Grounded for Christmas

I really liked this movie. The lead characters had great chemistry, and I thought Julianne Guill played her part perfectly. I think perhaps Lifetime is trying to do more realistic Christmas movies than Hallmark. Nina is a commercial airline pilot who has had to struggle to be accepted in her industry (she's not a bookstore or bakeshop owner, thank goodness). She meets Brady, a fellow pilot recently joining her airline, who admits that rumors have unfairly painted him as a player, and he hates it. Even Nina realizes that she is pre-judging him without even knowing him. You can always find some leaps of faith, so to speak, in these Christmas romance movies, such as the airport being closed for several days. And the fake boyfriend ruse has been probably overused in romance movies, but it's still a popular premise (even in books), and I thought it was handled well. So many Christmas romance movies are goofy (lead males named Nick drive me nuts and the town having a Santa character who magically intervenes), and kudos to this movie for avoiding some of that typical sap. I enjoyed getting to know Nina and Brady. I even thought a sequel (never done in these romance movies, it seems) would be interesting.

There is an easy on screen connection between the two leads. Corey Sevier and Julianna Guill are quite a likeable couple as the pilots grounded during the holidays. Since this is Lifetime, the couple have a different profession from the usual Hallmark type Christmas movie. If you ever wondered what happened to pilots during the holidays well It is fairly interesting and not a typical Christmas movie. The dialog is a bit more spontaneous too. Like Cheryl Ladd as mom.

The ex ostensibly forces them together into the charade, but he never seemed like a realistic possibility. The actor overplayed his lameness a little. Actually, most of the acting was less than stellar especially in embarrassing confrontations. The exception was Julianna Guill and Corey Sevier together. The antagonism turning to romance seemed real, albeit rushed.

There is more of a twist near the end than I've seen in a Christmas movie in a while. Caught me totally by surprise. The implications disturbed me a little at first and lowered my respect for one of the leads.

Has the screenwriter ever actually flown?

The wardrobe errors have been mentioned but has anyone ever been offered a hotel voucher for weather-related delays?

I'm used to substitute locations - heck the Arkansas state capital was a stand in for DC and the Little Rock airport was passed off a Boston's Logan in a Chuck Norris movie - but the obvious lack of attention to simple details is sad.

This was ridiculously adorable. I didn't know what to expect and I was surprised. It's a nice movie to enjoy during the holidays.

First, there was good chemistry between the actors. Secondly, it is not the same type of plot Hallmark has, so it's a different pace. It was nicely done. Good dialogue. Believable chemistry between the rest of the cast. I was even willing to let go of the overused plot of the fake boyfriend, that's how much I like it.

I work in aviation ok? So, there was things that had me rolling my eyes, it's simply not that easy, (like why did Nina had two stripes on her jacket, when she is supposed to have three like on her shirt, same with Brady) but I was willing to let that go. Also, i'm here for representation of women in the aviation industry. Hallmark gave us a pilot, now Lifetime is giving us one, so thank you.

Give this a try. I'll probably watch again someday.