User reviews

I was utterly shocked. ha-ha! The leads are actually good actors (very good...) I've got a sneaking suspicion they were stage actors first and knew how to "read" the subtext of the script. The teleplay is realistic and not a living cartoon. There's a warmth about the story. I was quite impressed that The Princess was so understated and engaging. The Builder opted out of the slapstick motif. Great romantic chemistry between the leads. Very enjoyable!

Every once in a while, the usual Cinderella genre gets a new twist, so if you're tired of an average, common young woman falling for a royal prince, check out Once Upon a Holiday. In this one, an average, common young man falls for a princess!

Briana Evigan is a royal princess visiting New York, and she's pretty tired of the rules and schedules, so she runs away from her assistants and guardians to see what life is like as a regular person. This isn't exactly Roman Holiday, but it's the same basic concept. Paul Campbell is the non-royal person she meets, but unlike Gregory Peck, he's not a journalist vying for a story about her. He really doesn't know who she is, and he thinks they're just two people experiencing holiday magic.

Not to sound like a snob, but if Hallmark had cast another of their actresses, I would have like this movie much better. Briana was very pretty, but she didn't for one minute seem like a royal princess. Her speech and mannerisms were very contemporary and common. Paul was a total cutie, so if you can get past a princess who doesn't seem like a princess, you'll definitely be rooting for her to snag the guy. He's not only sweet and cute, but he does lots of good deeds that show her a good example. Next up, check him out in either A Godwink Christmas or Window Wonderland!

It sounds like something Hallmark's done before: a young royal away from home during Christmas meets normal person and falls in love---but this one actually felt...right. Paul Campbell's light humor brings us a mildly-magical holiday movie we really can't resist. Simple jokes reflect back upon a golden heart, revealing all he wants is make sure she's where she needs to be. After all, she's the only happy Holiday he knows ;) It's an easy story, no breakups, no unnecessary drama, no tears, as it all wraps up neatly in a perfectly cozy Christmas way. And with Briana Evigan gracefully doing her part as a princess with a passion for photography. It'd be shame, though, if she never got her camera back. With all those blurred photos of random NY buildings..

What a nice surprise! I sat down with my Cat and some Cabernet and let roll. Sure, there have been countless Christmas movies in 2015 and I didn't expect to like this as much but I did. Early on it pulled me in and there is no shortage of (spoiler) a Princess and Commoner hooking up. Yet this took a mature and believable route. Nothing overhanded. Nothing unbelievable (as TV goes). The big reveal was actually subtle and loving! In short I really did enjoy this film! In the middle I actually said to myself out loud- "This is a good movie"! Which doesn't happen very often and I take note when it does. That and I wrote a whole better review before Firefox dumped it before I could post it! D'Ohhh!

Not sure why there is so much hate for this charming and pleasant Hallmark movie.

As long as you understand what you're going to see going into one of these made-for-TV movies, and overlook some of the obvious discrepancies, Once Upon a Holiday is a nice Christmas movie, featuring Briana Evigan as Katie a princess who finds herself on royal duty in New York City in the lead-up to December twenty-five, and Paul Campbell (who is always excellent) as Jack, your NYC Average Joe, who - rather precipitously - runs into Katie on a couple of occasions and shows her around the city, at first now knowing who she really is...and you probably have a pretty good idea of how the movie will end.

Absolutely a movie with plot holes and inconsistences, but it is saved by the performances of Campbell and Evigan, who have a warm and easy chemistry. Once Upon a Holiday is an above average Hallmark royal film.

The acting is quite good, as far as hallmark Christmas movie qualities. It was just ok, not terrible or excellent just fine. I found myself enjoying it at parts and rolling my eyes at parts. I watch Christmas movies all through December and I dont regret watching it.

I dabble in the Hallmark Christmas movies, but they do have to meet certain strict criteria: appealing and not too affected female lead, male lead who's not a total doofus, not too complicated a story line, or too overly contrived or unpleasant. This hit the spot very nicely, Evigan is a particularly attractive lead and Campbell does quite well as the humble, honest worker who happens upon Evigan on the run from her position of European princess. Okay, so this owes a lot to Roman Holiday and other runaway royalty movies, but you might notice originality isn't on my criteria list. Both Evigan and Campbell seem very into their roles and very natural, this sort of fits the Hallmark romantic comedy format to a "t". Even Briana's dad gets a role as royal retainer. Enjoy.

