A Merry Little Christmas

I can't believe that no one has taken the time or the effort to review this movie. So, I will.

For every bad actor there is a bad film. For every failed punchline there is a moment of comedic bliss. You probably thought that I was going to draw some startling comparison between the two. Sorry.

You know when you see a squirrel just about to be hit by a car? But, suddenly, like the squirrel had taken a yoga class for the past six months, it slips between the car tires and makes it out to the other side? You give a little cheer, right?

Okay, so if you can't conjure up that image, how about this: You are a cat nip stuffer. A stuffer of cat nip. Not stuffing cat nip in untoward places, simply into balls. Or small candy cane shaped fluffy toys void of catnip. Your job is to fill cat nip into toys that you know are going to make one cat very, VERY happy. Feel good, right?

What does this have to do with the movie?

Nothing.

Why do I mention it?

My mom said, if you can't say anything good about something, say nothing at all.

P.S. It could have been worse.

I love Christmas TV movies. This one my wife and I enjoyed, although the story line is similar to Deck The Halls which came out around the same time. The music score is superb and I contacted Peter Mazzeo who co wrote most of the songs asking if I could use use a couple on the community radio station where I was a presenter here in the UK. Peter sent me four songs and since that day in 2014 he and I have developed a very special long distant friendship. Although the movie was done on the cheap I think it did have some problems along the way, and certain people had to pull together to get the it completed. It is not the worst TV Christmas movie I have seen, but my wife and I still watch it. When it is scheduled I let Peter know "That Movie Is On Again" I am sure it still has it's fans. At least two here in the UK.

This level of contempt for the audience is something I've rarely experienced. Naturally it's a cheap Christmas movie and McCoy is just horrid (as in himself) - but even if were made in the 70s recession, it wouldn't be this poor or insulting. There's basics here you will not see anywhere: out of focus scenes. Bad sound. For so many shots the cameraman has the WRONG LENS on the camera. The rest of it is hardly worth discussing. Of course the script is underwritten and amateur. of course the acting is appaling. Of course every scene is cheap and badly conceived - but what stands out is the terrible quality of every decision: technical, dramatic, script, joke, music. This is a miserable. miserable experience.

What an odd film.

Literally every inch of this film points to it being deserving of the lowest of ratings. The acting is wooden at best, the title is ill-fitting, the direction is awful and the dialogue is poor. Yet, it kinda works in a weird, basement level sorta way?

I'm not saying it's good, I didn't enjoy it, but once the credits rolled I didn't feel anything negative towards it - which is a surprise, given the aforementioned. It does everything so averagely, that it pretty much levels out to create a poor but not terrible film - at least in my opinion.

I have little to no praise of it though. Some of the humour is alright, I guess. Matt McCoy and Adam Ferrara are the 'picks' of the cast, though that's just down to process of elimination. The (UK - US have a different one?) title is slightly misleading, given only a short snippet of this has anything to do with the banning of Christmas.

Overall, 'The Town That Banned Christmas'* is all rather poor. I'm just surprised I didn't hate it.

*aka 'A Merry Little Christmas'