THE GOOD WITCH'S GIFT (2010) **1/2 Yes, yes of course, The Good Witch of Vermont. I hadn't seen any of these, and much of the early dialogue is so everyday as to be laughable. Credible, but laughable. And then all of the actors seem to be overplaying their parts, or not have enough talent to begin any detectable movement towards any part. Ok. But....not so much as it gets saved, or redeems itself, as it grows on you. There's a little bit of Victoria Beckham in Catherine Bell, but in a good way. Cat does freeze on looks with a model's regularity but it suits her to the extent that...ah, it just seems maybe they modeled the modeling thing on just that sort of girl. It suits her, she suits it, she stands out from the surroundings as she should (artistically and aesthetically) and...well, like, the schmaltz is so heavy at times as to be laughable, but it's not as if they're unaware of that. And maybe it's even partly the clothes, it's so believable that the best dressed in Vermont dress just like that ...but that's only such a small part of it. Somehow, for (and not despite) all the schmaltz, and silliness, and benign good moodedness to the whole thing...maybe it's that Christmas magic, after all...there's a very strong underlying feel of truth and reality to it all, that just defies rationality. I like it.
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