Un Noël féerique à Solvang

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 'Christmas in Solvang' did have the sort of premise where the execution could have gone either way.

Lifetime's 2020 Christmas film batch, like all their previous years, was pretty hit and miss which was not unexpected. 'Christmas in Solvang' is somewhere in the middle. If one was to judge it from its early portions, it could have easily passed for being one of the worst if it didn't get better. Luckily 'Christmas in Solvang' did get better once Aubrey became more comfortable and progressed, providing that one is willing to stick with it. Was really umming and erring at first whether to but don't regret my decision to stick with it.

As can be figured out, to me 'Christmas in Solvang' started off not just badly but terribly. Really disliked Aubrey as a character to begin with and that her negative characteristics were overwritten to breaking point. Which made her truly unlikeable with hardly anything redeeming about her. The dialogue is pretty bad early on, sounding very awkward and difficult to take at face value.

Even when things improve, the predictability factor is very high with very little fresh done with familiar tropes. Kelly Jackle is a little over the top at times, though she does have times where she is amusing.

However, as said, 'Christmas in Solvang' does get better. Most of the acting is serviceable at least, though Jackle could have done with more subtlety and Natalie Hall also overdoes it at first and even for the character seemed ill at ease. When Aubrey as a character loosens up, Hall becomes more relaxed and as a result more engaging and with a lot more charm. Jon Prescott is a very likeable male lead and Jo Marie Payton is a joy in the film's best performance. The characters may lack depth but do become easier to like when they grow. Hall and Prescott's chemistry is a bit on and off, it is very genuine and sweet later but was very disconnected and awkward to begin with.

Furthermore, 'Christmas in Solvang' is visually appealing despite the obviously artificial snow. Lovely scenery especially. The music is not as intrusive as it tends to be with Lifetime. The script does flow a lot better later and doesn't get over cheesy or too schmaltzy. The story is predictable but also has a good deal of charm and light-heartedness, leaving me with a warm glow. The ending is not as easily prematurely telegraphed as it tends to be.

In summary, the early portions are a turn off but improves drastically. Not great but not dreadful on the whole either. 6/10.

I'm a lover of bad horror and Science fiction, but my guilty pleasure is romantic comedies and the like. This movie is the perfect example, perfect people in a perfect town with a completely predictable plot. Makes you feel good inside. Enjoy.

Jon Prescott (Not the politician obvs) is adorable as the lead male, but the lead female is vile and obnoxious right from the start and she really doesn't improve enough to deserve anyones affection.

This is a not all that successful attempt at showing Danish Christmas culture as an alternative to the usual American traditions of cookies and lighting the tree that we are all so over now.

I really like the idea of exploring these other ways of life and thought that it was particularly well done in 'Christmas In Rome' (2019), but I'm not sure that this one is well made enough in general or with another thought put in to the explanation of the traditions.

Also the dad was very odd and I kept expecting him to turn out to be the real St Nicholas or something.

It was a very lame ending and so obvious what was going to happen.

If Jon hadn't been so appealing I would have turned it off and left it on my list as an unwatchable film, but him and the few Dutch elements really saved it enough to keep me watching.

5.5ish/10?

Almost every rom/com has to start with antagonism between the male and female lead. Unfortunately from my viewpoint, Natalie Hall went out of her way to make Aubrey into a witch, especially to Sawyer. Besides being nasty, she also doesn't have enough sense not to shoot off her mouth to strangers. That all eventually disappears and Aubrey becomes sweet and romantic.

I love Kelley Jakle but her character is at times a little over the top even for her. Her character, Laurel, is a bit unusual. She's not originally the lead's friend, but instantly becomes one. Because of the accelerated time frame of a TV movie, conversations often seem a bit strange how quickly they jump to being very personal.

Natalie Hall and Jon Prescott do develop chemistry after Aubrey loosens up. Hall's acting has moments that seem off, like one conversation where Laurel shares a personal tragedy. Hall and Prescott have a lot of screen time together which allows the viewer to watch the relationship develop.

The story is the usual blogger comes to town for a hit piece. And that progresses along the usual lines. It has a lot of the usual themes like baking cookies and a town festival. There's no great highs or low, or surprises. There's not much tension until the conflict pops up from a common blogger-themed misunderstanding. It's a pretty close copy to one of these movies I saw a few days ago. The resolution, however, is unusual, and sweet and a bit complicated.

With two talented singers in the cast, there's got to be at least one performance of an original song. Jakle's is actually a performance, maybe a little short. Hall is featured in a short recording that ends up backdrop for characters dancing.

I enjoyed this movie. It was sweet and charming. Predictable at times but I still enjoyed it.

I like the main leads and the supporting was good too.

I will probably watch it again.