Love at the Christmas Contest

After a good start, we've been disappointed in the last couple of GAF releases. This one simply had no fire at all. The story lacked originality, and the only tension was the 'same old' one of the leads has to leave town for their career.

When the acting wasn't flat, they leaned HARD on dripping sentimentality, and they couldn't be satisfied with just one dead mother to make the Christmas season melancholy, they doubled down with TWO!

Thankfully, you won't have to pull out the hankies, because none of the actors could put forth enough genuine emotion to transfer their supposed grief to a viewer.

This won't be on our rewatch list, obviously, and I can only recommend it to a Christmas list completist. There are MUCH more interesting, entertaining, and moving films available from both this year's releases and reliable "rewatches" from the past.

One of my favorites in this type of genre. The writing and story is thoughtful and clever about a drama based around a Christmas tree decorating contest for the town. I wish my town had something like that as it is such a cool idea. A perfect family and love story for the holidays. The acting from the leads was great and the directing and production all first rate. Really impressed with this flick overall and I highly recommend! The colors really pop on the screen, and just beautiful sets and backdrops of Christmas decor and cozy homes. I found the story to be very touching on how new beginnings can occur despite going through great losses of losing loved ones, especially your mother as what is the case in the story. I have seen other Mar Vista movies, and ones written by John Burd and I was very impressed. This is the first film I have seen that he directed as well and I look forward to seeing more from him like this! It's nice to see Hollywood put out good-natured films again like this.

Love At The Christmas Contest (2022) -

What a lovely bum Ross Jirgl had and what a pleasure to find a new hotty in the seasonal films that I love. The right leading man could make or break a made for TV Christmas film, so it was nice to find that besides his yummy buns, Ross, as David, could also deliver a decent performance too.

I wasn't as sold on Samantha Cope playing his opposite, Angie, but she was adequate.

I did have a couple of queries as to how a flower arranger wouldn't know how to decorate a Christmas tree or how an expert tree decorator couldn't wrap Christmas presents? There were a few little things like that which jarred with the story, but it didn't effect it too much.

What was annoying though, was the "Argument", which was a bit lame. They just seemed to fall out over nothing and make a big drama for no reason. I've seen that plot device delivered in a better way many times before.

I did like the festive feel of the tree decorating contest and other bits and bobs throughout. The romance in general was sweet enough, but nothing even bordering on a PG connection.

David's daughter wasn't as grating as some of the kids can be, which helped too. I also liked James Healy Jr. As Angie's Dad, he added a certain presence to the film.

Not exactly a big winner, but certainly easy enough to watch and not so badly made that I would ever feel the need to turn it off, mostly for that lovely bottom. There aren't enough topless scenes in these films!

5/10.

GAC Family is committed to family friendly entertainment. Often, they are doing this, in my opinion, at the expense of the story. For example, so many of the movies they have premiered lack any real villain, large or small to create tension. This movie is an example of what I am saying.

For starters, the story looks on paper like a grab-bag of many of the usual Christmas formulas. Angie lost her mother last year and everything this year is to honor her, especially her goal to win the tree decorating contest. Meanwhile, David is in town only for a short while and has to get back to Florida for his job. David has an absolutely adorable 10 year old girl, Gabby. There is the usual meddling bff. The word play around "it's a date" was way overused. There are snowmen and tree decorating.

Beyond all that, the story is very simple with no real highs or lows. One might call it a twist when Angie does something special almost at the end, but then that was closely tied to a problem that has been running through most of the movie which all the viewers knew would somehow be solved. And as I alluded to, there is almost no tension. The conflict gets blown up around another thing even the characters knew through the whole movie.

So what about Abby and David's relationship which I often say is what I really watch for? Yawn! Any chemistry between Samantha Cope and Ross Jirgl was extremely quiet at best. I think much of the responsibility for that is with Jirgl because he played David so laid back and reserved. I liked Cope's Angie, but she isn't in a class with some of the more perky actresses. There was definite chemistry between Cope and Eliza Donaghy's Gabby.

The background music was often distracting. Not because it was loud, but because it was noticeable. I have found that to be the case in other GACF movies. In this case, it might have been because that background was Christmas Carols in such a way that the melody stood out and competed with the dialogue.

This movie will be enjoyable in that there is no reason to expect things that aren't for the whole family. The story, the acting, and the dialogue are all acceptable, just not sparkling.

The locations were ok, but not many of them. I assume this was a small budget movie and they couldn't afford a better known lead actress and actor. The pair have no chemistry and that makes this production look like an amateur stage play, directed by someone with no directing experience. The best actors were the supporting ones, stand outs Triana Browne and Colleen Elizabeth Miller.

The script - plot and dialog are bad, snooze material starting with the tree decorating contest which was boring. If the script and direction were better it could have helped this movie and the actors. I wasn't looking for an award winning production, just something that doesn't look like a B/C level movie.