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.
