Christmas in Montana

I admit, the Halmark Christmas films, in many occasions, for me are a sort of junk food. Nice but not healthy. And, absolutely , not recomanded. But Christmas in Montana represents an exception. For the couples, acting, Montana spirit itself and for the lovely - touching eulogy of family. Enough for see it again. And, sure , for the admirable job of Art Hindle - Victoria Snow,Colin Ferguson - Kellie Martin and for Ava Preston. Not the last, for the garland Christmas tree from barn. So, just inspired.

Sara (Kellie Martin) is a widow with a pre-teen daughter, Chloe. Both of them are still smarting from the loss of their husband and father, even though its been a year or two. As such, Sara is a new workaholic who specializes in helping struggling businesses find ways to increase revenue and cut costs. Unbelievably, her boss sends her to Big Fork Montana, to help a three generation cattle ranch. The man who is now in charge, Travis (Colin Ferguson) has sound business sense but also gives some of his assets away, like free Xmas trees for the the townfolk and a free holiday party for the same crowd. Initially, Sara thinks this is way too much but once she sees how everyone in the community pulls together and helps each other, she changes her mind a bit. Chloe loves the area and makes friends while Travis' charms are mighty powerful for Sara's heart. Will Travis have to sell some of his precious acres or will Kellie come up with other ideas, even as Travis obviously is drawn to her, also? First, Colin Ferguson is one of my favorite stars and I would watch anything and everything he appeared in. His good looks and humorous manner just send me in orbit. Likewise, Martin is a fine performer with a sweet and understated delivery. Montana looks so beautiful folks will want to book a trip soon after a view while the plot and script have nice touches of fun. How many Hallmark films can you watch? If you are like me, there is no limit.

If this were the only Christmas movie of the year, it would be fine. This is exactly the same story as countless other Christmas movies on most of the regular Christmas movie channels. There is very little tension beyond save-our-ranch. There isn't even a romantic rival. There is no one to hate. What conflict exists is manufactured in one character's head. Even the resolution has been done many times. Take any of the previous save-our-something stories and pull out plot threads and lump them into this movie. The viewer can almost outline the story in detail.

What makes these movies enjoyable for me is the relationships. Kellie Martin and Colin Ferguson are reliable stars in this type of movie and they do fine in this one. The chemistry between them starts almost from the beginning and changes nature but continues over the movie. Even when there is an adversarial nature in the beginning, the two are connecting. Ferguson is especially well cast as a laid back good-natured rancher. I liked the dialogue, especially some of the quips early on which extended even to the surrounding family members. I also really liked Ava Preston as Chloe.

One thing that usually impresses me in Hallmark movies is breathtaking scenery. This movie is about Montana. I expected a lot more than there was. There were a few shots, but is seemed stingy.

I can see why many avid Christmas movie fans were hard on this movie, but it wasn't so much that the movie was bad as it just didn't have anything different.

Some may raise their eyebrows and look upon me with scorn whenever seeing me rating a Hallmark festive film quite highly and reviewing it mostly positively. Will say right now that Hallmark's output, whether to do with Christmas or with nothing to do with it, is very inconsistent. Their festive output in 2019 was very much so too, most it being in between mediocre and slightly above average. Kellie Martin and Colin Ferguson have been good in other things, Ferguson especially is nearly always a redeeming quality and is well above a lot of what is given to him.

'Christmas in Montana', and do concur with what others have said, is one of the hits as far as 2019 Christmas Hallmark efforts go. A surprise one. 'Christmas in Montana' absolutely is predictable as heck (said that as a word of warning for those that don't like that) and has a couple of things that can be seen in a good deal of Hallmark's output, but is still engaging, is well performed and it looks good. Which cannot be said for some of Hallmark Christmas films. This is coming from someone that loves film of all decades and genres (even if a fair share of decades and genres have misses there are many classics too), so always watches their output with an open mind and knowing what to expect.

As said, the story has no innovative ideas, all seen before in a vast majority of their output, and the film doesn't really do anything new with them. Making everything feel obvious and very foreseeable before it happens. This is including the ending, which also felt a bit convenient.

Like other Hallmark festive efforts, the music could have done with a toning down. It didn't need to be used as much as it was and at times was too loud. Some of the pacing lags in some uneventful stretches in the middle and the supporting characters are sketchily developed.

Despite those not so good things, an even larger part of me could not be too hard on 'Christmas in Montana'. It is beautifully filmed and the scenery is nothing short of magical, the film also capturing the feel of the setting and the occasion. The script flows naturally and doesn't have as much of the corn and cheese that other Hallmark Christmas films do, it has subtly amusing moments and doesn't go overboard on the sentiment.

The story is very predictable, but it is also incredibly charming and very heart-warming. The feel good vibe is also strong and the pace generally isn't too slow. The direction has breathing space but doesn't wallow too much thankfully and does a nice job with the character interaction. Martin performs with cute and heartfelt understatement, with no signs of overplaying or going through the motions. Ferguson is a solid as rocks and charming partner and they do have genuine spark together. Their relationship is sweet without being saccharine and doesn't suffer from taking too long to develop or events happening out of the blue.

Overall, nicely done and one of Hallmark's better 2019 Christmas films. 7/10

I know people have low rated this but I loved it! This was a great Hallmark movie. Great characters, good story, lovely scenery, dreams coming true.. it had it all. This is what a Christmas movie is all about. If you have a dream (even a little one) watch this......