Christmas Land

Maureen McCormick (the Grandmother) and Nikki DeLoach really do look a like. Knowing Maureen in her younger years as Marcia Brady helps us see the resemblance. This is what I really liked about this movie. It is written well except not to much romance or connection between the two main characters but it's still well written and worth watching.

The ending of Christmasland is extremely offensive to women and make women out to be stupid and unaware of their legal rights. The female lead is supposed to be a savvy person living and surviving in a big city not some backwoods hillbilly. The ending of this movie leaves her in debt by $1.3 million dollars on property she owned free and clear one week before. Idiotic! If I were in her shoes, I would have brought a friend with me to confront that attorney boyfriend about his collusion with that real estate developer so I would have had a witness. Then I would have hired a great real estate attorney and sued them both then reported the ex-boyfriend/attorney to the State Bar. I love the Hallmark Christmas movies but this one was pathetic!

One of my wife's favorite things to do leading up to and during Christmas is to watch Hallmark Christmas movies. So we've watched a lot. I've come to expect the normal formula for this type of movie: setup a situation with someone who has some sort of anti-Christmas issue, then they somehow overcome it (and most likely an antagonist) and all is well by the end of the movie, with the added bonus that most of the time someone falls in love as well. The plots differ, but there is a basic formula. This movie takes a slightly different approach but it falls into the general category. You also have to expect that the movie will be somewhat unrealistic when compared to real life, but that is what makes it fun watching, especially at Christmas. I think everyone, deep down, wants a "happily ever after" ending and Hallmark movies always deliver. Well until now and if you watch this movie. I will not go into the details (you can read the other reviews with spoilers, which I recommend before investing the time to watch this movie) but the way they ended this movie just made me shake my head. I was frustrated enough with the plot development and final conflict resolution that I created an account on IMDb to vent, I looked for a way on Hallmark's site but did not see a user review section.

I was actually surprised the overall rating was so high, considering how much of a downer the ending was. I almost gave it a 1 to do something about it, but ended up giving it a 2 because of the two lead characters. Their acting was good and their chemistry was engaging. They did their part, its just too bad that the writer, producer or director did not.

If you want the typical feel good ending so that you can feel better about humanity during the Christmas season, one that Hallmark usually provides, then DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE, find another!

This is not quite up to middling Hallmark Xmas movie standards (low enough anyway) but I wasn't as outraged at the ending as many others (perhaps because I read the spoilers first?) Enjoyable for 70 minutes or so and nonsensical for the rest, but I'm not going to complain.

5.9 stars.

'Christmas Land' is a story about nothing. A woman inherits a cool Christmas village that she used to enjoy as a child. Her grandmother ran the place, what sort of place, we really don't know. It's like an amusement park, but mainly just a bunch of little shops and stuff. I guess this is the place for people all around to come for Christmas to get into the spirit of the season. But the place has been rundown for a while, I suppose grandma couldn't maintain it near the end of her life and then she passed away and gave the town to her granddaughter. Granddaughter doesn't really want the place, but the people of the town are hoping she will reignite the magic of Christmas Land. You can guess what transpires, the monumental mistakes that are made, and the "evil" real estate mogul that interferes, and eventually how this ends, but you would be wrong. Not my favorite, far from it.