numbered, she must decide whether she wants to repeat her past and take the path to success or if she wants a new future, with Scott. After reading about this for a couple of years this year my mom and I finally decided to get it and watch it. We were a bit skeptical about it due to other reviews, one of which remarked that Eve had numerous affairs with her married bosses. That particular situation isn’t overly talked of and what is implied or shown was well done (if you can ever call that theme well done). To say the least, we both loved it and the more thought I gave to it after the final credits, the more I found myself to have enjoyed it. 

On the description, the final phrase says; “in the spirit of The Family Man and It’s a Wonderful Life," and that is probably the best way to sum this up. Eve’s guardian angel will probably remind all of us a little bit of the famous character, Clarence; he has a nice, subtle humor. After her high powered life falls apart, Eve is confronted with her past and the choices she made, which is where The Family Man comes into play. During Eve’s first couple of days in the past, she is utterly lost and confused as to how she got there, and because of that we get plenty of laughs while she stumbles through her day and tries to prove to her family and friends that she’s fine. While there are some more serious faults; it’s suggested that Eve only drank a beer on occasion when she was young, but once she moved to the city, she became a “heavier” drinker; this comes up while she’s living in the past. About fifteen to twenty minutes into the film, we remarked on the fact that the whole movie has been spent on Eve’s dinking. Now, of course it hadn’t been, but there had already been several scenes in which she did and that unfortunately is a downfall in the film.

However there are lots of bright spots, such as Eve watching old family videos, something that prompts her to attempt contact with her past, while other heartwarming scenes come with her parents. As I’m writing this, one of my recent best loved movies The Holiday comes to mind, while there really aren’t any similarities, for some reason I find myself thinking on both of them. I think the reason for comparison comes from the fact that both of the films grew on after the credits had rolled. There aren’t a whole lot of movies that I feel that way about, but the ones I do come to be a favorite. This is one of those tales that just has something that not only make the characters seem real and alive to the viewer, but the whole thing sparkles with something infectious. The three particularly favorite characters, aside from Scott and Eve, of course are her parents and best friend Mandy. 

Eve’s parents are both so understanding and in the end, she comes to realize that family is such a gift and it should be treasured, even if she does still take the job offer, she still learns that valuable lesson. While Mandy is simply a humorous part of the story, I really liked the way she was portrayed as the typical “best friend” character. Content is befitting of a made-for-TV film. In the first ten minutes of the film, we see Eve with her boss in the office and after he tries to kiss her, she remarks “there will be plenty of time for that this weekend.” (He is separated from his wife, but not divorced as far as I could tell.) There are a few other mild innuendos, but nothing too extreme. Eve and Scott share kisses after dates and Eve promises Scott “tomorrow night” on the eve of their wedding. An occasional exclamation of “oh my g**!” may be in this, however I can’t recall much profanity to speak of. 

As I wrap this up, I find myself enjoying this tale even more and am ready to watch it again. No, this isn’t perfection, but none of us can achieve that with anything we set out to do, no matter how hard we may try. For two hours it’s a fun holiday flick and I hope that if you chose to see it, you find it just as cute as we did!