Christmas in Mississippi

'Christmas in Mississippi' on paper didn't overly excite me. The title is fairly uninspired and the story formulaic-sounding. Yet my love of Christmas, the positive reviews and having seen a lot of films and television episodes that sound nothing special on paper but manage to be executed quite beautifully in a way that was quite unexpected. Haven't seen enough of Jana Kramer's filmography to judge her properly but have liked Wes Brown and Barry Bostwick in other things, even the bad stuff.

To my relief, 'Christmas in Mississippi' was a lot better than anticipated and was utterly charming and lovely to watch. It is a lot more interesting than the title suggests and the story synopsis in my mind doesn't do enough justice to the feels felt watching. That's of course from my experience and not everybody will agree. 'Christmas in Mississippi' thankfully does not try to do too much or bite off more than it could chew, but a lot of effort clearly went into the film and there is a lot to like.

Am going to mention those things first. One of the best aspects was the scenery, which looks stunning and captured in its full glory by the always attractive photography, courtesy of a crew that clearly loved the setting. The music is not overused or overbearing, have seen this with a lot of Christmas films (Hallmark have a reputation for too loud and intrusive music in their festive output). The direction is sympathetic but never routine. The performances are all great.

Brown is a very charming and always natural leading man and Bostwick steals his screen time. Kramer's performance has gotten a more mixed response, personally found her very winning in her role and didn't find her bland at all. Her chemistry with Brown felt genuine and the relationship itself didn't feel rushed or stuck in a rut. The writing on the whole didn't feel mushy and never had too much of the cheese factor. Loved the portrayal of the community and its spirit, a lovely touch and realistic. The story may not do much new, but it has a nice light-hearted energy, is heart-warming and has an immense amount of charm.

It's not perfect. It does sappy at times in the middle act.

Some suspension of disbelief is also needed towards the end.

Otherwise, surprisingly good. 8/10.

Started off quite promising with the intro and upbeat music and drone views, then went downhill. The lead actress is a photographer coming home for Christmas with a just a small bag with her camera, no idea where she put all the false eyelashes and small branch of a makeup shop. It then drags on and on until the end, where not much happens. I am sure I could have chosen better.

The only disappointment is how Lifetime has 'hacked up' the original movie and does not show some of the very best parts that give it depth and introduce the concurrent stories. They have cut the light show almost completely out and it is really great. They also have removed the actual ending that wraps up the story and makes it the feel good movie it was meant to be. This is one of 2 movies that Lifetime has hacked up and remove the heart. The setting of the Gulfport recovery is a wonderful background for the secondary story line. I used to have a copy on my cable box until it went bad and Lifetime hasnt run it since then. SHAME ON LIFETIME management ...Scrooges all

PLEASE BEWARE OF SOME REVIEWERS THAT ONLY HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW. WHEN ITS A POSITIVE THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE PRODUCTION. NOW I HAVE NO AGENDA! I REVIEW MOVIES & SPECIALS AS A WAY TO KEEP TRACK OF WHAT I HAVE SEEN! I HAVE DISCOVERED MANY GEMS IN MY QUEST TO SEE AS MANY " C H R I S T M A S " MOVIES AS I CAN.

Now Someone keeps reporting my reviews. I guess they are jealous because I do tell the truth. I want to point out that I never make snide remarks about actors weight or real life sexual orientation. If there acting is terrible or limited "I talk about that". If a story is bad "I will mention that" So why am I being "picked on"? IMDB? When one of my reviews gets deleted IMDB will not even tell me what someone found offensive. Well on to this review.

I want o get this out in the way now. I lived in the area in which this film takes place. We lost our home to a hurricane. The first time in 2005 then again in 2008. So watching this film just made me very homesick. I would move back but I am just too terrified to losing my home again.

What this film is about is that photographer Holly Logan (Jana Kramer, "Country Crush") returns to her hometown of Gulfport, Mississippi for Christmas. The town is resurrecting their traditional Christmas light show for the first time since a terrible hurricane struck five years earlier. Holly volunteers to pitch in, but soon has second thoughts when she discovers the festival is run by her high school sweetheart, Mike (Wes Brown, "We Are Marshall"). Now Holly must spend the next few days with the man who broke her heart. With the help of her mother Caroline and Mr. Kriss, the kind man who will play Santa in the town's celebration.

The story is straight forward but "I could not get enough of this film". I am originally not from Mississippi but California. I am also not a Republican but very liberal. What I love what this film did was show the "True spirit" of the people that live in the Gulfport area. It did not show them as "rednecks". Trust me as someone that did live in that area "Christmas in Mississippi' was blessing to see.

I watched this for the second time..and it checks all the boxes except..I wish Jana Kramer would have sung a Christmas song at the town festival!! I'll probably watch it again next year!!