Christmas films can go either way, which has been my experience watching overtime the festive output of Lifetime and Hallmark. They can either be well-meaning, charming, warm-hearted and don't feel too heavy. Or they can be too over-sentimental, cheesy, contrived and bland. There have been many films of theirs that have fallen in both camps and in the camp where there is a bit of both. And 'Matchmaker Christmas' did have the sort of premise where the execution could have gone either way.

Luckily, for me, on the most part, 'Matchmaker Christmas' is in the former category. Having seen a lot of Christmas films that were in the latter category prior to seeing it, that was something of a relief. It is not perfect and not a Christmas classic, with a few common (for Lifetime's festive output) flaws, but as far as 2019 Lifetime films go 'Matchmaker Christmas' is to me one of the better ones and a nice way to spend 90 minutes.

'Matchmaker Christmas' has a few shortcomings. Do agree that the music was not very well balanced with the dialogue and tended to be overdone, if used less and toned down the film would have fared better. Some of the dialogue in the early portions is a bit too on the corny and gooey side, not unusual for Lifetime.

It is a bit of a slow starter as well with it feeling a bit thin to begin with.

However, 'Matchmaker Christmas' also has some very attractive scenery quite photogenically shot. It is directed sympathetically without being routine. The film is helped hugely by the very appealing performances of Emily Rose and Corey Sevier, both managing to make their characters rootable and interesting. The supporting cast fare well too, with Melanie Nelson giving her all without being over-the-top. Really liked the chemistry between Rose and Sevier, which was very easy-going and charming. Not to mention that it looked genuine and like they cared for each other.

While not starting off on the right foot perhaps, the dialogue does improve drastically and flows better. Also being in general a lot less cheesy and over-sentimental than too many previously seen Christmas films, not to mention being thought-provoking in a sincere way without patronising. The story is heart-warming, sincere and has enough of a light heart to avoid things from getting heavy. Really appreciated that the central relationship took its time to develop and did have more depth than most central relationships in the company's festive outings. Also that the ending wasn't abrupt ot too pat, with to boot a final decision and motivation reveal that rang true.

Concluding, solid effort. 7/10

Although Emily Rose has something about her that I can't quite put my finger on, her performance was very good, she is the only reason I watched this film all the way through. It certainly wasn't Corey Sevier, who is just so wrong as the romantic lead, he was a complete dweeb in this and actually I've never seen him do anything good yet.

I thought the casting overall was poorly made and probably not improved upon by poor direction and production. None of the characters really went with each other, in fact Chester was the only guy I thought was worthy of finding love at the end of the film.

There were also some really poor wardrobe choices including, what appeared to be, the outfit that I wore when I dressed as a nerd one New Year's Eve and a red dress that looked like a valance from an old ladies bed!

The story had potential, but was let down by what I can only assume was a very low budget that could only buy some zzz list actors and a lot of reused sets, props and costumes.

Would not recommend, even with the writing element that usually always appeals to me.

Emily Rose made this movie. Her work friends and ex-love were also really good. So many times 1 actor ruins the movie. I started it to see what it was like. Watched the whole thing. A few surprises kept the story a cut above so many Xmas movies. Well worth watching