Once Upon A Holiday is a 2015 Hallmark film starring Briana Evigan as well as her own dad Greg Evigan,and tells the story of a princess named Katrina who travels to the US to become a photographer as she likes to lead a normal life. Problems arise when she meets Jack and the two start to like each other. But when a sleazy news anchor wants to dig some dirt on her will her secret be blown? Overall I watched this because I never seen it before and I was in the mood to watch a christmas movie. Story is decent and it was very predictable.

Katie (Briana Evigan) is a reluctant princess. She's tired of being over-scheduled and wants to see the sights in New York. She sneaks away from her aunt and gets robbed on the streets. Nice guy Jack Langdon (Paul Campbell) tries to help but the thieves get away with her purse and her old camera. He tries to help her navigate the big city and she keeps her identity a secret.

It's always a little wrong to have Canada for New York although modern cities are more uniform than before. I don't particularly like this princess. She's a little too old to be so clueless and so tired of responsibilities. That sort of story is better done with teenage princesses. Quite frankly, it would make more sense if she has amnesia. Evigan has the constant smile necessary for the role but the role isn't good. It may not fit the Hallmark brand other than the simplistic romance. Also nobody steals old cameras. I do like the Santa Claus community but the movie doesn't follow that up with the couple doing Elf duties. At least, that could have been fun.

I loved this movie. Wish it was on DVD. Brianna Evigan is adorable as the Princess and her dad, Greg, was so cute in BJ and the Bear. It was fun watching the two of them working together. The plot was good and the goofy, ambitious reporter was a nice touch. When the Princess gets lost in the city after her purse is stolen, Jack rides to the rescue. He has a feeling she's in trouble so he watches out for her. They develop feelings for one another. Look forward to seeing it every year. Would like to see Brianna on more Hallmark movies. She has such a beautiful smile and enjoyed her acting style. She was great in filling her role.

6.2 stars.

First of all Briana Evigan was born in Los Angeles, and so you'd think they would at least have her fake an accent to portray a princess of some unknown European country (a very small country). She sounds like a native Californian as far as I can tell, so it's obvious she put forth zero effort to fake the accent. Was this because it's cheesier to botch an attempt than to abandon it altogether? I can see the logic in that line of thinking to be honest. But now it gives me something to think about and put in this review. And our lead male, he's not from NYC, sounds nothing like anyone from the east coast as I mentioned in another review of a movie with him as the lead male and they claim he's from Philly...

I looked up some trivia on the movie and the castle at the end is/was actually Dracula's lair as far as the legend goes...

So what's great about this movie, not much. She is not a princess, doesn't look, act, talk, or anything like one. For male lead roles, he was up to snuff, not anything special. I agree with other reviewers, give us a different leading lady in this, for me personally, maybe get an actress from Eastern Europe, I'm sure we have many of them just champing (chomping?) at the bit to do a Hallmark production.

His sister was actually pretty cool and I hope to see more of her. Her boyfriend, the news guy, what a moron. I thought they might give him some redeeming qualities, but nope they went the other way and make him a total loser. The princesses aunt is a tough nut, plays her part to the tee. The other guy, whatever his title (the princesses guardian fella) did a good job, I liked his performance. The security detail investigator guy was a real sewer rat sort of dirtbag type. He felt like a smarmy Columbo (if you could be more smarmy than the original Columbo).

I'll not return to this film again.

Light weight and dreadfully clichéd. No attempt to create a workable background for the "princess" with an American (Canadian?) accent. Woeful. Roman Holiday on a budget. They want me to go on for five lines with the revue for this movie but in truth, it just doesn't rate it. One more line to go.

The good thing - the memories about Roman Holiday. the bad point - the use of an old recipe not in inspired way. the escape - it is a Hallmark Christmas film. nice. and nothing more. full of cliches - in this case too many- , unrealistic - too unrealistic in this case - and absurd- in this case , obvious fact. but , sure, for modern fairy tales fans, a reasonable must see.

