CHRISTMAS IN WONDERLAND (2007) **1/2 It's more that I like it than it's really good, but I like it. Not at the beginning, though. They spend awhile setting up a really dull film, trading almost exclusively on the faded currency of Patrick Swayze's star quality. Enough of that, then they settle in to a travelogue advertisement for the West Edmonton Mall. Well, I'm not real big on malls, but that's definitely better. Then a wonderful thing happens: they run out of ideas and admit it. The instructions on the set must have been some derivitive of "ok everyone, now just hopelessly overplay your parts," and they do. Of course Carmen Electra has made a in many ways admirable career out of it, so no surprise there. And you no longer have to imagine what Tim Curry would do with a Canadian-Scottish variation on Inspector Clousseau.. But the big event is Maureen Jones as the Teutonic lingerie saleslady. Now that , my friends, should be studied in acting class forever, as how to steal a movie in a single scene. Then it just kind of goes on like that, and if you enjoy it, as I do, it's a fun and silly ride.
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