Production values might have spoiled this from the start, as it looks like the production budget was less that 500 bucks. Most of it was shot in homes belonging to staff, Bialik is more wooden than a Canadian summer house and has no screen presence at all. There's the default funny old mystery man/sage that represents the magic of God/Christ/Arch Angel/Spirit ...but he comes across as just an irrelevant nuisance. The irony of his sage suggestions being thrown in the bin weren't lost on me, as Bialik, in real life, is an extreme Zionist who would have zero sympatico with that premise. Tragic Fail

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 Lifetime's 'The Flight Before Christmas' did have the sort of premise where the execution could have gone either way.

'The Flight Before Christmas' for me unfortunately was in the latter category, and this is being said with regret. Have been pleasantly surprised by a lot of Christmas films overtime as part of my Hallmark/Lifetime Christmas film completest quest but 'The Flight Before Christmas' was not one of those films. Of the recently seen ones, it's one of the weaker ones. Is it terrible? No it isn't as it does have its good things. Unfortunately it was a flight that potentially could have charmed and soared but in reality sadly in my view never did take off.

Its best aspect is Ryan McPartlin, who is a very likeable male lead and brings a lot of ease and charm to his character. Jo Marie Payton and Reginald VelJohnson are fun in supporting roles, the latter's character is pretty preposterous but he gives his absolute all and makes the performance just about work.

Some of the music is quite pleasant.

However, 'The Flight Before Christmas' has a lot working against it. Mayim Bialik came over as miscast, her performance comes over as wooden and unenthusiastic and she lacks warmth. Also found Stephanie as a character very irritating and her flaws over the top in the first third particularly. There is no chemistry or spark between Bialik and McPartlin, too distant, too stiff and the relationship doesn't really go anywhere. The rest of the supporting cast don't stand out. The direction was mediocre at best and often pretty plodding and not very organised.

Other Lifetime Christmas films look a lot better than 'The Flight Before Christmas', which has a rather drab look and even the locations are quite limited. Some pleasant moments aside, the music could have been used less and been more subtle. The script is heavy in cheese and awkwardness and is also very cloying, while the story tends to be uneventful and is lacking in charm and heart. So pretty dull and bland.

Concluding, very weak and doesn't get off the ground. 3/10.

So you know how this is going to go. The main girl character was going to be moving in with her boyfriend for xmas but he dumps her. Even worse, she no longer has a home because her old one has been relet to someone else. She gets the bright idea to hop a plane home for x-mas at the last moment but she isn't in a great mood. Ok sure, but the problem is two fold... the actress is not exactly a supermodel and she is insanely unpleasant. Even a supermodel would be unattractive under these circumstances. She meets someone at the airport and, shocker, they don't get along. No real reason for this other than the woman taking her feelings out on him. Eventually they have to share a hotel room due the plane being diverted and they fall in love. The thing is.. it is hard to believe. It isn't just that, as others have noted the female is a 5 and the male is an 11, there is just no real reason for them to fall for each other, especially in light of how nasty she was at the start. It kind of seems like a rebound relationship. Just skip it.