This rating and some of the review is probably going to sound like it has been written by somebody who hates Christmas and criticises anything Hallmark and festive. Far from the truth on all counts. Have seen some surprisingly good Hallmark films, festive and overall, and have liked some of the Christmas films seen recently from this year because they succeeded in charming the viewer and warming the heart regardless of the cliches and formulaic storytelling.

'Once Upon a Holiday' is not one of the best of my recent Christmas film viewings seen as such a fan of Christmas and needing some serious distracting from health woes. Neither is it one of the worst. Somewhere in the solid middle if anything. It is certainly watchable and much better than the basic plotline looks like on the page, with some things noticeably done quite well. 'Once Upon a Holiday' is also not a great film either, with some obvious flaws that are as noticeable as the good things. So not a must see but far from a must avoid as well.

Will start with 'Once Upon a Holiday's' good things. It is nicely photographed and has a quite magical atmosphere in its best parts. Always love nostalgic festive soundtracks, and 'Once Upon a Holiday' is no exception to that. There is nothing mean-spirited about it, it is generally very charming and it does warm the heart enough.

Did like the nice subtle humour present in the film, there is an easy-going chemistry and Paul Campbell is a very likeable male lead. Greg Evigan is the standout in a more than serviceable supporting cast.

For all those good things, 'Once Upon a Holiday' does have debits too. Briana Evigan really doesn't fit her role, the voice and attitude sounded and felt all wrong and like the role needed somebody more at ease and looked and sounded younger. The dialogue has its moments but really could have done with more energy and too much is very forced and cheesy. The location never looked authentic and at times had a cheap look.

Predictability is inevitable in festive Hallmark films, but the predictability here was excessive with at times contrived situations and stereotypical characters and the pace was like the dialogue, more energy was needed. The ending was cute but quite pat.

Summing up, watchable but not great. 5/10

Quite enjoyable.

A princess eludes her handlers to have some time for herself and meets a man who helps her in more ways than she originally imagines.

Worth a view!

Really enjoyed this holiday season movie. It's different from the usual. This one involves grownups. There are no children, dire personal problems to overcome or last minute miracles. Not even a bad guy in sight. Just two people finding their way to each at Christmas. With a single exception, the charming supporting characters are pleasantly grounded. The two leads perform well together with much chemistry. The supporting cast performs on a high level. Production is of a high caliber for these films. The satisfying ending is earned, not just a given. I'm looking forward to a DVD release in the near future. Until then, if you get the chance, see it. You'll be glad you did.

It's a modern American mash-up of The Princess Diary, Roman Holiday and While You Were Sleeping, with remarkably little of the charm of any of those.

For a Christmas story set in part around a magic store run by a dedicated seasonal Santa Claus, it was sadly lacking in magic either festive or cinematic. The dialogue is no more flabby than usual in the holiday rom-com genre but the actors – with the mildly amusing exception of the older couple in their magic shop – have very little personality and absolutely no spark. The little homage to Brosnan's Thomas Crown Affair at the end had masses of comedy potential, all of which was left untapped. The romantic ending, of a man with a very busy life of his own dropping it all for a helpless woman he hardly knows, felt very flat despite the pretty alpine setting.

If you're looking for a heartwarming romance or a sparkling comedy this holiday season, look elsewhere.

I love hallmark movie but wow was this one bad. The main girl is terrible. Every time she talks I feel like she is trying to sexually seduce the other character. I did not feel they had any connection... instead I'm sitting at home feeling awkward for them. Very uncomfortable and super unfortunate bc this is the first Hallmark I have yet to not like!

I was forced to watch it in a waiting room since they had the TV on Hallmark channel. Terrible acting and cheesy plot. But it is Hallmark channel, I didn't expect anything else. It made me want to vomit.

I recognized and liked both the star actress and actor but didn't remember from where. She played in to Catch a Christmas Star and he was in a Window Wonderland. The relationship between the two gripped me and the film was well done to focus on their growing admiration of each other.

This movie had emotion and a theme that everyone should live the life they want to live and are happy living. I would enjoy watching this film again, more so then A Crown for Christmas. The story was simply about Jack and Katie, how they met and who they are. Especially like the Jack character. Well Done.

I turned it off about one third of the way through. The plot moves along at a glacial pace. The "princess" is too old to be so clueless.

There is zero chemistry between the 2 leads. There is just nothing here to see.

Sweet show! Watching the sweet love in his eyes ... he made this show !