Christmas Collision

I am a little at a loss as to how I feel about this film and I have read some interesting reviews by others. First I want to agree that there are full scenes that are stilted and awkward, making them uncomfortable to watch and taking you out of the film, like the first scene with the choir practice and the town mayor...I don't think it was the actors, I think it was the dialogue and the timing. Anyway, it could have used some better direction. Also, I have seen criticisms of the main actress who played Theodora by individuals who claim to only have watched the first ten minutes...which I think is unfair since they did not get to see her soften, in other words I think they should wait until the two bake cookies together or share a meal with meatloaf and pie at the diner before they judge her or her acting...I thought her transition from severe to softening seemed natural and worked with the chemistry between her and Charlie.

Now the story, Theodore has come to town to foreclose on a farm quickly for her firm during the holidays. What she doesn't know until she gets there is that the owner has just passed and they are holding a memorial at the farm where she interrupts to speak to the son Charlie who has been kept in the dark, because of her time constraints. Of course, Charlie doesn't understand how this could happen as his mom keeps good records and he asks for some time to look in to it. Meanwhile, Theodora falls on the property and severely sprains her ankle...having to stay with Charlie at the farm for a few days. It is at the farm that Theodora starts to soften and she starts to get suspicious that this foreclosure isn't as straightforward as she was lead to believe.

This was a little different than say the Hallmark holiday offerings, but still kind of a middle of the road romance.

For starters, there are many of the usual formula plot lines. Save the farm. Send Theodora to close the deal, but instead a romance develops. Friends telling the leads that they are in love. (This one got used way too much.) A cookie contest. Overbearing dad.

There is an element that starts out as a small mystery and grows more ominous as the story goes on. How far this goes is not normal in Hallmark movies, but this isn't Hallmark.

The script is very clumsy. For one thing there are plenty of filler moments that have nothing to do with the main story and are stupid besides. The romance is clumsy. It is not uncommon for the leads to start out with blatant animosity and then have that melt. In this movie, Theodora is downright rude and uncaring. Then the animosity doesn't melt slowly, it disappears entirely and instantly. If Sebrina Scott and John Wells have chemistry, it is hard to find. Which leads me to the terrible dialogue!!! The misunderstanding which creates the conflict is also clumsy. Then more friends saying you really do love him/her. By the climax, there is no mystery or surprise but even that is dragged out and goes too far.

The acting by all but the leads is horrible. Oh, wow, the mayor is cringeworthy, but other supporting people are not far behind. The leads are just so-so. Almost the entire tone of the movie lacks any fun or joy. There is no Christmas energy.

I wondered about ballot box stuffing for reviews and ratings. Two of the highest reviews are one timers. The rating distribution has a huge gap between 10 stars and 5 stars with another spike for 1 star.

This movie is unappealing. First, Theodora's character was way too harsh in the beginning 10-15 minutes. Made it easy not to care about her or to even wish something bad would happened. Should have started attitude at a lower level.

Second, the dialogue was a new kind of cliche- yes, we've heard it before, but at least it fit- not so with this movie. Seemed like writers grabbed lines they liked or were familiar with and then tried to force them to into random scenes. The writing also negatively impacted the story development. Plot points were disjointed as well, no cohesion.

Reminds me of brainstorming meetings where everyone is too buzzed to be authentically productive and know they need to rework it in the morning when people are sober, but in this case that didn't happen.

I just like my Xmas atmosphere fix and do not expect any great artistry from Hallmark- style romantic movies. Chose this one because of the title and story teaser. In the beginning, I quite liked Theodora's edge and Charlie's dark sensitivity and thought it would be developed throughout the movie. But it was as if their personalities suddenly changed, mellowed right to the mainstream, and it made no sense. Although the actors are good, a skilled director could have gotten so much more out of them. I found the dialogues awkward as well as the whole storyline and script. And the bad bad banker and investor characters? Not believable in the least - as if they were plucked out of Victorian ages :) Also, the movie looks and sounds like a cheap production with all the popping and hollow spaces. Shame, really.

I don't know whose fault this is - but the script is awful the delivery is wooden - how it ever got passed as fit for public consumption goodness knows - it's terrible in every way. I gave up at 30 mins . I suggest you don't even begin... there are plenty of far better Christmas movies on other channels. US movies of this kind are usually of a much higher standard than this one

What amazes me is how it even got as far as development hell unless it's the studio head's son/daughter and he/she wanted to give them a job. But surely there are some good scripts and crew out there who could do a 100% better job although the script is so bad maybe not. Someone needs to take a much tighter rein on the content and delivery of films like this, frankly it's an insult to audiences putting this on ... there are no words frankly just avoid it completely..... it is total rubbish in every way.

No words ....