It does pain me to say that. Not all Hallmark festive films are bad, actually saw some surprisingly good, very good even to my pleasant surprise, ones recently (while still not being masterpieces). 'Window Wonderland' was one of the prime examples, and that was a film that made me unsure as to whether it would be good or not with its corny title. Plenty are average or less, some are terrible. But not all. So there is no bias on either side here.
And Christmas is my favourite time of year, so am not giving a low rating or writing a negative review with malice in my mind. Actually did want to like 'Christmas Land' in an at least guilty pleasure sort of way because the premise was not too bad. 'Christmas Land' just didn't do it for me, too cheesy, goes far too over the top on the cliches, had very few characters worth investing in, it really irritated me and it left a bad taste in the mouth. In the latter case, that is not something said often by me.
'Christmas Land' has its good moments. Luke MacFarlane does a great job in his role as the only halfway likeable character, and the only one to not frustrate with their decision making or grate on the nerves.
He has a warm affectionate chemistry with Nikki Deloach, whose character was problematic but she did her best with her and did appeal enough at times. Some of the filming was nice.
Other parts of the filming are drab though and although the scenery is usually quite nice in Hallmark films, the noticeable and distracting lack of authenticity here really hurts it and made me unable to appreciate. Like too many Hallmark festive films in the past half a decade or so, the music is over-bearing and too constant. It needed to be used and over-emphasised a lot less than it was, and the dialogue can be overpowered. Not that it was particularly worth listening to in the first place, as even for Hallmark it was incredibly cheesy and awkward and makes one want to reach for the sick bucket. Hallmark festive films are very formulaic and one knows how things map out and end long before happening.
That is the case here but even worse is that every single thing (plot points, motivations and types of character) has been used so many times elsewhere that it all feels forgettable on the most part. Apart from one part which will be mentioned in a couple of sentences' time. Only Tucker is likeable here, all the others unrealistically behave like idiots for no reason, don't learn anything and can be over-the-top. The case with the support acting, with pantomimic Richard Karn faring worst in a particularly caricaturish role. What really brings 'Christmas Land' down and very nearly single-handedly if it weren't for many other things as well agreed is the ending, which is so far-fetched and very mean-spirited. Nice to have a change of pace once in a while but not to this extent, this leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
All in all, very weak with a worse ending. 3/10
