User reviews

I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I sometimes do not know what to expect with UPtv originals. This time, they got it right, as it was a cute, fun and entertaining Christmas movie. The plot, of course, was predictable and has been done plenty of times before. That said, the script was strong. The dialogue between the leads worked well; it pulled me in. The acting was very good. Paniz Zade (playing Emily) had a convincing performance. Adrian Spencer (playing Simon) was also very good. They had good chemistry too, each with their distinct and different personalities, which was another appealing element of the movie. Their interaction and dialogue were engaging, and I even had a few small laughs with Diana Cofini's performance as Grace. There was some fun dialogue with her sister. The scenery and sets were not as polished as, e.g. Hallmark films, but it did not take anything away from the story and performances. Overall, this is a nice little edition to UPtv's original Christmas movie lineup/collection. Well worth a watch.

Christmas films can go either way, which has been my experience watching overtime the festive output of Lifetime, Hallmark and UPTV. They can either be well-meaning, charming, warm-hearted and don't feel too heavy. Or they can be too over-sentimental, cheesy, contrived and bland. There have been many films of theirs that have fallen in both camps and in the camp where there is a bit of both. 'Dashing Home for Christmas' had the sort of premise that had strong potential of being in the former category.

In terms of execution, 'Dashing Home for Christmas' was luckily in the former category. There are some Christmas films seen recently that started off badly and got much better, some that was good all the way through and some that never took off. 'Dashing Home for Christmas' is in the category of being very solidly executed for most of the length but peters out in the final portions. If asked whether it is recommended, my answer would be yes with it being one of the better and more surprising Christmas films seen recently.

'Dashing Home for Christmas' has more good than bad. The production values still manage to be pleasing on the whole. It's not too drab or garish in photography and the scenery has a real charm to it. Some of the music has some pleasant nostalgic moments. The performances are good, Paniz Zade and Adrian Spencer are wholly committed and engaging. While Spencer's character is not easy to like at first, the more developed he becomes the more one warms to him.

Loved the chemistry between the two, which was warm and genuine with some wit and it unfolds realistically. Not moving too fast or taking too long to develop and then rushing it through after a plot development. Diana Cofini amuses in her role without overplaying. The character interaction is never disconnected. The script flows at least and is not too cheesy or too saccharine. The story is light hearted and full of warmth and charm. The characters had personality and they were ones that appealed, the two lead characters being fresh takes on cliches. Only had reservations with Spencer's to begin with.

However, the final quarter is a little on the contrived side. Did think too that the conflict could have had more tension and could have been developed more, that for my tastes was rather abruptly introduced and felt under-baked.

There are times where the editing was a bit hasty looking.

On the whole though, quite well done. 7/10.

A cliché ridden formulaic Christmas movie where the main character have to get home to family despite every obstacle thrown in their path.

The romance that develops along the way between the two leads seems highly unlikely as they are two very different personalities. Although the guy is the more likeable of the two I never felt invested in the characters. Watch if you've got nothing better to do on a damp cold December afternoon.

This was an average film, with two likeable actors taking the leads so was an enjoyable hour or so spent.

There were a number of continuity errors in it and as it was as usual with these films, obviously summer, the close set looked quite poor at times.

A nice film and will hopefully lead the actors to bigger budget films, which they deserve.

This is fine for all ages and there are many good points/examples throughout the movie. However I've seen it all before in the various Christmas journey sagas - there is nothing new at all. They could have injected a bit of humor/excitement into the end of the movie with everyone 'dashing' off to the hospital but the car tyre going etc and continuing in a van like the one mentioned earlier just to have some kind of visual throw back to this otherwise dialogue-heavy movie. Other visual comedy could have been achieved with travelers' Christmas sweaters / outfits, anything just to make it all less bland. However it must be fairly realistic, as I had travel fatigue watching this.

I must admit, my favourite kind of Hallmark/GAC/Lifetime/UPTV Christmas movie is one where people are stranded somewhere and must get home usually via a long road trip - Cross Country Christmas, Holiday Road, A Christmas Detour - and that premise is what got me to watch 'Dashing Home For Christmas'.

Whilst not at the same quality as the three movies I mentioned above (I guess UPTV is probably third or fourth on the pecking order after Hallmark and Lifetime, fighting it out with GAC Family) it was still a nice movie that features two pretty good leads in Paniz Zade as Emily and Adrian Spencer as Simon, though I'd never heard of either before sitting down to watch this movie.

Good acting (and a welcome occurrence of zip, zero, nada over-acting!), good chemistry between the leads, no major continuity lapses that I could see, and a nice, thoughtful ending.

