Ivy & Mistletoe

Tedious, almost plotless holiday romcom with Michelle starring as a highly-strung singleton stranded by a snow-storm in the quaint Philadelphia town of Bethlehem, furloughed with the local mayoress (Genzel) and her heartthrob son (Calafiore) dazzling the hosts with her talent for cooking amid the possibility of finding true love for Christmas.

Apart from Michelle and Genzel, the rest of the cast were unfamiliar to me although I did spot ex-'Fame' regular Cynthia Gibb in the brief incidental role of Michelle's mother.

Technically clumsy with poorly synchronised looped dialogue interspersed with uneven location recorded sound and occasionally amateurish shot framing (lots of cutaways but very few closeups), 'Ivy & Mistletoe' is a formula Christmas romcom with good intentions but limited production values (most of the apparently meagre budget looks like it was spent on the catering).

Basically the majority of the film consists of the actors sitting down eating, delivering their dialogue with monotone precision reflecting on how they've celebrated Christmas in the past, as they countdown the days to the big one. In some ways, the film resembles a rehearsal lacking the polish you'd expect when there's film inside the can.

Ultra-mild, sincere and inoffensive independent film might be too slow and talky to hold deliberate attention, but it's probably sufficient for background ambience in the days ahead of Christmas.