Christmas in Mississippi

Started off quite promising with the intro and upbeat music and drone views, then went downhill. The lead actress is a photographer coming home for Christmas with a just a small bag with her camera, no idea where she put all the false eyelashes and small branch of a makeup shop. It then drags on and on until the end, where not much happens. I am sure I could have chosen better.

'Christmas in Mississippi' on paper didn't overly excite me. The title is fairly uninspired and the story formulaic-sounding. Yet my love of Christmas, the positive reviews and having seen a lot of films and television episodes that sound nothing special on paper but manage to be executed quite beautifully in a way that was quite unexpected. Haven't seen enough of Jana Kramer's filmography to judge her properly but have liked Wes Brown and Barry Bostwick in other things, even the bad stuff.

To my relief, 'Christmas in Mississippi' was a lot better than anticipated and was utterly charming and lovely to watch. It is a lot more interesting than the title suggests and the story synopsis in my mind doesn't do enough justice to the feels felt watching. That's of course from my experience and not everybody will agree. 'Christmas in Mississippi' thankfully does not try to do too much or bite off more than it could chew, but a lot of effort clearly went into the film and there is a lot to like.

Am going to mention those things first. One of the best aspects was the scenery, which looks stunning and captured in its full glory by the always attractive photography, courtesy of a crew that clearly loved the setting. The music is not overused or overbearing, have seen this with a lot of Christmas films (Hallmark have a reputation for too loud and intrusive music in their festive output). The direction is sympathetic but never routine. The performances are all great.

Brown is a very charming and always natural leading man and Bostwick steals his screen time. Kramer's performance has gotten a more mixed response, personally found her very winning in her role and didn't find her bland at all. Her chemistry with Brown felt genuine and the relationship itself didn't feel rushed or stuck in a rut. The writing on the whole didn't feel mushy and never had too much of the cheese factor. Loved the portrayal of the community and its spirit, a lovely touch and realistic. The story may not do much new, but it has a nice light-hearted energy, is heart-warming and has an immense amount of charm.

It's not perfect. It does sappy at times in the middle act.

Some suspension of disbelief is also needed towards the end.

Otherwise, surprisingly good. 8/10.

I watched this for the second time..and it checks all the boxes except..I wish Jana Kramer would have sung a Christmas song at the town festival!! I'll probably watch it again next year!!

I can see why the person that "Lived Near The Area" where they filmed this would like this film. If a "Christmas Films" had a check list then this film would certainly check all the boxes.

This has everything (except snow) that you would expect in a "Christmas Movie". This film a girl returns home for the holidays. She then volunteers to help get the town "Christmas Light Show" up and running. This is the 1st time in y ears that the town has done this. It had a hurricane and the town is now back on its feet.

This film is not great but it is one of those films you can't help but to like. I do also like the fact it does show the "True Spirit" of citizens of Gulfport. I did help out after Katrina and this film does show the goodness that is in all of them.

The only disappointment is how Lifetime has 'hacked up' the original movie and does not show some of the very best parts that give it depth and introduce the concurrent stories. They have cut the light show almost completely out and it is really great. They also have removed the actual ending that wraps up the story and makes it the feel good movie it was meant to be. This is one of 2 movies that Lifetime has hacked up and remove the heart. The setting of the Gulfport recovery is a wonderful background for the secondary story line. I used to have a copy on my cable box until it went bad and Lifetime hasnt run it since then. SHAME ON LIFETIME management ...Scrooges all