When is the last time you saw a good David Hasselhoff movie? Better yet, when was the last time you saw a David Hasselhoff movie? Last question, has "The Hoff" ever made a movie? If you can't answer those questions then you might want to tune into The Christmas Consultant, which is a Lifetime movie airing Saturday, November 10 at 8PM. It stars David Hasselhoff!
The movie centers on an overworked, underappreciated wife and mother named Maya Becker (Caroline Rhea). She and her husband Jack (Barclay Hope) are both extremely busy people who love their three children but have a hard time finding time for them. As Christmas approaches they both get busier and busier, and then Maya agrees to host a big Christmas celebration so that a new client at her office will get to sample it. The client is named Boris (Aleks Paunovic) and he is from Russia.
Jack and Maya put their heads together and come up with the idea to hire a Christmas planner. They pick one named Owen (Hassel off) and leave everything up to him. Owen is up to the task and soon has plans moving smoothly on all fronts. He even gets the three Becker children to participate as well as Maya's mother and sister, and Jack's parents too.
As things continue to shape up Maya gets less and less enchanted with Owen. His ability to fit into their family and charm them all sets off a seed of jealousy. She feels he is supplanting her in her children's eyes and this makes her angry.
The Christmas Consultant is one of the first holiday movies of the season. It isn't even Thanksgiving and we are already pushing Christmas. Still it is nice to have a "family" movie we can put on our schedule.
Rhea is an odd choice for the role of Maya. She is a better than average comedienne and the part of Maya doesn't call for much comedy. It isn't that she does a bad job playing Maya; it just isn't a convincing performance.
Then there is Hasselhoff. For some reason he chooses to make Owen a bit of a fop, with a good bit of Carson Kressley thrown in for good measure. It makes for an interesting performance but again not a convincing one.
The Christmas Consultant is a movie full of silliness and cheesiness. Sometimes you feel sorry for the actors and sometimes you feel sorry for the viewer. But in the midst of the silliness, sentiment and cheese there is a sweet gooey center. The movie means well and has a good heart.
This won't be the best Christmas movie you will see this year, but it does have the honor of being among the first. That counts for something, doesn't it?
The Christmas Consultant airs at 8PM, Saturday, November10 on Lifetime.