Nothing ground-breaking, but you could do a lot worse than 'Dashing Home for Christmas'.

I am not sure why I even attempted to watch to the end, other than the fact that I like to finish what I start. This one couldn't have been more cringe-worthy. Simon and Emily are completely mismatched, and there is absolutely no chemistry between them whatsoever. The worst part was the role of Emily - who is so unlikeable that even her "change of heart" at the end didn't redeem her. She is snobbish and self-absorbed, and everything about a person that completely off-putting

I have watched countless Hallmark movies, and do not mind a storyline that is somewhat not believable, but this storyline was a bit over the top for even me. I must admit, Hallmark movies in the past couple of years turned into recycled templates of storylines and characters, to the point that they're significantly less enjoyable than they used to be.

This is not a movie that left me wishing for more, rather it left me regretting I had watched it at all.

I think we can all relate to travel delays and frustrations but I wouldn't think to add romance to the mix. Most romances are based in unrealistic scenarios but this one could really happen! I am going to keep my eyes peeled the next time I'm at the car rental line.

My wife and I watched this at home, during the Holiday season. It is a good time-passer but frankly is not a very good movie. The script isn't particularly well written, the dialog most often seems forced or incongruous. And the acting is mediocre at best. But the overall message is good, finding family where you can find it and making the best of things.

This is in essence the same movie as "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" but with a cute female and a cute male. They are both business professionals, they start in New York and are headed home to Seattle. He talks to much and she wants to finish up some work. Weather causes an interruption in the plane part of the trip, so they go in together to rent a car, try to catch a train, but end up taking a bus. Even the ending, with the stranger as a guest at the family Christmas Eve dinner.

I think its IMDb rating is a bit high, it is just pleasant diversion if you can get past many of the annoyances. It is not a Hallmark movie but pretty much follows the formula.

7.2 stars.

Ok, so this movie starts off really slow and bad and so that's a killer combination, and not the good kind. First of all, the lead actress, whom I don't recognize, is atrocious in the first several acts. She is snobbish and off putting and a plethora of other similar terms. I could not stand her attitude, and unfortunately it actually makes the film seem very cringe. I also wanted to delete and move on after about 10 minutes. That first act was about a 4.0.

The lead male comes off like a real gomer, not sophisticated, clumsy in many ways, he's just a real "winner", and they were too effective in making him seem like a loser. Again, this film is too effective in causing disdain toward both main actors. Not a good idea if you want people to invest. Second act is about them getting stuck running into each other over and over as she makes these mistakes she can't recover from, yet he's gracious and gives her the benefit repeatedly. 5.2 stars.

Third act, they are stuck together for the long haul, she's eating crow for like the fourth time, but something starts to change, she smiles and is more happy, he gets more interesting and fun, not so much a total dork. 6.5 stars.

Fourth act, they are still meandering through the country trying to get to the destination, we the audience are intrigued by the dilemma, they are both likable, although she takes a few steps back again, somehow this woman is detestable, yet so gorgeous, strange combination. 7.4 stars.

Fifth act, they are just hanging out, dealing with the trials of traveling, just all sorts of issues, but now they need each other, they are bonding, they have become good friends, the chemistry is building and is very enjoyable to watch. 7.8 stars.

Final act, it all comes together, they are both likable, they have great chemistry, it becomes a really amazing synergy shared between them, he's a cool guy, maybe a bit sensitive, but she really lets the charisma flow this actress. I was impressed. 8.7 stars.

I'd have to give this about 7.2 stars all said and done, because it's really the intensity of the last 15 minutes and how much the experience improved for me that bears most of the weight of my review and it left me feeling really good. If the whole film had been similar to the last part, this would be in my top rated films of this genre, could've been somewhere in the neighborhood of 8.2 overall rating.

This is a road trip with one, ridiculous, over the top challenge after another. The leads were supposed to be an "opposites attract" type couple, she was harried and determined to get home for Christmas, and he a goofy but helpful, anchor she had to drag along in order to make it home. I found the male lead to be self righteous, obnoxious and rude, rather than the big hearted, caring, Clark Kent type they were going for. There are some cute and sweet moments, and the acting was good, but for most of the movie, I just wanted to see her smack him!

I loved the romance and humor in this. First of all the two leads were in each others company almost non-stop throughout the movie which led to lots of interaction and realistic relationship building. I loved their chemistry. They had two very distinct and quirky personalities which at the same time were polar opposites from each other. So the journey from indifference to friendship and then love was interesting and full of twists and turns.

