Christmas in the Heartland

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.

The first 95% of the film was cute and decently acted. Then the climactic fight scene happened. It was horrendous. Excruciating. In terms of quality, I feel like I read "Fifty Shades of Grey" again. That's not a compliment. It was cheap and came off as contrived by a high schooler.

Like seriously, who signed off on this scene? It actually kind of pisses me off, that such amazing actors would be budgeted and then there is a speedy stumble through such a crucial scene. It was a huge disappointment that comes across as a wasteful antithesis of the holiday spirit.

Prior to the fight scene, I would have given it a 6 out of 10. The scene itself was a 1 out of 10 (as in I'd readily go out and purchase the movie "Glitter", than watch this scene again).

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.

While I agree with some that the ending was way too contrived ("the fight scene"), the clever premise was a nice change from the typical made-for-TV Christmas movie of man/woman enemies or strangers who find love, which has become painfully predictable. Kane's role is nice, and I can actually buy into two teenagers doing what teenagers might do. Bo Derek was surprisingly good in her role as a shallow snob. The ending? Ugggh. But since I got 98% pleasant out of it, and I got to seem some actors get roles again (often stereotypical) as they've aged, I can't knock it too much. A great classic it will never be, but not a bad way to spend a couple hours before Christmas.