Well, based on the cover alone for the 2021 Christmas movie "It Takes a Christmas Village", then it seems like you will be in for another archetypical hour and a half of raw, sugar-coated Christmas cheese. Yet, I still opted to sit down and watch this movie from writer Kate Pragnell and director Corey Sevier, as I hadn't already seen it, and also because I am on a Christmas movie roll this year.
And I will say that writer Kate Pragnell actually managed to put together a very wholesome storyline for this movie. It was one that not only encompassed the Christmas spirit, but also managed to provide proper entertainment through interesting characters, story arch and dialogue. And yeah, "It Takes a Christmas Village" does have the sentimental Christmas romantic cheese, of course it does, but luckily it is not something that overshadows the entire movie.
I wasn't familiar with the cast in the movie, but I will say that they did a good job in bringing the story and characters to life on the screen. Lead actress Brooke Nevin (playing Alexandra) and lead actor and director Corey Sevier (playing Darcy) carried the movie quite well, and definitely had a good on-screen chemistry.
I was genuinely entertained by "It Takes a Christmas Village" and it is a movie that I can warmly recommend you sitting down to watch, should you get the chance. While "It Takes a Christmas Village" is not going to become a Christmas classic for me, it is certainly a movie well-worth watching.
My rating of "It Takes a Christmas Village" lands on a six out of ten stars.