Christmas at Maple Creek

Christmas films can go either way, which has been my experience watching overtime the festive output of primarily Lifetime, UPTV and Hallmark amongst those other companies. 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 'Christmas at Maple Creek' did have the sort of premise where the execution could have gone either way.

Have seen my fair share of above average and more Christmas films recently, but 'Christmas at Maple Creek' is not one of them. If anything it is the complete opposite, Lifetime aired some surprisingly decent Christmas films (and films in general actually) that year but there were some that were mediocre and below. And 'Christmas at Maple Creek' is one of the worst, with very little good about it. Even the sole redeeming quality has been done much better in other films of theirs that year.

That redeeming quality being the production values, which were quite nice and at least had some degree of professionalism despite it having been clearly filmed in Summer.

Jenni Ross however is very bland and too sugary sweet in her role and comes over as too young and immature for a character who is too implausibly young to have achieved what she has done. Jake Epstein is stiff and goes through the motions in a role that is every bit as bland and no spark let alone chemistry fly between them at any point in their very underdeveloped and poorly used romance. Also felt there was too much of a mismatch in personality, her being too immature for him, and in age. The supporting cast are on autopilot and none of the characters are developed enough or have any interesting or endearing traits.

Furthermore, the script goes way too far on the cheese and schmaltz and is constantly awkward sounding, as well as very artificial and not sounding like normal everyday conversation. The story is paper thin and pedestrian in pace, at times too uneventful, and what there is of the story is very predictable, very tired and lacking in charm, heart and energy. The ending can be seen from a mile away and is too neat with a rushed build up.

Concluding, very poor. 2/10.

Let's get one thing out of the way right at the start. The lead actress is too young for the character she plays and it is obvious, even though a minor character does comment on her being "younger than I expected" at one point.

With that said, I found this really enjoyable. As mentioned, Jeni Ross is young and looks it but she's a charming presence and avoids the overly perky style that seems to often be expected of female characters in these films. She and Jake Epstein have an easy chemistry, but Olivier Renaud's male model character is a bit lazily drawn (although entertaining if you watch with a glass or two of wine).

No spoilers on the story although once you've seen one you've seen them all. Lastly I want to address one of the other criticisms in a few reviews about there not being a lot of Christmas in the film. That's true, it's more Christmas-adjacent than Christmas focused, but who cares? And who cares that the film is 'too sunny' for a Christmas setting? Not everywhere is snowing and cold at Christmas anyway, so there being bright sunshine in this film shouldn't make a difference.

Overall, this film is very light but enjoyable, and while the lead actress is young for this role she showed promise. Hopefully she will get future roles that suit her a bit better.

The lead male is so obviously gay, I've seen him in another film and thought the same. The story should have been about him trying to meet and fall in love with Greg, who was lovely until a weird moment towards the end.

I definitely would have picked Greg over the other, but actually I don't think that it would have been fair on him as the lead female was annoying too.

They do deserve each other, but only because they're both insufferable

I only watched it all the way through because she was a writer like me, but there are definitely better versions of this story available.

3ish.

There are strong echoes of the stories and formulas of many other Christmas movies. The conflict is textbook beau-sees-something-and-misinterprets. The solution to the underlying problem everyone is trying to deal with is overly simplistic. The novelist has returned to her favorite town to overcome her writer's block and meets a guy there. She finds out the town is in trouble and the two of them set out to have a gala to save it. Lots of formula and predictability.

Yet for so much of the movie I forgot about the formula. One thing is the setting of a recreation of the late 19th century which happens to be where her novels are set. That setting flavors a lot of what the characters do especially for the gala. It seems to me that both Diana and Carter are much more honest about their feelings with each other even before the climax.

Despite the threat hanging over them, the story is upbeat and the characters, Dianna especially, are so full of life. There's also an element of quirkiness.

Jeni Ross's Diana fits my dream girl very well, so I am prejudiced about this movie. She's shy and modest, quirky and positive. And she's only 22. Her chemistry with Jake Epstein is fantastic. I hope to see much more of this woman in future Christmas movies.

I found the dialogue fun, but I admit there was some nerdiness in it.

She (the main character) had only a little bag with her and she brought two jackets a vest and two scarfs. And this is only 39min in. Why all these different outfits. And it's so predictable it's almost ridiculous of course she's gonna end up with the guy from the little town.