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 'A Christmas Exchange' 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 when one takes the circumstances into account, though a better standard than 2019's generally. 'A Christmas Exchange' managed to be one of the high middle ones once it settled fully, despite there being a medium sized gap where there was some uncertainty of whether to continue or not. While there is not much exceptional here, much of me is glad of sticking with it.
'A Christmas Exchange' has faults. It does start on the slow side story-wise and the dialogue is somewhat cheesy to begin with. The photography could have done with more polish, the film is occasionally a little cheap.
Did feel that a few aspects felt rushed. Especially the out of the blue and too neat ending and even the whole final quarter. Really do wish that the central relationship was developed more and wasn't so underused, with too little face to face interaction that added to the rushed feeling of the ending and such a drastic decision made after too short a time.
Much is done well though. It is worth seeing for primarily the effervescent performance of Laura Vandervoort, who really brightens up the screen and makes her character likeable. Sun Francks also has the likeability and charm factor once he settles and relaxes, he looks comfortable after the first quarter (where he was a little uptight) and doesn't take any flaws with his character to extremes. Do wish that there was more of them together but they charm when they are. Yanic Truesdale is amusing in his role.
Furthermore, a great job is done with the Christmas atmosphere, where it does feel like Christmas and in an affectionate way. Some lovely Christmas touches and there are some very sweet, but not sickly, scenes. Was not crazy about the script early on, but it did have a nice mix of funny and poignant lines. The story may be thin but has a warm heart and charm and doesn't take itself too seriously. The scenery is typically lovely and the music is overdone in tone or placement.
In summary, decent but not great and inconsistent. 6/10.
