A Country Christmas Story

I'll cut to the chase. This is yet another movie that unnecessarily portrays a black man as an absent father. He's abandoned his family to be a bartender while he works on his music. This story could've been written so that the father was an active member of the family and supportive of his daughter's musical aspirations. Instead it uses the damaging trope of the black father that's abandoned his family to create tension in the story.

Studies have repeatedly shown that the pervasive myth about black fathers being absent from their children's lives is just that. A myth. The CDC has found that black fathers are "more involved with their kids on a daily basis than fathers from other racial groups."

The presence of this harmful stereotype in this movie is a continuation of the subtle and systemic racism that makes it so difficult to be a black man in America.

How wonderful this movie would've been if it showed both a mother and father fully engaged in their child's life, encouraging them, and helping guide them to work towards their dreams. It could have portrayed a black man as a positive role model and rejected harmful stereotypes while still telling its story. Because it failed to do so, this movie does more harm than good.

More than anything, I am so disappointed that Dolly Parton signed on to this movie. She seems like such a wholesome and caring person that I assume her involvement is out of ignorance rather than malice. Regardless, her involvement is shameful.

Rating it 1/10 stars due to systemic racism.

This is an EXCELLENT movie would be NICE to see more like this one

This time of year I love channel surfing for Christmas movies...and most seem to be written from the same outline with a twist here or there and offer very little challenge when it comes to picking up on the foreshadowing and predicting the finale ... I usually find myself mentally jumping ahead to the ending when I am no more than 1/3 or 1/2 way through and almost always being correct on all major details...the attractive girl with history, the attractive guy with history, a third party that facilitates their unlikely and usually acrimonious meeting, a slow to start to their awkward romance that explodes 3/4 of the way through into a passionate, feel good relationship, only to implode 10 minutes later with accusations of lying or withholding pertinent facts only to conclude minutes later with a reconciliation that is sappy sweet, mostly unsatisfying and almost always offering the viewer a corny gleam of hope that Santa is indeed alive and well... A Country Christmas Story is different; first of all, it is not very Christmasy; it could just as easily have been set during another time of year; but I found that it thoughtfully offered up dialogue on issues that are not seasonal nor frequently confronted from the eyes of a child and played that theme out with some great acting, several original country tracks worthy of more listening and a satisfying, believable and Santa-less ending...

What is a Christmas movie? That is a question I kept asking myself as I watched this movie. Most of the Lifetime Christmas movie plots center around the spirit of Christmas opening the heart of some long-lost curmudgeon, characters discovering the true meaning of Christmas or the story of somebody overcoming obstacles to get home for the holidays. This movie has none of those elements. In fact, you don't even see a Christmas tree until 1.5 hour into the movie. The movie felt like one of those personal interest clips they play just before some unknown talent goes on a reality show like America's Got Talent. The last 30 minutes of the movie feels like a long ad for Dollywood. The story is a formula Lifetime relationship movie where the characters resolve their irreconcilable differences in the last 10 minutes of the movie and live happily ever after.

Worth watching when there is nothing else recorded on your DVR just to hear Desiree Ross' great voice or if you are a Dolly Parton fan. Otherwise, watch your other Christmas movies first!

This is not your typical Christmas rom/com. It's not really a rom/com since the focus of the story is mostly Grace's journey to and through the contest amidst family downs and ups.. It has nothing to do with Christmas other than a few decorations on the stage of the contest and Dolly singing a quick Jingle Belles.

There's a wonderful few lines between Danny (dad) and Jenny (mom). "So why's Grace staying with Sarah?" "Cause I don't like what she's been doing." "Boys?" Jenny shakes her head no. "Drinking?" "No?" "OK I give up." "Music." Lady did you hear that conversation? Danny should have also added "Drugs?" Jenny further proves her lack of sense as the conversation progresses. Actually this whole sequence is quite realistic. It captures the flavor of the first half of the movie. There are a lot of other messy realistic exchanges in this movie before we get to the contest.

The story kept surprising me. Just when I thought it was going one way, it went another.

The contest was amazing. Each of the other two contestants sounded unbeatable. They sang well and had charisma. Grace's song was different and showcased both her voice and her heart.

The climax and ending are a bit sappy, but that's OK!