Christmas films can go either way, which has been my experience watching overtime the festive output of Lifetime and Hallmark. 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. And 'The Road Home for Christmas' did have the sort of premise where the execution could have gone either way.
Luckily, for me, on the most part, 'The Road Home for Christmas' is in the former category. Having seen a lot of Christmas films that were in the latter category prior to seeing it, that was something of a relief. It is not perfect and not a Christmas classic, with a few common (for Lifetime's festive output) flaws, but as far as 2019 Lifetime films go 'The Road Home for Christmas' is to me one of the better ones and a nice way to spend 90 minutes.
By all means, 'The Road Home for Christmas' isn't flawless. Some of the dialogue in the early portions is a bit too on the corny and gooey side, not unusual for Lifetime.
It is a bit of a slow starter as well with it feeling a bit thin to begin with.
However, 'The Road Home for Christmas' also has some very attractive scenery quite photogenically shot. It is directed sympathetically without being routine and musically it doesn't feel over-scored this time. The film is helped hugely by the very appealing performances of Rob Mayes (in one of his better performances) and in particular perky and radiant Marla Solokoff, both managing to make their characters rootable and interesting. The supporting cast fare well too, with a wonderful looking Marie Osmond bringing a lot of heart and zip to her role. Really liked the chemistry between the two leads, which was very easy-going and charming. Not to mention that it looked genuine and like they cared for each other.
While not starting off on the right foot perhaps, the dialogue does improve drastically and flows better. Also being in general a lot less cheesy and over-sentimental than too many previously seen Christmas films, not to mention being thought-provoking in a sincere way without patronising. The story, even despite its lack of originality, is heart-warming, sincere and has enough of a light heart to avoid things from getting heavy. Really appreciated that the central relationship took its time to develop and did have more depth than most central relationships in the company's festive outings. Also that the ending wasn't abrupt ot too pat, which cannot be said for too many Lifetime festive films.
Concluding, a road really well worth taking. 8/10
