The people in romantic comedies tread the thin line between annoying and quirky. They cannot be boring, or else the movie will be. If they become too annoying, as they do in Let it Snow, the movie becomes annoying. Let it Snow follows every convention and plot twist of a romantic comedy. Boy meets girl, and the two are perfect for each other. Boy loses girl, and then gets her back in the end (oh come on, it's not like it's a huge secret). What stands out in Let it Snow is how much these characters pine after one another without doing anything about it.

James Ellis (Kipp Marcus, Aisle Six, Jason Goes to Hell) thinks that Sarah Milson (Alice Dylan) is the girl for him. They are the best of friends, and are preparing to go to college. However, James believes his family is under a curse. If they fall in love, they will lose the one they love. All his life, James watched his mother Elise (Bernadette Peters, Anastasia, Holiday in Your Heart) run through a series of the wrong men. Thanks to Marcus' script and brother Adam Marcus' (Jason Goes to Hell) direction, viewers can watch non-amusing vignettes of many of Elise's relationships. When James and Sarah finally gather the courage to pursue a relationship, they back off and go their separate ways.

James wants to be a chef. Sarah goes off to college to pursue meteorology. They spend years apart, but James can think of nothing else but Sarah. The one constant in his life is his best friend Mitch (Henry Simmons, ABC's NYPD Blue, Above the Rim), a successful investment banker. At every turn, Mitch is encouraging James to go back to Sarah. The problem is that James never got over Sarah, and his life spiraled downward to where it is now. Let it Snow follows James around as he tries to put his life together, finally realizing (after everybody in the audience figured out within a couple minutes) that he needs Sarah.

As a lead, Marcus does not paint a convincing portrait. Nobody wants to root for James, and nobody wants him to get Sarah. Of course the man she is marrying is a jerk. If he wasn't, there would be no way for James to possibly win her back. James should just crawl into some dark hole and not bother anyone anymore. Or, he should move on with his life. The only romance in the movie occurs near the beginning, and is more of a platonic relationship between Sarah and James. There really is no discernible comedy here, although the Marcus' would probably beg to differ. The only thing going for Let it Snow is that it has fresh faces, all of whom do a decent job. Even Marcus' performance is fine, it's merely the script that leaves much to be desired. Let it Snow does not horribly butcher its formulaic roots, but does nothing to transcend it either.

1 hour, 30 minutes, Not Rated but contains language and a second of nudity, an R or possibly PG-13.