Homegrown Christmas

'Homegrown Christmas' was one of the difficult to rate films seen as part of my recent festive film quest. Which was an interesting endeavour and a fairly worthwhile one, though quality-wise it was variable. Was pleasantly surprised by the likes of 'Coins for Christmas' and 'Christmas Around the Corner'. On the other side of the quality spectrum, there were a few that were dire, one of the worst being 'A Christmas Village' that failed on every level.

This, 'Homegrown Christmas' this is, was somewhere in between. Neither among the best recently seen Christmas films (or ever even), nowhere near, but also nowhere near close to being the worst (same thing). Some good things but also some bad things, so not too bad but not particularly good and worth a one-time watch but with no desire to see it again. Not a bad position to be in, as it is good if something is at least watchable, but not too great at the same time as timeless repeat viewings (of which there's plenty around).

Will start with the good things. It looks quite nice, not amazing but not slipshod either as the location captures the Christmas spirit well and is complemented competently by the photography. Even if the editing is not always there. The soundtrack fits well and doesn't sound too loud or overdone.

Although it would have been great if they came more consistently, there are amusing moments and the drama is cute and not too heavy. Some of the supporting do well with what they have, having presence but not over-compensating.

Did feel though that the leads did try too hard and their chemistry has no subtlety or charm. Actually found it continually strained, there are times where it is meant to be because the story called for it but it didn't all the time and any gear changes stayed the same. The story is at least coherent, but the joy and heart wasn't there and there were things that felt abrupt and rushed.

Both the comic and dramatic moments have moments, but the comedy mostly is just as strained as the never really believable romantic chemistry and when there is any sentimentality it is hard to stomach. The characters are not very well defined and are quite shallow. Some of the editing is sloppy.

Overall, watchable but didn't do a huge amount for me. 5/10

Lori Loughlin & Victor Webster headline this Hallmark Christmas movie. Also starring one of Loughlin's daughters with a subplot where she pulls strings to get her into college! Enjoyable if you are a fan of any of the actors.

6.6 stars.

Lori Loughlin's character is supposedly around 40 years old and she's retiring from the company in New York City that she built from scratch. The actress is in her mid-50s. Yes, she does look good for her age but there's no way that she passes for a 40-ish year-old woman. I'm not gonna bother looking him up, but I think the lead male is pushing 50 as well. So now that the chronological ages are clarified, let's discuss the apparent maturity factor. Her character left him behind about 20 years ago and their parting ways was a mistake. He supposedly chose to stay behind, but we are not sure why. They're giving us bits and pieces of the puzzle to show us that there is more to the story. This is the same song, 50th verse: girl leaves boy behind, but remembers it differently, and supposedly he "set her free" so as not to hold her back from success. Now they are both regretting the decision, but the only reason why they are regretting it is because she has chosen to come home for Christmas. She's retired and has a lot of time on her hands, and they must face their guilt and work it out. Hypothetically, if she had never returned home, they would never revisit the old feelings, and never be together anyway. This is not a movie about fate, it's simply a movie about bad decisions, and having no choice but to face those decisions because you have nothing better to do. There's no lesson to be learned here. Well, maybe there is. The lesson is: don't be an idiot by choosing to sacrifice a relationship with your soulmate for no logical reason. So at its core, the theme is: don't be an idiot.

The dialogue in unoriginal, but I like both actors and the music and setting are nice. Otherwise, this movie deserves a 6.0 or below.

What made you fall in love. Homegrown Christmas. Kinda cute. Kinda cheeky. Most of us have lived thru this and done it. If I can or could give the actors in this movie different rating boy o boy would I. I love that LL Is going thru some terrible lawsuits, could go to jail and hallmark uses her. comme ci comme ça Bold move. He (Matt Hamilton).was just amazing

Lori Loughlin and Victor Webster are seasoned veterans of the Hallmark style of movies and it shows in this one. Either the witty dialogue was perfect for these two, or these two were perfect for this dialogue, but maybe it was both. There were several moments throughout with some light humor. The cookie exchange was perfect.

The story had several well used devices for a Christmas movie, so there was nothing surprising in that, but even so it was a decent story and it was put together smoothly.

I do have one minor complaint which is very common in this type of movie - more than one character did a 180 so fast it made my head spin.