Christmas in the Heartland

It's the time to binge on Christmas / fluffy movies and we watched this film in the middle of such a binge-fest. It's pretty bad. There are probably worse films but this couldn't even make the hurdle to carry the Hallmark or Lifetime brand which own the category.

Its not a bad idea for a plot--just very very poorly executed. Not even clear they really had a director or writer. Its like they grabbed a bunch of inexpensive actors and told them to "talk like you're from Oklahoma." The thing is a mess from bad accents to nonsensical dialog, cartoonish sterotypes... Even the scenery is boring.

Ironically the "last scene" that people complained about was the most interesting. It's the cast (and occasionally the crew) running around in circles, bumping into each other, completely out of sync. An appropriate summation of the entire movie. They do seem to be having fun (or maybe they're just happy that its over(?)).

90 minutes of your life is best spent elsewhere. Pretty much anywhere

I get cheesy Christmas movies, predictable story lines, poor acting, cringe worthy lines and a feel good ending. These things make Christmas movies wonderful! But this one doesn't. Its genuinely awful. My wife, who hasn't found a Christmas movie she doesn't love, hated it. It's uncomfortable and there's a big song at the end that you just want to be over. Thankfully once this terrible song ends, so does this travesty of a movie.

This movie was insane! I can get down with a cheesy Christmas movie. I'm cool with the predictable ending and forced acting but this was on a whole other level. These two girls completely deceive their families and everyone is totally cool with it. They almost seem happy about it. At least have someone be a little upset. The storyline was just ridiculous and not even slightly believable. The ending was weird and the characters were uncomfortable to watch. I don't know who's idea it was to put a song at the end but it was not a good one. At least make sure the actors know the words that they are lip syncing. There were a couple of funny bloopers at the end. I'd say that was the best part.

This is called The Christmas Trap (no doubt a lazy reference to The Parent Trap) so I thought I knew the level of cheese I was in for.

I was wrong

The plot holes are canyonesque in size and the multiple revelations made to the audience and onscreen characters in the final scene are just too much.

So why have I given it an above average score?

The first 80% is exactly what I expected and satisfied my cheese quota, and the final denouement was just insane and made me laugh so hard I cried, so I had to give it extra stars for that.

This was a sweet movie and I enjoyed it. The ending was a little unrealistic, but cute. It put a smile on my face. 😊