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"On Strike for Christmas" review by Suzanne
Premieres Sunday, December 5, 2010 at 8:00 pm ET/5:00 pm PT on Lifetime Movie Network

I enjoyed this movie quite a lot. It is a fun Christmas movie, with a lot of laughs and heartwarming moments.  Daphne Zuniga stars as Joy, a wife and mother who gets upset when her husband two teenaged sons seem to dump a lot of extra work on her at Christmas and don't want to help out.  She decides to go on strike, and soon the whole town is getting involved.

I laughed a lot, especially at the parts where her husband and son try to make cookies. I think most people, especially women, can relate to feeling taken advantage of, her feeling harried during the holidays. I think that in some ways the movie is a bit dated because I find it hard to believe that in this day and age, that many women would be trying to make such a big to-do for the holidays for their families. But perhaps I'm the one who's out of touch with what is going on in the country.

I thought by and large that it was fairly realistic for a Christmas movie. It's the type of show that you know will have a happy ending. The cast did a great job. Julia Duffy plays Joy's mom and is very sweet in the role. The boys who play her sons are very good, too.

The only part that I thought was very unrealistic is that the husband is just a college English professor, and yet they have this big house. Unless I missed something (and that is certainly possible), they never explained why they are living large. Professors don't make that much. Maybe he has written a lot of fiction books, but I didn't catch it if they said that.  They have a huge house, and he hosts his department Christmas party (which would not happen unless he was Chair), and they cater it (which is very expensive and most professors would not spend that money).  She just works at her mother's shop. So where does all this money come from?

Oh, and also, when he has the party, he puts out copy of his new book for his guests!  That would not happen unless the professor was a real egomaniac. All professors publish books, so it is not a big deal.  Maybe if he had a best seller or something, then they would have a party for that, but not at Christmas. That would be really, really, rude and they would be talking about it for years, how he handed out copies of his book at the department Christmas party (way more than they'd be talking about his wife going on strike)!!  Most likely he will have moved to another college and they would be talking about him, "Remember that jackass that thought he was so special because he published that stupid novel?"

Okay, I digress. If you are not a college professor or his wife, you won't care about that little tidbit, and you will enjoy the movie. I liked it, anyway, despite that silly part.  It is really a neat Christmas movie that should be around for years.

here is some more info below:

Deck the halls and celebrate the first day of "Fa La La La Lifetime on LMN" with the world premiere of on strike for Christmas, starring Daphne Zuniga (Melrose Place, Spaceballs) and David Sutcliffe (Drop Dead Diva, Gilmore Girls). The heartwarming family original, based on the novel of the same name by Sheila Roberts, will debut Sunday, December 5, 2010 at 8:00 pm ET/5:00 pm PT on Lifetime Movie Network.

'Tis the season and a mother's work is never done. After years of making sure everything is perfect for her family, Joy Robertson (Zuniga) is saying "enough," and decides to go on strike for the Christmas season. if her husband, Stephen (Sutcliffe), and their kids want to have the perfect holiday, they will just have to organize themselves. But as more and more women in town join the growing boycott and Christmas approaches, some of the families discover they have larger issues...and it turns out that a little holiday magic might be exactly what they need.

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