Fir Crazy

Last year, Hallmark presented a new Christmas movie with a father selling Christmas trees on a NYC sidewalk...and he had a disgruntled son that ran away. I don't think that movie could have been made any worse! Watching it once was more than enough!...........With that awful movie and the increasing numbers of awful Christmas movies Hallmark has been presenting between last year and this year, (2014) "Fir Crazy" surfaced to be at least "likeable.".......It did not have anything enticing or special or magical. But with its 2 "Bah, humbug" characters, it remained focused on Christmas with a nice plot that flowed.....None of the players were annoying.......No blaring, annoying "background" music and/or singing to overwhelm the players' dialogue (as Hallmark Christmas movies are notorious for having). And I have watched this movie several times.

...or just nice. a film about Christmas trees. and about the people around them. not original, but comfortable. and seductive. and interesting crafted, with the image of young woman involved in the family business , the accepted homeless, the fragile love story and the sketch of Dickens-like Scrooge. without be impressive - it is only a Hallmark holiday film - it works in reasonable manner. and that is the significant good point.

Fir Crazy follows the character of Elise, played by Sarah Lockwood, who, through a series of circumstances, is cornered into a job she has hated all her life - selling Christmas trees in Manhattan for her parents' family business.

Soon Sarah encounters a nemesis -an elderly and unlikeable CEO of the nearby store who sees the sale of Christmas trees as a nuisance and wants to shut Sarah's business down. Also circling the tree lot is Darrin (Eric Johnson), a handsome young man who is apparently attracted to Sarah. Add a few colorful supporting characters and you have the basics for a Hallmark Christmas movie - romantic love and people being transformed by the spirit of Christmas!

And Fir Crazy carries off the Hallmark formula reasonably well. Its dialog is better than most movies of this type. It has spots of good acting, a couple of surprises, is well-paced and fun. I enjoyed watching it. But I never once felt choked up at the feel-good emotional climaxes (and I cry easily!) Maybe because the characters themselves never seemed to be very unhappy during the moments of greatest adversity; and if the characters don't seem to care then why should the audience?

Overall, I found Fir Crazy to be "good but not great." But though it fell short of great, I did think it was fun and a movie I would enjoy seeing again during the holiday season.

Was a bit conflicted on whether to see 'Fir Crazy' (aka 'Oh Christmas Tree'), seen as part of a recent Christmas film quest started towards the end of last year and the reviewing is still ongoing and will be for a while yet. It sounded cute and heart-warming on paper and have seen a fair share of pleasant, inoffensive festive diversions recently. At the same time, it did not sound much different story-wise from other festive films, so there was the worry as to whether the film was going to feel stale and too safe.

It managed to be pretty much all of the above, indicative of me having something of a mixed view on the film (or slightly above that). It is a pleasant watch and does nothing to offend. A lot is done well here. Not much is particularly distinguished at the same time and there is not an awful lot special, so not a "head over heels in love" sort of film. While not doing anything particularly awfully, while there are flaws here other films do them a lot worse.

The good things will be started off with. The production values are pleasing on the eye, the scenery has an authentic Christmassy feel and the photography doesn't try to do too much while not being claustrophobic. The soundtrack is also suitably festive without being overpowering in volume or over-utilised.

Parts are amusing, parts are cute without being sugary and its good intentions are appreciated. There is a lot of charm here too. The characters are lacking in depth, but nobody irritates and they at least engaged. The acting is better than average, with Sarah Lancaster being an amiable lead. Colin Mochrie also makes a game effort as the "villain of the piece" and Eric Johnson likewise with the too little he has.

Now onto the negatives. The story is predictable and has nothing to set it apart, just being your standard Hallmark Christmas film. Some of it felt choppy, some dramatic transitions being abrupt. Too many of the character relationships are rushed and underdeveloped, making changes of heart too out of left field. Not just the central romance, which is particularly standard and could have done with more consistent chemistry too.

But particularly the Gary's Scrooge-like change of heart, the outcome almost feeling too out of nowhere when you don't really remember the stuff before it. Some of the dialogue can be cheesy and awkward and the ending did strike me as too convenient and too neatly wrapped up.

All in all, watchable but nothing special. 5/10

Sarah Lancaster (as Elise) was the main character, she was in every scene and it was an enjoyable movie. The movie kept me fairly engaged the whole time. My wife did not enjoy the movie as much, but she was tired and to get the full value of the movie you had to stay alert. The best part of the movie was the story of how a couple valued their ornaments which were gotten at gift shops and how they represented times in their relationship. Elise liked this and when she received one such ornament at the end- it was perfect. I enjoyed seeing Derek McGrath as Elise dad (Dr Hebert on DOC) and loved how he would comment when Elise and her mom would talk about him like he wasn't there. Overall they did a good job and the story is taking place in New York City.