Truly Dreadful Film

Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Leaving her seemingly glamorous Hollywood life on hold, Evie Lee is forced to return to her small hometown of Balsam Falls, Tennessee, and her family's once-thriving Christmas tree farm to attend her father's unexpected funeral. As the eldest sibling, she finds herself executor of an estate that owes a massive inheritance tax, much to her younger brother's dismay. Torn between pursuing her music career and saving her family's legacy, she must decide what it means to find her place in the world.What is terrible about this film that it shows everyone from Los Angeles is vapid and self-centered. It also wants to hit you over the head that only people in the Bible Belt seem to have morals. Now I lived in California for most of my life and this film is just insulting. If you buy this on DVD then the only thing that DVD is good for is being a "Table Coaster". Avoid this mess!

There's maybe a handful of decent acting. I just wasn't falling for most of it. There wasn't a part that grabbed me in the beginning and most of the show dragged. As for the main character, how old was she trying to pass for? She's like a middle aged lady in a tiny cute body with gorgeous hair. Fit but definitely not 20 something. Maybe like a slightly younger version of Reba McEntire whom I adore. I just prefer for the actors to look the part. I was also hoping the girl and main guy had a little more chemistry. I liked pops and Miss Honey. Oh and the animals. It was hard to watch until the end, but i did it. There wasn't much to the show so I really don't have much to say about it.

That this movie gets 7.7 out of 10 can only mean that those involved in the movie and their friends and family gave it that rating. I have never been more dumbfounded watching a move rated so highly. We got about 20 mins in and then even the notion of "it must finish strong" was so diminished that we turned it off. The acting is terrible and contrived, the characters are a joke and how is it that a Christmas tree farm, around Christmas has nothing christmassy about it. Its hard to say whether the lead actress is trying to play a 20 year old or they just want us to think she likes bad make up. As for Ashley Judds mom, That's all I have to say as it is not worth wasting time on further.

But my inner Scrooge won't let me go that high.The leads have the depth of a facial tissue, and a range of facial expression from facile-smug to facile-worried. The aesthetic is disjointed in every aspect of set- and character-dressing.The plot is clichéd family dysfunction from the first stilted line of dialogue. It manages not to actually explore any of the very real issues it chucks onto the screen, except via the aforementioned clichéd sentences before they're abandoned for the next huge segment of screen time.Yes, there are some funny situations set up around the hapless city-boy boyfriend, but they too are only the truncated version of what could be quite funny episodes, maybe (in some other film) with some relevance to the plot.I kept looking for any trace of a deeper understanding in the script or acting, but these are simply cardboard characters being shoved around on stage.Oh, and despite the location on a Christmas tree farm, there's pretty much zip about Christmas in theme or conversation or decor for 90% of the movie.