Was not expecting an awful lot from the story, which from reading the plot summary was one that indicated that it was going to be a film of very few surprises or originality. Watched 'A Christmas Detour' anyway as there are some watchable and more Hallmark festive films, as well as some mediocre or worst ones. And it is not hard to see why Candace Cameron Bure is one of Hallmark's most frequently used lead actresses, even though her characters tend to vary in likeability.
Something that is evident here in 'A Christmas Detour'. Which on the whole is a worthwhile effort. To me, it wasn't great and far from flawless. As far as Hallmark festive films go, 'A Christmas Detour' is somewhere in the solid middle rather than being on either extreme of best or worst. It does suffer from some of the things that quite a lot of Hallmark festive films have, but again from personal opinion 'A Christmas Detour's' appeal is understandable.
Am going to start with what works well, which is actually a lot. 'A Christmas Detour' looks good, especially the scenery which gives off a nice Christmas vibe. An aspect that Hallmark festive films more often than not excelled in, regardless of their variable authenticity the scenery regardless looked good still. There are some pleasant moments in the soundtrack. The acting is better than average, especially from Sarah Strange and David Lewis as the most interesting characters. Paul Greene does well as Dylan, even if you are frustrated at Dylan at times. It is sympathetically and not too routinely directed.
The script is not too bad. Nothing to be wowed by but other Hallmark festive films do a far worse job at making one cringe. It can be cornball definitely, but there is less of a cheese overload and it doesn't seem too soapy, or at least to me it didn't. The story is engaging and doesn't take itself too seriously, with moments of genuine and not too sugary charm and light-heartedness. Will agree though that the Frank and Maxine subplot is more involving and better written than the main plot overall.
Bure has given better performances in other films however. She isn't bad and does her best with some zesty moments, but she does tend to overplay and her character is obnoxious due to the over-eagerness being overdone. Would have liked a little more spark between her and Greene, which was there but doesn't quite explode enough, and their relationship could have done with more development. Which would have solved the problems of changes happening too fast and decision making being more plausible and less out of the blue.
Other Hallmark festive films fare worst in the script writing, but some parts still sounded on the forced and corny side. There is very little new done with a very tried and tested formula, so the story's predictability particularly towards the end is borderline excessive. The ending can be seen from miles away and is executed pretty much exactly as one expects. Some of the soundtrack is pleasant, at too many other times it is too constant and loud (which is a general problem seemingly with Hallmark festive films and a common criticism for them from some).
In summation, above average and worthwhile but not great. 6/10
