I like holiday movies and I like "Bad" movies as most have redeeming qualities. However, this slice of festive fun is neither festive or fun. The story is loosely based on Beauty and The Beast. Sadly, when The Beast isn't a Beast, just a man whose beastly, then it becomes difficult to have the love interest fall for a man, who shouts at her, degrades her, and lashes out at her.

However, this gaping whole in the script isn't the only let down. The acting is below average. Even C Thomas Howell cannot lift the cast... to be truthful he takes it a bit further into the quagmire; his high-pitched effeminate portrayal of the father is cringeworthy. It made me smirk the first time I heard it, but by the end of the film I'd had enough. Which is a shame as I think C Thomas Howell is a pretty decent actor.

I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone.

Background music EXTREMELY loud! Actually I thought the movie was kind of cute. I went into it knowing it was based on "Beauty and the Beast." However, what I couldn't get past was the music. The so-called background music was so extremely loud in some places that I couldn't hear what the actors were saying. I got through it just to see how it ended, but the chances of me watching this again are slim. And that's a shame because I love Christmas movies. James Welch Henderson, Arkansas 12/18/2020

Am not somebody who hates Christmas or has a bias against made for television Christmas films. The complete opposite on both counts and have made that clear more than once. Evident from a number of positive reviews of late for the overall hit and miss Christmas output of both Hallmark and Lifetime. Mixing Christmas with elements of the timeless 'Beauty and the Beast' story, one of my favourites, sounded quite intriguing though slightly overused.

Intriguing is absolutely the last word to describe 'Christmas Belle' (or 'A Fairy Tale Christmas', both quite cute but corny and uninspired titles). Actually thought that despite two good things, both still not very well served, it was very, very bad and at its worst pretty dreadful. As much as it pains me to say that. It does not work very well as a story with elements of 'Beauty and the Beast', with none of what makes that story so special, and it fares even worse as a Christmas film, namely because it doesn't really feel like one and more a romance with Christmas as a plot device backdrop.

'Christmas Belle' as said has two good things. The scenery is very nice.

Haylie Duff is also charming considering what she was given, she really does make the most of making one of the most cliched types of roles in the book appealing and generally suceeds.

That cannot be said for the rest of the cast. Nicholas Gonzalez is dull in the beast type of role, and plays him as too uptight and too much of a jerk with not much character growth. Mark Famiglietti irritated the heck oit of me and overacts badly some of the most extreme character flaws in existence. Every bit as annoying is C. Thomas Howell, who is good with the right material (his unforgettable George Foyet on 'Criminal Minds', the Asylum/SyFy-esque fodder he often has been in for some time doesn't do him justice) but this is another case of negative character traits exaggerated and any time where he is acting positive being forced. Didn't find myself caring for a vast majority of the characters, the sole exception being Isabella and that isn't consistent.

Furthermore, there is no chemistry whatsoever between Duff and Gonzalez, because it is hard to see what anybody would see in him considering how truly unlikeable he is and because the relationship doesn't develop that well. The story lacks conflict and is excessively predictable and dull, from too many uneventful stretches dragged out. The dialogue is stilted and far too talky, a lot of it extraneous. The direction is pedestrian and the filming likewise. Do agree completely with everybody panning the music score, which is far too loud and intrusive. It is also not harmonious with the film's tone, like it was intended for something else and then plonked in, and is drab.

Summing up, very bad. 2/10.