It was not easy telling whether 2015's 'Last Chance for Christmas' was going to be good or whether it was going to be bad when first hearing of it, reading the plot synopsis and seeing the advertising. The story did sound interesting if not with much to make it unique and it didn't look too bad. Hilarie Burton is often watchable too, though expectations were dampened somewhat by seeing the negative reviews and hearing of the characterisation of Mrs Claus.

While there are certainly far worse Christmas films about, 'Last Chance for Christmas' was rather lacklustre and despite starting off decently and having two likeable leads it did lack charm and festive cheer. Really do have to agree with those that disliked 'Last Chance for Christmas' and those critical of the characterisation of Mrs Claus, the latter aspect significantly bringing things down. It is not giving any pleasure saying all of this by the way, being a fan of Christmas and having been pleasantly surprised by some of my recent festive viewings.

'Last Chance for Christmas' does have good things. The scenery is lovely and quite picturesque at its best and slickly photographed. The music had an affectionate festive atmosphere and had me smiling and humming along, as good music should do, even if it was intrusive at times. The film starts off quite charmingly.

Burton is the best thing here, she is radiant and immensely likeable. Gabriel Hogan successfully manages to not make his character too uptight or a jerk and is in full command of his material. Their chemistry is definitely there and is sweet. The little girl and reindeer are adorable and the father-daughter interaction while cliched was touching.

However, 'Last Chance for Christmas' has a lot wrong with it. Mrs Claus, instead of being jovial and heart-warming, is a thoroughly unpleasant character, who is irritating, mean-spirited and just a plain bad role model. Jayne Eastwood for my tastes over-acted to the extent that she takes one out of the film. While the two lead characters are easy to like, the supporting characters are very sketchy and have been seen so many times before with a lot more personality. A few of the performances as said are good, but most of the acting was less than great. There is some signs of chemistry between Burton and Hogan and it's sweet and natural, but it doesn't sparkle enough and felt underused and underdeveloped.

The script is excessively cheesy and over-sentimental and is very stilted. The story starts off decently, but is paper thin, very dull and with so many Christmas film cliches and a done to death formula there is absolutely no freshness. To me it lacked charm and heart, doesn't have that much of a warm centre aside from the two leads (Mrs Claus' character writing being a big part of the problem) and was quite bland. The ending is too pat and didn't feel all that realistic either.

Concluding, lacklustre. 4/10

First off, this is fantasy. It's just as real as the Grinch and Tinkerbell and yes Santa Claus.

This is a different Christmas story from any that I can remember. Trouble is there is a major ethics problem right smack in the middle of it and unmitigated theft is involved. Just so we're clear, the problem is that one of the good guys does it. But that's OK because that person later asks forgiveness and it's for a good cause, right? Soon after that, there's another theft and this is by the bad guys. Oh that's terrible! We have to fix that.

I would have loved this story, silly as some of the things in it were if it had not been for this double standard. Once again, our world teaches us that the end justifies the means and the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

Stop being lazy and do some creative writing and take out the double standard and this is a good story. Yes some of the things in it appeal at a child's level, but it's cute. There's some funny things in it. There is a precocious kid with the wisdom of a grandmother in a little girl's body. There's a sweet romance.

Hilarie Burton and Gabriel Hogan have chemistry even though their screen time to show that is limited.

Prancer is in need of some hoof repair. When Santa's stable hand, John Stockman, informs him that there is a crack in Prancer's hoof, Santa is immediately alarmed since that means that he won't be able to fly. Not delivering the toys in time for Christmas is not an option, so Santa insists that John find a replacement. Things are looking up for John when he comes across Frankie, a beautiful reindeer that belongs to a charming 8-year-old girl. Now, John just has to convince the little girl's mother, Annie, to allow him to use Frankie as a sub. Convincing Annie to allow him to take Frankie up to the North Pole is not as easy as he thinks.

Not the Best Christmas film you will see but not the worse. Small children might enjoy this. The film isn't boring. The cast is enjoyable. I would not go out of my way to see it again but I wouldn't ever ruling out watching it again.