I am fan of Amy Acker, but had put this movie to the bottom of the list as the name made me think it would be a bit of a simplistic overly traditional Christmas movie, which is not necessarily a bad thing but there's so many of those movies. I was extremely surprised to find this movie outdid all of my expectations and was an amazing, moving, sad, humorous movie with quite a bit of depth, so far as a Christmas movie is concerned. Highly recommended to everyone!

I watched this for the first time last year and decided to rewatch it again this year with the family. The movie started and my sister immediately knew she had seen it before. As far as hallmark goes this is one that I actually enjoy more than the others. I’m probably slightly bias because I like Amy Acker and she’s the lead in this one. I enjoy the story and think it’s cute enough. Plus it was just nice to watch with the family.

The Lifetime movie _Dear Santa_ is a sweet and enchanting holiday treat. The story follows a big city socialite named Crystal Carruthers who’s about to be cut off by her parents, but a new opportunity presents itself when she comes upon a letter to Santa Claus by a little girl asking for a new mom for her and her dad. Amy Acker delivers an incredibly strong performance and has great chemistry with child actress Emma Duke; who has a natural charisma. However, most of the other actors are pretty weak, as is the writing; which is full of clichés and one-dimensional character stereotypes. And the TV movie quality really comes through in the cheap looking sets and costumes. Yet there’s a sincerity and charm to the story that makes a lot of the acting and production issues forgivable. _Dear Santa_ is formulaic and predictable, but there’s still a bit of Christmas magic to it that shines through.