Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Fantastic!

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Blistering performances.

This is a story about a young woman struggling with insecurity. At one point, referring to what they do as window dressers, she says "We create perfect images for people to admire", but her deeper meaning is about her own facade. Chyler Leigh plays this part so well. Early in the movie she is sitting in a restaurant with her successful boyfriend and I looked at her and thought - "she looks like a little girl with this man way out of her league". Not that Kenneth, not Kenny, is a catch.Meanwhile, Jake Dooley's façade over his insecurity is his witty, but insincere response to almost everything. This is not a new character for Paul Campbell, but you can't argue with how well he does it.Leigh and Campbell's chemistry progresses brilliantly from disgust into what you'd expect for the leads in the movie. And there is plenty of wit between both of them. Campbell is a go-to for Hallmark movies, but Leigh more than holds her own with him.The story is not another typical Christmas romance. We think we know where it is going, but things go a little differently and the ending is a surprise.

There's an opening for Manhattan department store McGuire's windows display designer. Sloan Van Doren (Chyler Leigh) is serious and driven. She puts on a facade even with her rich boyfriend Kenneth Carlyle. She has the fake name and her mother Rita Dorentella (Naomi Judd) works as the bathroom attendant at the store. Her competition is the free-spirit Jake Dooley (Paul Campbell). His easy-going manners frustrates her. The janitor Mac sees their combative flirtatious relationship. One night, they get locked in the store together. She discovers that he has been spending the nights in the store. Their attraction grows as Kenneth's snobbish characteristics come out.This is a perfectly fine Hallmark Christmas romance. The fake NYC is obvious but it doesn't overwhelm. This stuff boils down to the leads. Leigh is perfectly charming and Campbell is a boyish rogue. They are sweet together. There is nothing surprising and nothing offensive. The store display window as a story element is passed its prime. The only display that actually hit is the family food fight. I like that they go overboard with the fight. Otherwise, this is what one expects from this type of movie with a couple of photogenic charming leads.

I am a total Christmas nut - there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of some aspect of Christmas. Yep, am even happy about decorations showing up in stores before the end of summer. Window Wonderland is a delightful story which is well written and well acted. The main characters compete for the favor of their boss by decorating the front windows of the department store where they're employed. The plot weaves in and out, circumstances change, people interplay, and a story, which I believe could end up being a Christmas Classic, evolves. With a wonderful ending, it's sure to satisfy even the pickiest of viewers. It's a fairly new release (2013) so I'm having a bit of a problem finding a copy to purchase but I'm sure that will happen, too. Window Wonderland is well worth the watch and will help warm your heart for the Christmas season.

The only "wonder" about it, is: why was this lousy movie even made?If Hallmark's Christmas movie producers are vying to see who could come up with the worst movie, then I vote for this movie to being one of MANY that is strongly in the lead! When I saw the cheerful previews...and with the great title...I imagined that I would be seeing all kinds of wonderful window scenes...even with magical effects. Boy, was I wrong...very wrong!The lousy window presentations throughout were consistent with the entire movie being lousy throughout. The plot just dragged and dragged and dragged. The players and their lines were as dull as can be. Nothing cheerful or enticing about any of it.Naomi Judd's part was ridiculous!...actually, somewhat moronic. With her cheap appearance....and the scene with her in front of the store on the sidewalk...and the scene with the juvenile food fight, are the factors that contributed to that perception.