I have to say the male lead was certainly not the typical leading man type. Dorky, with glasses, but handsome underneath it all. He over shared with all and sundry and was pretty irritating to his co-star and the viewer as well. But as we and she come to see, it is because of his warm, kind and generous heart. I generally prefer the non-traditional underdog type hero to the too handsome to be real types anyway. If this is not your jam, you probably will not like this.

The "girl", on the other hand was not interested in anything but her own business, and would not get off her phone. She was snotty and entitled, but yet she loved her family and wanted nothing else but to get home to them before her sister had her baby. She was an exotic beauty, as opposed to the hero's looks.

So it was an interesting matchup and romance. Very much out of the typical box. My only doubt is if they can sustain the relationship past the "honeymoon period," they were so different. So in the interest of happy endings, it's probably a good thing it ended when it did.

Dashing Home For Christmas (2020) -

I have definitely seen this story before, it was almost a like for like with another seasonal film that I can't remember the name of. So much so that, to start with, I thought I had already seen it.

It was also just like 'Planes, Trains And Automobiles' (1987) too, but set at Christmas instead of Thanksgiving and if Steve Martin had felt romantic towards John Candy.

Once again the leading man Adrian Spencer as Simon was far too good for the leading lady Paniz Zade in the role of Emily. For me personally, a lot of these leading ladies are a bit interchangeable and all quite generic. I'd love to see someone with some real quirks and stand out performances every once in a while to vary things.

I thought that the casting of Simon was a strange choice too. He wasn't a jock and he wasn't a nerd and while he was charming and likeable, he wasn't necessarily attractive in the traditional sense. It would have been nice if they'd shown his bum during the bath scene though for giggles as much as titillation.

The family were terrible actors period!

The writing was all a bit simple too and the singing on the bus was positively embarrassing!

Simon's falling out with her for the final obstacle to overcome in their getting together was very lame as well, not what I would call a real reason and I was pretty sure that he only had glasses on in order to take them on and off all the time .

As a regular watcher of this genre I feel that I need them to come up with something new. The meet cute is fine, but it doesn't have to have all of the ups and downs to be an enjoyable story. I'm sure that there must be a writer out there somewhere who can deliver better than this repeated format.

5.78/10.

Did not care for the opening sequences of this one and gave up on it quickly. Seemed to us that the lead characters were being unrealistically overplayed and they did not capture our interest.

Didn't care for either main character. And what was with him taking off his big black Clark Kent glasses at the airport and then at her house? And what kind of cad asks for his scarf back in the middle of winter? Skip this one.

Within moments of starting to watch this slightly below average TV movie, I wished the film would stop and the TV channel put on the much superior Debbie McCumbers's 'Dashing Through The Snow' (2015) - clearly that film and its 'gotta get home for Christmas but there are major impediments along the way...' plot are the source material for this mediocre project from last year.

In DTTS we at least have two quirky charismatic characters played by two talented actors in Meghan Ory and Andrew W Walker - who engage in flirting and banter and some goofiness, whereas in this 2020 effort we have two characters who are poles apart in terms of personality, and the Emily character has got to be the most unlikeable lead I've seen in a long time. To call her charmless would be an understatement.

Endlessly looking at that phone; endlessly worrying about work & career; endlessly worried about getting home for Christmas to spend time with her equally annoying family. They're primarily annoying because they care so much for the overly self-obsessed Emily who clearly is a textbook narcissist.

The Clark Kent guy wearing the spectacles most of the time, is more appealing of the two - but since there is no chemistry between these two it's really irrelevant how he comes across. Also, that they keep bumping into each other is an over-worked plot contrivance and I lost interest in both the couple and the story half-way through.

Writing up Emily as a stuck-up, over-preening obsessive and then getting her to turn on her 'charm' just as she realizes she may have a thing for the slightly geeky mug she's running around in circles is a stretch in credulity that is a stretch too far. Seriously this Emily character is far too annoying to have a movie written about her. Only turning on the charm after Cupid's arrow strikes, only shows a phoniness that's very unappealing and makes this TV movie more shallow than similar flicks out there.

If you found this crud disappointing and you've already seen the film mentioned above (DTTS) I strongly recommend you look up the very superior 'Project Christmas Wish' (my review will get you there!).

PCW really is the high standard all these Christmas romance flicks should be aiming for...dash over there and away from here!

Currently watching, over half way through. Not sure I can stomach much more. Emily is awful. The scene at the diner made me want to strangle her. I mean seriously, how inconsiderate, and while I realize this is a movie, too many people believe they need to be catered to like this. Even in the car, where she's freezing and he's too warm, she doesn't care about him at all, only herself. Hopefully this character can redeem herself before the end of the movie. The Simon character is written brilliantly as a kind and generous and caring man.

The ancillary characters, sister, mother and father were really wonderful.