Fir Crazy

BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE MOVIE. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 HOLIDAY FILMS. I WATCH EACH ONE WITH AN OPEN MIND.

Last night I could not sleep. So I put on this film and I was delighted that I did! What I watched was this film called "Fir Crazy" and it is available on DVD on Amazon but on Amazon the film is re-titled "Oh Christmas Tree". In this film A Busy career woman Elise MacReynolds (Sarah Lancaster) has no time or desire to take part in Christmas festivities. However, a few twists of fate land Elise in the middle of her worst nightmare: unemployed, newly single, and running her family's Christmas tree lot for the dreaded holiday season. As the de facto representative of her family's business, Elise must navigate a contentious relationship with the lot's new landlord, Gary Dixon (Colin Mochrie), who thinks the MacReynolds' lot is hurting his business and wants them gone...fast. But, things are looking a little brighter as the newly single Elise has a budding relationship with Darren (Eric Johnson), one of her customers.

The film is a typical "Holiday" film from Hallmark and that is fine by me. If you are looking for a "Family Safe" film then you won't go wrong here! Boys will be bored but the film works. When the film was over I was smiling.

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

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.

Elise (Sarah Lancaster) grew up with her family's business of selling Christmas trees. So now she's anti-Christmas. Not sure I understand that part of the plot. My dad was a carpenter and I don't hate hammers. Anyway, when Elise's father breaks his foot, she agrees to help out with the business. She's not a happy camper already because she lost her job and was dumped by her boyfriend. So now she has to do her least favorite thing in the world and a struggle with a grinchy CEO out to get rid of her family's Christmas tree lot doesn't help matters. At least she meets a cute guy (Eric Johnson). Soon she's feeling the holiday spirit in spite of herself.

Sarah Lancaster is very pretty and charming. Her smile lights up the screen. She does a lot for the part, which isn't written as very likable in the earliest scenes of the movie. Derek McGrath and Lynne Griffin are her perfect parents. Greg Calderone is the likable cousin that helps her run the lot. It was nice to see Eric Johnson. I remember him from the first season of Smallville way back when. He's got a good chemistry with Sarah. Their first date was pretty cute. Colin Mochrie is great as the Scrooge-like villain who isn't as bad as he seems. This is an upbeat and surprisingly funny TV movie. There are many other likable characters throughout, such as the happy married couple she meets or the little kids, one of whom says "Maybe you have relationship issues." Seasonal romcoms are pretty much my favorite and this one's good. It's nothing challenging but that's okay with me. It's all about the smiles and this one gives them.