Hallmark produced 42 Christmas movies this season (including one for 'Christmas in July'). Naturally, some of these were going to get lost in the crowd as it were. I'm afraid, 'Christmas in Tahoe' is one of these movies. Don't get me wrong, the movie is entertaining. It is a lighthearted and fun story with some strong acting performances, though the musical performances are a bit of a mixed bag. The movie follows Claire (played by Laura Osnes) who helps manage the family's beautiful hotel in Lake Tahoe. While she loves working with her father at the hotel, a place she has fond memories of growing up, her passion is in the entertainment industry, and her dream job is a talent booker at the Resort Center Entertainment in Las Vegas. To make this dream a reality, all she needs to do is make sure that her Christmas Eve variety show at her family hotel is a success. However, the main act cancels and the show quickly falls apart. Meanwhile, her ex-boyfriend Ryan (played by Kyle Selig),the lead guitarist for Wild Lynx a popular band she used to manage, returns home to Lake Tahoe for the holidays. And so, our journey begins as we watch these two team up to save the Christmas Eve variety show (and potentially Claire's dream job) while (re)discovering their deep feelings for each other. Though formulaic and unoriginal, the storyline in this one is entertaining nonetheless. The writers do a decent job with the dialogue between Claire and Ryan, and Claire and her father. However, there is nothing about this story that makes it stand out in the crowd. It has no 'X factor', no real noteworthy quality. The closes we get to this is Osnes's performance, which was very strong, I thought. She has an air of sweetness to her performance with a touch of scorn (as those who have been dumped often do). As another reviewer put it, 'she is the IT factor' in this one. It took me a little while to get used to (or, rather, get over) Selig's youngish looks. Once I did, I started to connect with his performance, which was pretty good overall. I was also impressed with his singing at the end of the film; a pity he and Osnes didn't do a song together. The chemistry between the two was OK, I guess. They came off as close friends, which worked well on-screen, but I wasn't completely convinced of their romantic chemistry. Given the 'second chance at love' theme of the story, I will give them the benefit of the doubt in this one. Another aspect of this movie was the musical performances. As noted above, these were mixed. I thought Pat Monahan from Train was surprisingly entertaining as both an actor and musician. It was a bit amusing when Claire was speaking to Jackson (played by Monahan),trying to come up with a replacement act for the show. As others have pointed out, the acapella group wasn't very good. I'm not sure what the producers were thinking or, rather, listening to. Finally, the film had a decent Christmas vibe to it. For example, the decorations in the hotel were beautiful, and though not filmed in Lake Tahoe, the snow-covered landscapes were a plus. If you're a lover of Hallmark Christmas romance movies (with a touch of comedy),you should check out 'Christmas in Tahoe'.

There is some real life reality in this film where personal careers and goals temporarily take priority over Ryan (Kyle Selig) and Claire's (Laura Osnes) own relationship. The Christmas period is that magical time when forgiveness is on everyone's mind and reconciliation between estranged family and friends occurs more often than anytime of the year.

The supporting cast was just that, very supportive in their respective roles and to have the lead singer of Train, Pat Monahan, play Jackson, an administration assistant to Claire was a Christmas gift for all of us.

The only knock against this made for TV film was the producers and film editor decided to insert that irritating musical "bing bong Christmas tingle" interlude through most of the films conversation and I for one just get tired of hearing that cheesy bing bong twinkle background sound throughout. Never the less, I would recommend the film to both romantics and Christmas film lovers. I give it a respectable 6 out of 10 IMDb rating.

Really wanted to like 'Christmas in Tahoe' so much more. Music is a big part of my life as a musician and any film that has a premise centered around music and saving music events is an instant attention grabber and potentially relatable. Also do like Laura Osnes as an actress and singer, despite her going down in my estimations earlier this year, she was no stranger to Hallmark and liked her a lot in the others. So it was hardly a doomed from the start sort of film.

'Christmas in Tahoe' just failed to deliver and falls flat. Even on the things that it was seen most for. It is not quite as bas as some other 2021 Hallmark Christmas films ('Boyfriends from Christmas Past', 'Coyote Creek Christmas', 'Christmas CEO', 'Christmas at Castle Hart') but alongside them it is down there with the worst from this block. Which did have some very good efforts, such as 'Christmas in My Heart', 'My Christmas Family Tree', 'One December Night' and 'Open by Christmas'.

It has a few plus points, with most of them being the lively turns of George Lopez, Pat Monahan and Alex Gullason.

Also thought that the scenery was lovely and complemented by the photography well.

Everything else isn't so lovely. The biggest casting debit is Kyle Selig, who gives a very anaemic performance that agreed does not scream rock star quality at all and had inexperience stamped all over it. He has no chemistry at all with Osnes, who tries earnestly but is pretty much wasted (as the film doesn't really play to her strengths, or use them even, and it was like those involved didn't know what they are). The rest of the cast don't register and the characters are not well fleshed out or have enough personality excepting the three actors singled out as plus points.

Musically, 'Christmas in Tahoe' is a failure. Not only because it is repetitive and annoying, as well as randomly placed at times, it is also terribly performed. We are not talking by a little, we're talking to a massive degree and listening to it was an embarrassment. The script is continually awkward and wouldn't pass for everyday conversation and the story is not just very formulaic it is also very thin and dully paced. The charm and heart factors are quite low.

Summing up, doesn't hit any high notes. 3/10.