Christmas in Boston (2005)

Purely Joyful Movie!

Memorable, crazy movie

How sad is this?

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Gina (Marla Sokoloff) and Seth (Patrick J. Adams) have been pen pals since a school assignment 13 years ago. They agree not to talk on the phone and both sent pictures of their best friends as themselves. Seth is now a toy company junior executive and Gina writes for the newspaper obituary. Then she's given a Christmas assignment to write about a toy conference. She reluctantly accepts fearing that she must mean Seth in person. She convinces her best friend Ellen (Lindy Booth) to see Seth as her. Unbeknownst to her, Seth has done the same thing with his womanizing best friend Matt (Jonathan Cherry). Meanwhile Gina is writing a story about Seth trying to hide his boss dating the owner of another toy company as well as his company's impending IPO. Only both Gina and Seth are pretending to be their best friends; Ellen and Matt.This is a nice easy sitcom switcharoo TV movie for Christmas. The story is a little silly but it has a charm. This works because Marla Sokoloff and Patrick Adams are adorably cute together. She is a cutie pie who excels at being flustered. He is charming enough that he doesn't become a jerk after finding out the secret. The production is low budget but effective.

This is supposed to be an ABC "Family" movie... and it's rated "G"??? I should not EVER have to fast forward through SEX scenes in a Christmas / Family movie!!! What is wrong with you people??? Sex, Sex, Sex is NOT Appropriate for my 8 year old little girl! "Babes with short skirts", "Edible Underwear"; what kind of sad, horrible, miserable excuse for a human being believes that these quotes belong in a Family, or a Christmas movie? I am totally Disgusted!!! They absolutely ruined this movie! It had a lot of potential, but they had to pervert Christmas, and the wholesome love story that was in there. Wake up people… You don't have to put sex in every movie to sell it. "Sex Sells" is not always true. As a matter of fact, I am returning this movie, and demanding my money back!I just noticed that on the case underneath ABC Family it says "a different kind of family". In the future I'll take notice of this, and know that this is not a movie for me and my "traditional kind of family".

Gina and Seth have been corresponding for thirteen years. Their friendship started in school when they entered a program of pen pals. They have never seen each other, both are shy people that hide behind their letters, at first, then behind computers, writing endless emails and instant messages about their daily lives. The only thing is neither of them has been true to the other. Gina has sent pictures of her friend Ellen to Seth, making him believe she is the other person. Seth, also has been deceitful in that he has passed his best friend Matt's picture as being himself. When the opportunity arises that at last the corresponding friends would have a chance to meet face to face, they panic. The real reason for trying to hide behind their friends' persona is because they are desperately in love with one another."Christmas in Boston", also known as "Instant Message" in some countries, is a pleasant film to sit through because of the work Neill Fearnley has been able to create with the help of his young cast of appealing young actors. This is a small television made film that is better than one expected it to be. The case of mistaken identities work to bring the correspondents and their best friends together unwillingly.Marla Sokoloff and Patrick J. Adams, who appear as Gina and Seth, are fresh faces that project a wholesome glow on the film. The multi talented Lindy Booth runs away with the film though. Her Ellen provides Ms. Booth with an opportunity to shine. As she proved with her work in previous work, and in "Dark Honeymoon", Ms. Booth is a natural and a welcome addition to any project. Jonathan Cherry rounds up the cast and has also excellent moments to shine.As Christmas movies go, this one is to be enjoyed because of the good job Mr. Fearnley did with the material.

"Christmas in Boston" is exactly the sort of movie you would expect to see during the holiday season: it features an unrequited love story, two adorably dorky star-crossed lovers and their wilder but well-meaning pals, a case of mistaken identity and, of course, the Christmas spirit.Gina and Seth have been communicating through e-mails, letters and IMs for 13 years, promising never to phone one another and never wanting to meet. They're both too nervous about what the other will think of them to want to meet face-to-face. But when Seth's work brings him to Boston and Gina's journalist career puts her in the path to meet Seth for the first time, they both go to great lengths to avoid one another. Of course, the avoidance isn't too difficult, seeing as, for years, Gina has been sending Seth pictures of her best friend Ellen, while Seth has been giving her pictures of his buddy Matt. With a little convincing, Matt and Ellen pretend to be their friends and meet thinking the other is the real deal. Sparks fly, of course, after Ellen and Matt hit it off, which send both Gina and Matt into a fit of despair. They can't imagine someone else with the man/woman of their dreams, but neither of them bother to stop Ellen and Matt's relationship from progressing. When Seth finds meets the real Gina and discovers that the girl Matt is actually a stand-in, he is more then willing to let Matt have Ellen and try and form a relationship with Gina, though he is still unable to let her know that he's really Seth.While the plot is predictable and the ending obvious from the very beginning, "Christmas in Boston" is still enjoyable to watch. The writing is mediocre and witty at times, better then most made for television movies and the actors, most of them stuck in the purgatory of not undiscovered but not a household name, are charming and believable and play their characters to a T.Though "Christmas in Boston" will probably disappear into the recesses of the minds of those who saw it last year, it is a movie worth seeing and hopefully ABC Family will reair it during the Christmas season or even release it on DVD in order to make a profit. I was fortunate to tape the movie and still find myself watching it in the middle of June because the adorable (though clichéd) love story and humorous one-liners are appealing no matter what the season.I thoroughly recommend "Christmas in Boston", though it might be a little difficult to see the movie in the middle of the summer. Hopefully, during the upcoming Christmas season "Christmas in Boston" will find a place in ABC Family's Christmas schedule, allowing viewers to add a little holiday spirit to their day.