Eloise at Christmastime Reviews

An improvement over Disney's first Eloise film, this made-for-TV diversion about the Plaza Hotel's youngest sophisticate features a sparkling casts. Eloise (Sofia Vassilieva), the Plaza's resident Miss Mischief, has time on her hands while awaiting a holiday visit from her mother. Even with her long-suffering nanny (Julie Andrews) doing her best to rein in Eloise's boundless enthusiasm, the child manages to insult the hotel's event planner, Miss Stickler (Christine Baranski), and to get on the bad side of crotchety Mrs. Thornton (Corinne Conley). The little big-mouth's inability to censor herself subsides only in the presence of her favorite bellboy, Bill (Gavin Creel), a struggling actor who indulges Eloise's playtime fantasies. After the hotel manager's estranged daughter, Rachel (Sara Topham), returns to the family fold with her fiancee, Brooks (Rick Roberts), Eloise learns from her friends on the staff that Rachel has always had a crush on Bill. Eloise also discovers that the unctuous Brooks is actually a fortune hunter and decides to add matchmaking to her repertory. Relying on gizmos and gadgets from her favorite Christmas present, a Junior Spy-kit, Eloise eavesdrops on Brooks’ conversations and re-arranges hotel bookings to throw Rachel and Bill together. In between digging up dirt and playing Cupid, Eloise finds out that cranky Mrs. Thornton is really a sweet old lady and that without her late son around to pay the bills, the destitute dowager may find herself out on the street. Whirlwind meddler Eloise must work overtime to make dreams come true for both Rachel and Mrs. Thornton. Vassilieva is the film's week link; she's not charming enough to make constant misbehavior palatable. But director Kevin Lima treats the headstrong Eloise's antics with the right blend of comedy and pathos, subtly reminding viewers that annoying though her conduct may be, she's a child essentially left to her own devices in an adult world.