His and Her Christmas (TV Movie 2005) Poster

(2005 TV Movie)

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6/10
David Sutcliffe Reminds me of John Stamos
Christmas-Reviewer10 August 2016
This film tries to be an update of "The Front Page" and fails. The actors are talented but the writing fails them. The entire cast however can not be blamed for the writing.

The biggest mess in this television film is that it fails to explain the major plot line. More On that Later.

Now this film is about Tom Lane is the star columnist for the media conglomerate owned San Francisco Sun newspaper. The company is thinking about increasing Tom's exposure by producing a new television show around him. Liz Madison is the advice columnist for the little read community newspaper, the Marin County Voice, which is a throwback to gentler times. Besides their journalistic occupations, one other similar aspect between Tom and Liz is that they are both currently single, with their friends and family doing whatever they can to find that special someone for their personal life. On November 2, the staff at the Voice learn that the Sun ownership has bought their newspaper, with the probable goal of folding it into the operations of the Sun. If this move does happen, the staff at the Voice will lose their jobs. To fight back, Liz decides to change her column to an editorial espousing the meaning of Christmas and the newspaper to the community. Because of the feisty and entertaining stance of Liz's new column, the circulation of the Voice increases so much so that the owner has second thoughts about folding it, which in turn would put Tom's new television show in jeopardy. To protect his career advancement, Tom decides to write a counterpoint column to Liz's, his about instilling some practicality into Christmas. The competing columns become a personal battle for the two columnists. But as Tom and Liz spew their mutual loathing for each other, their respective friends try to convince them of the old adage that there is a fine line between love and hate.

Now what makes no sense is that she is suppose to work for a small town News Paper however its San Francisco. Hello that is not a small town.

My biggest gripe is that Tom Lane Television show will not happen if "The Voice" stays in circulation. How does a newspaper impact a television show.

Now what saves this film from 100% garbage is the fact David Sutcliffe is very charming. I couldn't think of what I have seen him in before and then it hit me. He reminds me of John Stamos.

I wanted to like this film but I didn't. I did however like some of the scenes but I did not like the film in general.
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6/10
Christmas Spirit As Presented by Walgreens
tsasa19810 December 2006
Warning: Spoilers
The one thing you can count on with Lifetime movies is that they will feel like Lifetime movies. This one is no different as they team up with Walgreens ("Don't worry we can get everything we need at Walgreens.") to retell "You've got Mail," only it is kind of Christmasy. David Sutcliffe, who plays nearly an identical character on "Gilmore Girls," here plays Tom Lane a sexy suave career columnist who is far above the quaint community he lives in. His current reason for being is to bring culture to middle America, by golly, so his own TV show is in the works to do just that. Then, thanks to the magic of contrivance, he gets involved in a blood feud with a rival newspaper columnist. Liz (Dina Meyer) works at a paper that is sadly going out of business, but she is convinced that her and her gumption can save it. So she begins writing a pro-Christmas column for her paper (edgy, I know) and circulation skyrockets. Tom feels as though he has to respond because the survival of her newspaper spells the end of his TV show (I didn't buy it either). They fight, they squabble, they fall in love. We learn that corporations can never stand in the way of true love. In the end the CEO says down with profits and gives the beleaguered paper a reprieve. It is all very fantasyland-ish, and that is fine. Only when Liz implores you to get away from the TV and the video games and spend some quality time with your family I (and forgive the cliché) threw up a little. . .in my mouth.

The film wasn't good, but it wasn't half bad either. The Scrooge in me enjoyed Tom's anti-Christmas columns. Sorry, but it is not evil to point out that Christmas is a commercial holiday. It is just that there isn't an unpredictable bone in its body. Of course he's a playa and she's on her way to becoming a spinster and of course only they can save themselves from these terrible fates. Being a Lifetime movie it was none to kind to the idea of bachelorhood. Somehow these pro-marriage types seem to think that invoking the image of you growing old by yourself is their ultimate trump card, as though the world will actually still be here in 40 years. I did like that the film took the side of newspapers, something that I read every day. I'm just saying that the whole production was so blah that having it on your side really isn't a net gain. All the great Christmas movies out there ("Christmas Vacation," "Elf," "Bad Santa") realize that there is something a little perverse about our obsession over this one holiday. "His and Her Christmas" made no such realization. It serves up an idealized view of the holiday and our world in general. One where the vigorous defense of Christmas is enough to sell papers, and where the religious aspect of it is whitewashed out of the picture, and where the commercial side of it is only there so that employers can actually keep their employees (that's right kids, no Christmas equals no jobs). Fine. The film was entertaining at times, but mostly just tedious. One big, tedious Walgreens commercial. **3/4
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5/10
Too much like his "Christopher" character on GG
jannagirl6523 December 2006
I liked seeing David in something other than GG. He's a very nice looking man, and not a half bad actor; however, I'd like to see him in more mature roles concerning something more domestic or even more dramatic. Don't get me wrong, he's great at the roles he has been in - mostly comedy driven. I would just like to see how well he can extend himself as an actor. Like a lot of actors, they are only seen as that one main character they portray (for him it would be Chris on GG), and then those like me can't get past him playing anything else. Most actors will agree they get typecast when going out and auditioning roles. I'd just like to see David doing something a bit different.
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5/10
Rivals make good lovers.
adamjohns-425757 November 2020
There are many elements in this film that are quite unlikely and it wouldn't be strictly fair to call it a romance as the outcome happens without any dates or any of the typical romantic connections that we're used to. However, both of the leads are accessible and appealing. I especially like the male one. The female still scares me having seen her in Starship Troopers.

