Natale a Evergreen - La lettera perduta

TheSTORY-1.25

This is a wonderful addition to the Christmas In Evergreen Series. Writers, Zac Hug and Rick Garman give the audience a lighthearted and heartwarming Christmas romance with a smidgen on Christmas magic.

They bring us into a town where we would all love to be this Christmastime. Filled with loving and friendly people. Always helpful and open.

Though this town is created from imagination and, in general, unrealistic it is something we want to believe in and that is a hook in itself, especially in this season. It helps us to get out of the ordinariness of our lives.

The strongest element that helps the audience believe are the characters. Each is different, realistic and believable. It's just that no bad people live in Evergreen.

Then when you bring in Nick, the guy who plays Santa every Christmas, who just might be Santa every day, I was fully hooked and my heart was wholly warmed.

theDIRECTION-1.25

Sean McNamara has a good eye for composition and utilises the towns Christmas lights to their maximum potential. They add to the joyous atmosphere and are perfect to frame the leads when they walk through an arch of fairy lights. Everything has a magical feel when the sunsets.

When the sun rises McNamara lets his actors and actresses instil the feeling and emotion in the movie while he frames them perfectly in the scene.

theTEMPO-1.25

As with most films of this ilk, the pace is set at one tempo and McNamara knows the best pace is a jolly trot. This story flows superbly and carries the viewers along to the beautiful, though highly, predictable ending.

theACTING-1.25

Everybody in this Christmas tale gives their best and nobody stands out above the rest. This works brilliantly to add to the believability of the story. Never do you stop to think, hey this can't be real... this never really happens... people are not like this.

theGRATIFICATION-1.25

This is one of those films that I would be happy to watch every Christmastime as it has everything a Christmas film should have. For that reason, I'm happy to recommend this movie to everybody. So turn on the fairy lights, grab the cocoa, settle down, and enjoy.

theSCORE-6.25

Please feel free to come and check my Ho! Ho! Ho! Christmas Belles list to see where this wonderful tale landed in my ranking.

6/10 - simply average and not entirely captivating (save for Holly Robinson Peete)

Practically indistinguishable from the original, which I guess is a plus for a made-for-TV sequel.

'Christmas in Evergreen: Letters to Santa', like the 2017 film, is lacking something. There's again nothing particularly negative about it, it's just missing a thing to turn things up a notch to create a fun festive film. The plot change-up is solid, it doesn't improve upon the first's but it's just as OK.

Jill Wagner is a step up from Ashley Williams, though the latter was good too. Mark Deklin, however, is a step down from Teddy Sears. I didn't buy into the relationship of Lisa (Wagner) and Kevin (Deklin), I didn't sense enough chemistry - same with the secondary love story, featuring Holly Robinson Peete (Michelle). I do like how they did the continuity, at least on the surface, despite the cast changes.

Overall though, like its predessceor, it's too bland.

White painted staircases in the finished shop, and then ....... they're not !!!

Story is good, BUT oh my goodness does Jill Wagner go OTT with her acting - everything is SO exaggerated from the wide eyes, to the arms waving and shrieking. Then there was the stuttering conversation when bewildered. I've seen her in better films, but in this she was annoying. Is she any better than Ashley Williams ? Well, take your pick..... Williams shouts her lines (like we're all deaf !) and Wagner overacts like her life depends on it. So, not much between them.

It was a fun movie to watch, and the bells ringing at the end made it even more special. But, NO choir EVER practices in robes. Those are reserved for performances or church services.