Lonestar Christmas

Christmas Forgiveness/Lonestar Christmas (2020)-

It's a very simple story and that's not a bad thing. It's done well although there are a few too many "Y'all's" and "Howdy's" trying too hard to let you know that they're cowboys and therefore they all sound a bit forced.

Marco Grazzini has got such an easy smile that shines from his eyes and a lovely face to back it up, which makes him easy to watch, but he just seems a bit out of place. With that said, I've never been to the lone-star state to know who belongs there. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't like me.

I have my own daddy issues, so I can connect with the character of Erin, I've always felt that my Dad was absent even before he died and I'd like to be able to talk to him now for some closure. At least she can still confront hers about the way she feels and she should definitely appreciate that, however, she is an arsey cow who enjoys wallowing in her misery.

She doesn't actually have an issue, it's all on her. She's the one that can't move on and is holding herself and, as a result, her kids back, where the Dad is keen to build bridges and do whatever he can, so I didn't like her or think her good enough for Marco's character Mateo.

I didn't need the singing and the young girls are not brilliant actors either.

Basically she's got issues and he's cute. And at least it's a slightly different tale and not badly produced.

6.30ish/10.

It is a Christmas film sustained by good intentions and by Marco Grazzini. And, in some measure, it is enough for a Hallmark movie . The try of supporting actors is not so bad, the steps of reconciliation father - daughter remains a sketch with unrealistic result but the film is real good intentioned and this saves some of it.

The problem is the hole between first and second part and the improvised solutions for final.

But, sure, it is only/ just Hallmark. Easy, nice intentioned and around romance. So, difficult ( and unfair ) to be very critic about it when the expectations, before the start credits.

2020 was very variable to unimpressive when it came to Lifetime's Christmas films, and there was definitely the sense that the films were made in a rush with not a lot of preparation time. Yet enough of them were far from amateur-hour efforts and were still watchable all things considered. Lifetime just have done a lot better in previous years, although their festive output is very hit and miss it should not be dismissed outright as enough have left me pleasantly surprised.

'Lonestar Christmas' sad to say was not one of the 2020 Lifetime Christmas films that left me pleasantly surprised. It is not one of their all time worst but of their 2020 Christmas output it is down there with the worst in my view. Good things can be seen here, but they are too far and between in a film that had a lot of major issues. Instead of the potentially above average it could have been, it ended up being one of the mediocrities of the 2020 Lifetime Christmas films.

There are a few good things. The best thing about 'Lonestar Christmas' by far is Marco Grazzini, just loved his gentle warmth and charm. BJ Harrison is another saving grace, making much of little.

Furthermore, 'Lonestar Christmas' also looks pretty decent all things considered and has some professionalism at least in its look. Especially the scenery. The music didn't sound too intrusive.

However, there is a good deal wrong. Stephanie Bennett is an incredibly bland female lead and a very awkward presence. She has very little spark or chemistry with Grazzini, it's very disconnected and the relationship itself is underused and underwritten. Brent Stait is also very mechanical, particularly in his scenes with Bennett. The father and daughter subplot is quite painful and is one of the worst written and acted subplots of the 2020 Lifetime Christmas films, and unfortunately there is too much of it. The first half is pretty hard to sit through and while the second half is a little better it never rises above average.

Did feel on the whole that the story was very dull and thin, as well as excessively predictable and lacking in charm or warmth (Grazzini's performance is the only thing where either are obvious). The direction is very routine. Furthermore, the script on the most part is too verbose and the flow is very stilted, had a feeling of it being written in haste and that it had not been proof read. The conflict completely lacks tension and it didn't actually feel like there was much at stake with the indifferent and too hasty way it's written in. A lot of ingredients in the story that are done very little with.

Mediocre overall. 4/10.

These Lifetime and Hallmarks are all have same premise; which is single mom who goes back to hometown because she haven't been there in long time. Then, of course, the mom happens to meet like the only good looking guy in town who is single and does like everything. We all in the end of the movie, there going to fall in love in the end of movie. This movie is predictable.

I found the first half of this movie to be slow and boring. The female lead's story was that of a spoiled brat. I had a hard time dealing with her whining and pity party. The lead actor pretty much carried the movie for me and the ending was good.