It's a bit of a silly story, a merger between a huge conglomerate and a local newspaper, but it ties around Christmas with some morals and tree decorating thrown in, whilst also providing balance for those who aren't huge Crimbo fans. There are times when it seems a bit discombobulated in its sequence, which drops points for me, but Mr lead's chest rug kept me going.

Not the best example of the genre, but not so bad that I would consider turning it off.
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5/10
A Lukewarm Romantic Comedy
Uriah4329 December 2023
"Tom Lane" (David Sutcliffe) is a popular writer for a large newspaper called the San Francisco Sun and hopes to branch out with a television show sponsored that corporation. "Liz Madison" (Dina Meyer), on the other hand, works as an advice columnist for a much smaller newspaper known as the Marin County Voice. Although neither of these two people know each other directly, that soon changes when Liz is informed that the Marin County Voice has just been purchased by the San Francisco Sun and that drastic changes might soon be made. So, to boost circulation and prevent anyone from being laid off, Liz makes a suggestion to her boss "Mr. Billingsley" (Scott Swanson) that, since Christmas is fast approaching, she be given the chance to extol the virtues of the holiday season in an effort to increase circulation. To everyone's surprise, her new column is a tremendous success which soon catches the attention of Tom's editor "Vicki Shaw" (Paula Devicq) who informs him that this directly impacts Tom's chances of creating his own television show and that, in order to resolve the issue, he needs to write his own column contradicting everything Liz says--and as their war of words begins to heat up, so does their attraction for one another. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was a rather lukewarm romantic comedy which benefited more from the performance of Dina Meyer than anything else as neither the romance or comedy was particularly impressive. That being said, while I don't consider this to be a bad Christmas film by any means, it was somewhat entertaining in its own right, and I have rated it accordingly.
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2/10
Lots of Mumbling
DanaOne18 December 2023
Would have been a cute-ish Christmas movie, but Dina Meyer mumbles and swallows her words to the point of not being understood. I missed a lot of what she was saying. It's maddening. It's not an audio issue, because everyone else can be heard and understood. She also poses and is completely unnatural.

Story-wise, the column her character writes is idiocy. There's nothing in it that would interest the masses. "Spend time with your family at Christmas. Do simple things together." Really? Is that the best the writers could come up with?

And the whole world worried about coupling up their single friends is getting really old.

I'll end on a nice note. David Sutcliffe is good.
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7/10
Cute Christmas story
christa-pelc7 September 2020
Simple & cute - nothing wrong about that! And not just for Christmas time only. It's always good to see a happy, sweet movie.
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8/10
Not really a "spoilable" flick
caa82110 December 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Noted the "spoiler" caveat, to confirm to site's parameters -- but this is a film where you know not only what is going to happen, but pretty-well exactly how the whole plot is likely to proceed -- from the very outset.

Still it is one of those feel-good Christmas films, a good family story, and one which doesn't demand everyone's attention constantly if at a gathering of friends or family.

The two leads, Gina Meyer (Liz), and David Sutcliffe (Tom) are both newspaper columnists in the Bay Area -- he a big shot at a major San Francisco paper, she for a suburban-type, about to be taken-over by his employer's conglomerate.

I was not familiar with either lead (although I suspect many others are) but I found them both attractive, engaging and likable -- both individually or with other characters and together. The supporting cast adds to the enjoyment.

The story develops as a sort of mirror-image "Sleepless in San Francisco." The variation to the Hanks' scenario is that they come into contact and know one another, early-on, but come "together," finally, at the conclusion.

Along the way, the story is in no way tiresome or annoyingly prolonged, as these types of stories often are.

Better than most of these annual presentations, and one which should remain in future seasons -- and while not big-screen high drama (or intended to be), again, provides the kind of enjoyable, feel-good entertainment one wants at this time of year.
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8/10
Nice, light movie
RoamingTigress25 December 2010
For a few years now it has been a tradition of mine to watch a Christmas special or movie I haven't seen before on the wee hours of Christmas morning. This year, I was skimming through my PVR and thought the summary of this little movie sounded cute, reminiscent of You've Got Mail. So, I gave it a try.

I am glad I did! It was pure fluff and rather a poor man's You've Got Mail, but after the stresses of shopping, it was good to sit down and watch something lighthearted. Not for someone with overtly high expectations and/or looking for a deep storyline, but worth a try. I really enjoyed the storyline and the chemistry between the actors. The lovely shots from British Columbia were a bonus.
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10/10
Enjoyable Christmas Movie
blondiesapphire27 December 2006
Warning: Spoilers
This movie was very good and enjoyable to watch. The two leads Dina Meyer(Liz) and David Sutcliffe(Tom) are talented actors and went well together as well as the other actors in this movie they all had great chemistry on screen. The plot you could tell where it was going to end but was still a great movie, and did not get boring and tiresome like some holiday movies get. I am waiting now to buy it so I can add it to my collection of holiday movies. I have seen the lead actors in other movies but it took awhile to remember what movies. I am looking forward to see these actors in other movies I hope, particularly Dina Meyer and David Sutcliffe they are very captivating.
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9/10
Blooper
tcamp-4055329 November 2021
His Beta fish keeps switching from blue to red.

Good Movie though!

Watched it with my boyfriend and he even liked it. I will pass this movie along to all my friends.
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