Christmas films can go either way, which has been my experience watching overtime the festive output of primarily Lifetime, UPTV and Hallmark amongst those other companies. They can either be well-meaning, charming, warm-hearted and don't feel too heavy. Or they can be too over-sentimental, cheesy, contrived and bland. There have been many films of theirs that have fallen in both camps and in the camp where there is a bit of both. To be honest, expectations were low for 'Christmas Cupcakes'.
Films about cooking and food have been done very entertainingly and charmingly before and since 'Christmas Cupcakes', but am less keen on film centered around any form of competitions. Due to most of them doing nothing new with one of the oldest settings and formulas for films from Hallmark, Lifetime, UPTV or similar and prone to cheesy, overwritten writing. Also because of being a non-fan of Cindy Busby, for me she has a tendency to overact and has played many annoying, unrootable characters that are not too dissimiliar to each other in most of her work.
2018's 'Christmas Cupcakes' does nothing to change my mind on either count, it's actually one of those films that epitomises and reinforces why they don't work. There are plus points, do agree that the uncle is a fun character who has some very amusing lines. He is also the best acted character, the enthusiasm being obvious throughout without being overdone.
It looks quite nice too, particularly the scenery. It starts off quite promisingly.
Busby however does not look comfortable and also tries too hard, once again her character irritates. Erin Karpluk also doesn't look comfortable but has the opposite problem of Busby in that she underacts to phoning in effect. The rest of the cast, in stock roles that give them practically nothing to do, look as if they didn't know what they were doing or like they didn't want to be there. Found it really difficult to care for any of the characters, with them being so underdeveloped and with few redeeming merits. Also didn't detect much chemistry with Busby and Karpluk, they don't come over as sisters with the same goals and instead come over as rivals.
The film does go overboard on the bickering and hostility that is so cartoonish and mean spirited that it was mean spirited. There is a lot of awkwardness in the dialogue and there is a lot of cheese and little effort to develop the characters or any of the relationships. The story starts off with promise, but too early becomes very thin and formulaic with no surprises and very little going on. Once there is more focus on the competition, which is emphasised too much, the film's plotting is practically non existent and lacking in variety. There is no charm or heart and it all feels so bland.
Summing up, very weak and under-cooked. 3/10.
