Un sapin de Noël, deux amoureux

The title is on the corny side but was appetising and cute enough. There is absolutely nothing novel or innovative about the story, but there was the potential if done decently it could have some charm without being too sweet. Hallmark Christmas films are a very mixed bag and one should never expect too much from them, but they have shown more than once amidst all their average and less efforts that they are capable of above average and even surprisingly good festive films.

'A Christmas Tree Grows in Colorado' left me a bit mixed in terms of what my opinion on it was overall. It is a long way from being a terrible film in my view and served its purpose as a just scraping borderline average, inoffensive film. Other Hallmark Christmas films are far worse written, acted and looking and ones that bored, annoyed and insulted the intelligence more. Sadly, 'A Christmas Tree Grows in Colorado' didn't strike me as particularly good either, with a lot of the usual flaws apparent. It does have good things.

Which are going to be mentioned first. Visually, 'A Christmas Tree Grows in Colorado' looks quite good with it being shot and lit well and while standard the settings were appealing at least. The music has some affectionate nostalgia that does give off a festive vibe. Some of the film is heart-warming and sweet, with good intentions evident and doesn't feel too heavy.

Best of all is the acting. Rochelle Ayrtes and Mark Taylor are immensely engaging leads, particularly the former who has some very heartfelt moments, and personally did think that their characters had likeability and were interesting. Despite having very sketchy roles, the supporting cast also excel. Grace Sunar is a real delight and on the way to having a promising career if she continues acting. They do have a nice natural, genuine chemistry together, it's standard but there is spark and charm with them.

However, 'A Christmas Tree Grows in Colorado' could have been better. There could have been a lot more development to most of the characters, with too many of them being sketchy and the film provides very little variation on nearly every character cliche in the book. Or at least that's how it felt like. The story doesn't have enough to it. Actually don't mind awfully that it was very formulaic.

What bothered me a lot more was that it was very unimaginatively executed, was really not much of one at all, had some fairly contrived situations and the film gets so sweet (too much so) in places it was almost sickly. Everything with the tree started off well but got ridiculous later. The script is similarly thin and quite routine, tending to have an awkward flow and was excessively cheesy and schmaltzy. By the end, which while sweet can indeed be seen from miles off, of the film it was one big pile of sloppy mush. Pacing can be a problem, with the story being too little a lot of the film crawls along and feels over-stretched. The direction is only functional at best and can be on the leaden side of things.

Overall, watchable but merely average. 5/10.

I feel sorry for the actors here. Rochelle Aytes and Mark Taylor did a great job in their roles as the leads. Their chemistry could have been better, although I'm not sure if that wasn't due to a very poor script, which is simply a hatchet job re-write of Miss Christmas. Aytes performance was very good. she's very likeable and believable and has wonderful chemistry with Grace Sunar, who plays Kevin's daughter, who also does a fantastic job. The script however, has one ridiculous plot point after another, making the movie hard to watch until the end. If it weren't for the acting here, I never would have finished it.

This was a pretty decent Hallmark film, not one of their best this year, nor one of their worst...middle of the road, I say. The story was warm and nice, family-friendly (typical Hallmark). There were a number of fun, festive and cute scenes. I laughed at another review on here regarding the availability of pine trees in Colorado. Now that I think of it, it is a...how shall I put this...'funny' aspect to the story/plot. The script was fine. The dialogue between the two leads worked well, I believe. What stands out for me in this Christmas movie was the acting. The performance by Rochelle Aytes (as Erin, the Mayor's daughter) was great. She had a warm and fun vibe to her performance, which came off well on screen. Mark Taylor (playing Kevin) also had a strong performance. The chemistry between them was good. I liked the confrontational dynamic to this. The supporting cast was robust. I especially liked the cute performance by Grace Sunar as Claire (Kevin's daughter). She did an excellent job. The scenery, props and sets were festive and well-polished, for the most part. Did anyone notice the snowman in Kevin and Claire's front yard? It looked completely fake. I am surprised to see this, as Hallmark usually does a good job with props and sets. Overall, it is a decent Christmas movie with some strong acting. If you are a fan of Hallmark films, then this one is worth a watch.

Same plot - different character names and towns. Somehow, a tree lighting ceremony is going to save their town.

This movie is a knock-off of Miss Christmas. There were some minor differences that gave it a slightly different feel, mainly how the mayor got involved. I preferred the story and the leads in Miss Christmas.

While Rochelle Aytes and Mark Taylor had chemistry, it did not compare to Brook D'orsay and Marc Blucas. Aytes' Erin began the movie with too much arrogance and entitlement as the mayor's daughter. Eventually, as is almost always the case in these movies, her character softened and became likeable, especially in her relationship with Claire. Claire's backstory and appeal as a character helped make the movie more enjoyable.

The aspects of the story surrounding the politics were frankly insulting. I don't want to spoil and say exactly what aspects those were, but I think they would be obvious to anyone who viewed the whole movie.