'Christmas in Angel Falls' did sound very charming even if the plot synopsis was nothing earth shattering. My 2019 onwards Christmas film completest quest (namely those from Hallmark and Lifetime), that is still ongoing with no intent to stop just yet, has been a very uneven endeavour but an interesting one with some real winners. Rachel Boston and Paul Greene have been good in other things, despite their filmographies being variable.
On the whole, 'Christmas in Angel Falls' is a winner, if not quite one of the standout viewings of the project. It is not earth shattering or anything out of the ordinary, but it was watched by me in the want of something charming, light hearted and heart-warming. 'Christmas in Angel Falls' succeeded in all three of those areas on the whole, even if not every single area quite comes off. It is also a good representation of both leads, which is a good thing as that would have been a big problem if their performances were the opposite.
Admittedly, there is nothing new story wise. It is very easy to tell what is going to happen before it happens and the ending is the pretty typical Hallmark Christmas film sort of ending (meaning easily telegraphed and on the too neat side) not in doubt.
Will agree too that Beau Bridges is under-utilised and he did come over on the bland side here.
Bland is the complete opposite when it comes to talking about Boston though. If anything, her radiant and immensely appealing performance as a lead character that is easy to like and root for is the main reason to see 'Christmas in Angel Falls'. Greene is an easy going and subtle leading man and they are very warm and amiable together. Their chemistry seemed genuine, even if it fell a little short of sparkling. Support is good enough.
It is nicely filmed too. It's not drably lit, is cohesively edited and the locations are made good use of despite it being obvious that it was not shot at Christmas time. The film doesn't make the mistake that most recently seen Christmas films have done of having over-used and overpowering music, it is lovely to listen to and has a festive feel. The dialogue doesn't have too much cheese and doesn't fall into schmaltz, it's amusing and sometimes movingly delivered with spirit.
Furthermore, 'Christmas in Angel Falls' was very capably directed too, not allowing the film to drag and always making the drama and such clear. The story is predictable, but is very light-hearted and heart-warming with more character depth and likeability than most recently seen Christmas films. There is a lot of charm and it really does live up to its well meaning title. Did find myself liking the characters and their personalities and didn't find myself frustrated by any behaviours or questioning motivations (have seen too many holiday films that have been guilty of those).
Overall, nice film. 7/10.
