The Tree That Saved Christmas

This predictable Christmas drama surrounding a threatened tree farm unfolds in a rather intriguing fashion. There is the stern and unempathetic employer. There is the mean Scrooge-like banker. There is the broken romance. There are even the boss's young daughters. What is somewhat different is that the movie magic comes not from a fantasy miracle, but the eventual realism of the practical value of family and social connections. This movie also includes some nice emotional moments even as the movie at times has some rough, edged scenes. Overall, however, this Christmas movie stands out from the typical movie genre with a good effort with a refreshing production using script and scene selections that challenge the typical mold. Not a classic, but worth a one-time experience.

Our family loves Christmas movies. This one failed the doze test big time- most of us fell asleep. We will never watch it again. It was painful.

We like Lacey Chabert and hope they give her a good Christmas movie. This movie failed. There were just too many tangents to the main story line. We liked the man who played the father (Lacey's). The mother's role just didn't work. Happy to see Ashley Newton from Heartland. Probably there were just too many characters. What should have been the climax of the movie was left to a note on the tree. Very little true emotion in this movie.

I liked this film very much! It's not the usual story.... Lacey Chabert is excellent again, the cast was very good, the photography, the setting and the story was well written. I especially liked Jim Thorburn as the boss of Lacey. One of the few times that the boss isn't a jerk! His acting was great, his chemistry with his "daughters" felt real wich makes me wonder why they don't give him the leading role??? He is charming, good actor and very good looking.... The characters in this movie interact in a relatively believable manner and the scenery is amazing with lots of Christmas notes and spirit of hope. I will definetery watch this again....

Every tree has a story to tell? In this case, Molly Logan and her childhood boyfriend Lucas Bishop come across our subject tree while exploring her family's Vermont Christmas tree farm. The tree is sick and Molly's dad wants to chop it down. Molly bonds to the tree and brings it back to life through her music. After an abrupt and unexplained fast-forward to Molly's adult life, the tree shows up at her posh New York office as a delivery for her boss. Molly immediately recognizes the tree as her long-lost friend and feels compelled to return it back to their home in Vermont so they can share Christmas together. What are the chances of this happening outside of a made-for-TV Christmas movie?

Back in Vermont, Molly discovers the family farm is in foreclosure and Lucas now works for the developer trying to turn it into a "green" golf course. Horrified, Molly gets to work saving the family farm. While the Christmas tree watches all this happen from the homestead living room, Molly's deep-pocket,recently-widowed boss Walter shows up because his kids want to spend Christmas with Molly. A hint of a rivalry for Molly's love ensues between Logan and Walter. Who will win Molly's heart? Will the family keep the farm? Does the tree end up saving Christmas? You can probably guess where this tree's story is going from here.

Un- or underdeveloped characters, mediocre acting and numerous loose ends in the story line turns this tree's saga into something that becomes easily forgettable. Every tree may have a story, but not all of them will be interesting or even well told.

Standard classic story line of Christmas spirit in a small town that conquers a greedy bank manager.

There is a romance storyline running through this too, although it feels forced. And frankly it felt like Molly had more chemistry and a better fleshed out story with her boss and daughters than the actual love interest.

The bank manager is played almost comically evil and anti Christmas. It almost felt like he was in a different movie than the rest of the cast. I can't tell if that was on purpose or not. It's probably why his son, the love interest, felt so flat. Straddling both parts of the move.