I'm Not Ready for Christmas (2015)  

Liar Liar at Christmas

Holly Nolan (Alicia Witt - The Mistletoe Inn) is a busy woman who can't stop herself from telling one lie after another. She also can't stop letting her niece, Anna (Mia Bagley), down, promising she will show up for one recital after another but never showing up and coming up with a lie and a promise to be there for the next one. After yet another no show by Aunt Holly young Anna asks Santa for her Aunt to stop lying and lo and behold it happens as Holly suddenly finds herself not only unable to lie but unable to control saying what she really thinks of others to their faces.

When you watch as many Hallmark Christmas movies as I do you begin to realise that the majority of them are ordinary but okay, maybe just 5% are something special and another 5% are below average. So which one of those is "I'm Not Ready for Christmas"? Well unfortunately it is in the 5% which are below average and that mostly comes from it using the same idea which was used in the Jim Carrey movie "Liar Liar" with Holly unable to lie after her niece makes a wish. Whilst I am sure there will be many who watch "I'm Not Ready for Christmas" having never seen "Liar Liar" those who have will keep on thinking that no matter how nice Alicia Witt is she is no Jim Carrey and it was Carrey's performance which made "Liar Liar" rather than the story.

On top of "I'm Not Ready for Christmas" using the same idea as "Liar Liar", which had also been done before, it is of course a Hallmark Christmas movie and so we have the usual elements. Alongside the typically attractive set decorations, how do average people have such perfectly dressed homes and Christmas trees? We also have romance as Holly meets Drew, played by George Stults. Unfortunately it is a flat side of the movie, included because it is a Hallmark movie and having no real life or spark to it.

Probably the most memorable thing about "I'm Not Ready for Christmas" is the casting of Dan Lauria who is initially unrecognizable as the mysterious Santa. But Lauria plays him so well, in such a down to earth manner that he makes you smile, in fact he makes you smile more than anything else does in this movie.

What this all boils down to is that "I'm Not Ready for Christmas" didn't do it for me and that really stems from it being too similar to "Liar Liar" and only ending up weak in comparison. It is a shame because it has a good cast and the usual Hallmark look but in truth it was always going to be a mission impossible for it to work.

Tags: TV Christmas Movies, Christmas Movies