Throughout my whole Hallmark/Lifetime Christmas film completest quest undertaken namely late last year through to early this year, an interesting quest but very mixed one, there was never the mentality of expecting a classic or the film in question to be flawless. Something that was never managed with Lifetime's output but in some cases it came not too far off. There was always the expectation of seeing a film where one can see at least some effort rather than merely cash-in level.
2018's 'Hometown Christmas' is sadly not one of watchable ones, though is not quite cash in level quality. Have absolutely personal against Lifetime and have liked enough of their work, but when they were on bad form the film in question was bad. While not one of their all time worst, 'Hometown Christmas' fits this negative definition sadly. A few big things redeem it from being a disaster, but they are overshadowed by the many major flaws.
Am going to start off mentioning those good things. Erin Cahill (who would have made for a much better lead) and Danny Boaz are appealing in their roles and their subplot is a lot more interesting than the main one, there is a charm and spark in that subplot that the main one badly lacks.
Despite not being lavish or high budget, 'Hometown Christmas' doesn't look too bad. The scenery is especially lovely to watch and is filmed slickly.
On the other hand, a lot doesn't work with 'Hometown Christmas'. Beverly Mitchell comes across as bland and too smug, and really did not like her character. Her character is very difficult to endear to from the get go and she doesn't really grow, what little there is feels rushed. Stephen Colletti isn't as bad, but he struggles to bring much life to a colourless role. There is no chemistry between them or even any form of spark and the romance is completely lacking in charm as well as underwritten. Other than Cahill and Boaz, the rest of the cast don't register all that much.
'Hometown Christmas' characters are shallow ciphers and little more than typical Lifetime cliches with no variation, and none of them are believably developed or likeable. The direction throughout is as indifferent as the lead chemistry and is at best leaden. The music is, as can be the case with Lifetime, intrusive and there is nothing memorable to it. When it comes to the dialogue, it is very awkward in flow and there is no heart to it.
Both the cheese and sentiment go overboard, and because of disliking the characters so much there was nothing in 'Hometown Christmas' to connect with emotionally. The story is not much of one at all for most of the length, much of the first portion is endless and pointless filler and what there is of the story is very dull and makes no sense. The ending feels too rushed and too tidy.
Overall, weak. 3/10.
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