Really Surprised!

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Blistering performances.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

This movie goes quickly through a version of the Cinderella story but with two exceptions. First, the prince finds the wrong sister. And second the movie goes past the usual story. The movie explores what happens after Nicholas gets engaged to Candace. I almost gave up on this movie. Of course Candace is a jerk. But Angie is such a wimp that it's hard to like her either. Unfortunately Emma Rigby overplays the melancholy, subservient, wimpy girl. Sarah Stouffer also overplays the shallow, money-hungry sister. Can anyone be this dumb and spoiled?

I prefer to say inspired, because it's loosely based on Cinderella than other modern Cinderella movies. This movie is different. There is no stepmother; Angie has an uncle, who isn't shown much, but he's a good man and has been a wonderful father figure to her. She has a cousin, Candace, instead of a stepsister, and it seems Angie has had quite a good relationship with Candace, but Candace's selfishness and difficulty strains it.Candace gets an invite to the Christmasquerade Ball by Nikolaus Karmichael, who, along with Angie, are the ones planning the party, with Angie doing everything. Angie wants to take over her uncle's business after he retires, but Candace talks with her father and they both are in it together. Candace makes a deal with Angie that if Candace marries a rich bachelor, she can have the business to herself, but until then, Angie works for her.Nikolaus' mother says he has to marry to claim inheritance. His past relationships failed because the women were only interested in money.Angie plans for Candace's facial, hair styling, and dress. When Angie goes over to pick the dress up, the designer made it to fit Angie. Candace's face is ruined by her facial. Angie, who is waiting at the stylist's, who was paid in advance, secretly gets her hair and makeup done, and goes to the Ball. She tells Candace she's not going, or it'll be over for her, but she tells Candace no one will be able to say she was there. She looks at the mask, mischievously.At the Ball, Angie is enjoying herself and picks out a stocking. A masked Nikolaus sees Angie and shows that he has her stocking, which was made out of the dress Angie is wearing. Coincidentally, Angie picked out Nikolaus' stocking. They dance and talk, finding how much they can relate and understand each other. Angie finds out they unmask at midnight, and leaves, dressed as a caterer in the kitchen who leaves after midnight.Angie looks through his stocking and correctly interprets the meaning of the stuff; for example, a scented candle suggests he's homey, a rock suggests he likes the outdoors.Nikolaus goes over the guest list, then heads over to see Candace. He bumps into Angie, and she seems familiar, but she denies being the one at the Ball. Candace, not knowing about Angie's act, tells him she wasn't at the Ball. He proposes to find her by holding another party/weddingAngie goes over to his house to plan the party, and asks personal questions which makes her have second thoughts about him; he is sure that he would know if the woman at the Ball were standing in front of him, and that it would be a woman who liked him, since Angie wasn't showing it. She leaves with a handshake, and Nikolaus recognizes the touch.Candace sees the dress and Angie confesses she was at the Ball. She blackmails Angie into nudging him in the way toward her, to make him think it was her. Nikolaus finds it impossible to believe it was her, because of her behavior, but Angie uses headphones to speak for her, which Candace repeats back to Nickolaus. Still, he's drawn to Angie.Eventually, he looks at her stocking, but since the stuff could belong to either, he visits an international restaurant where a box of matches belong to, and he concludes that Candace would never go there; then he sees the dress Angie wore at the Ball in the dress shop. The lady says a different woman brought it back because it didn't fit, and says she ran into the woman who wore it to the Ball, directing him to Angie's parents' grave where Angie is often seen by the lady; a similar rose is at the grave, which was where the rose from Angie's stocking comes from. Nikolaus then asks Candace some questions and has her try the dress on, though she refuses to let him see the back.---I'd summarize the rest of the movie, but it can really only be enjoyed by watching it.

This film really surprised me on all sides.The story: So how could you bring the Cinderella tale up-to-date while keeping it fresh. Well, Kelly Goodner needs respect for doing a fantastic and ingenious job on doing just that. Some things, like the Stepmother, have gone and the Ugly Stepsisters are now an Ugly Cousin. There's also no glass slipper but a Christmas stocking, with an added twist, and this is the ingenious part, for which you'll have to watch the movie. With all these great changes Kelly still gives the entire story a light and heartwarming feel.The Acting: All the actors are superb, especially Emma Rigby playing Angie, who's shy and self-conscious until she puts the mask on... then she can be the person she longs to be. Sarah Stouffer does an excellent job as the domineering, self-centered, and cunning Candace. It was also nice to see Lesley-Anne Down back in action.Direction: Was light and steady as you'd expect from a Christmas love story. Though, when the ball arrived it took on an air of fantasy and fairy tale.With all three coming together you get a great movie and if you like your love stories or fairy tales, then this is for you.

I really enjoyed this Hallmark movie, in fact, I haven't enjoyed a brilliant Hallmark since last year and to be honest, this is the best Christmas movie of 2016 I have ever seen! Emma Rigby was absolutely incredible as Angie and she is so stunning like, of course Peter Porte would like to really marry her haha. I like the fact that this story showed just one person being jealous of "Angie" and thankfully not two. Also it was a cousin this time, it wasn't like Cinderella with the two stepsisters being jealous of her. A fabulous romance film and brilliant actor choice. I give this movie a rating of 9/10, it deserves it!