'Magical Christmas Village' (2022)
Opening thoughts: Really did want to like 'Magical Christmas Village'. Have really liked Hallmark regulars Alison Sweeney and Luke MacFarlane in other things and totally understand their popularity amongst Hallmark fans. Also admire Marlo Thomas as an actress and as a person and the role sounded ideal for her. Did like the idea of the setting, while not being all that excited by the premise.
A less than exciting premise given even less exciting execution. It is a shame that in such a short period of time the 2022 Hallmark Countdown to Christmas block went from one of its best films back to disappointment. By all means it is not one of the worst 2022 Hallmark Christmas films, or one of their worst overall for that year, but this really did not live up to mixed expectations and the cast deserved a good deal better.
Good things: 'Magical Christmas Village' isn't all bad. It does contain some valiant work from Sweeney and MacFarlane, with Sweeney faring better due to a better written character. Both are well above what they are given, especially MacFarlane, but both do manage to generate a lot of easy going charm and sincerity to their roles.
Did like cute, and not cutesy or obnoxious, Maesa Nicolson as well. The film does look attractive, with a setting that does look magical and colourful. The music is pleasant enough and at least fits.
Bad things: So much works against it on the other hand. The story is very slow moving, with too much extraneous and barely interesting padding and uneventful stretches. Actually don't mind slow pacing, but it does depend on the content and the emotions felt and here the content was too little and emotionally there was not much to feel. Too many things happen too coincidentally as well, not to mention too patly, and the film is excessively predictable.
Unfortunately the stilted and cheese ridden script is not much better, that is also too heavy on the sugary sweetness. A lot more could have done with the setting, great looking but used in a too afterthought tossed in way. The family stuff is far too sentimental, the equivalent of having too many sugar lumps in tea, and the mother-daughter showdown was too much like over-heated melodrama. The ending is too neat and self-absorbed.
Never cared enough for the characters, with too many exaggerated character traits and too few redeeming merits, only Sweeney's is halfway interesting. MacFarlane's is very underused and Thomas' is too disrespectful and heavy handed. Count me in as another person who didn't care for Thomas, really admire her but here she for my tastes was too over the top and overdid the quirkiness, which made her annoying and not in harmony with the rest of the film. Sweeney and MacFarlane surprisingly have very little chemistry, too distant and under-rehearsed like. That the relationship itself is under-utilised and largely ignored does not help.
Closing thoughts: Overall, a disappointment.
4/10.
Opening thoughts: Really did want to like 'Magical Christmas Village'. Have really liked Hallmark regulars Alison Sweeney and Luke MacFarlane in other things and totally understand their popularity amongst Hallmark fans. Also admire Marlo Thomas as an actress and as a person and the role sounded ideal for her. Did like the idea of the setting, while not being all that excited by the premise.
A less than exciting premise given even less exciting execution. It is a shame that in such a short period of time the 2022 Hallmark Countdown to Christmas block went from one of its best films back to disappointment. By all means it is not one of the worst 2022 Hallmark Christmas films, or one of their worst overall for that year, but this really did not live up to mixed expectations and the cast deserved a good deal better.
Good things: 'Magical Christmas Village' isn't all bad. It does contain some valiant work from Sweeney and MacFarlane, with Sweeney faring better due to a better written character. Both are well above what they are given, especially MacFarlane, but both do manage to generate a lot of easy going charm and sincerity to their roles.
Did like cute, and not cutesy or obnoxious, Maesa Nicolson as well. The film does look attractive, with a setting that does look magical and colourful. The music is pleasant enough and at least fits.
Bad things: So much works against it on the other hand. The story is very slow moving, with too much extraneous and barely interesting padding and uneventful stretches. Actually don't mind slow pacing, but it does depend on the content and the emotions felt and here the content was too little and emotionally there was not much to feel. Too many things happen too coincidentally as well, not to mention too patly, and the film is excessively predictable.
Unfortunately the stilted and cheese ridden script is not much better, that is also too heavy on the sugary sweetness. A lot more could have done with the setting, great looking but used in a too afterthought tossed in way. The family stuff is far too sentimental, the equivalent of having too many sugar lumps in tea, and the mother-daughter showdown was too much like over-heated melodrama. The ending is too neat and self-absorbed.
Never cared enough for the characters, with too many exaggerated character traits and too few redeeming merits, only Sweeney's is halfway interesting. MacFarlane's is very underused and Thomas' is too disrespectful and heavy handed. Count me in as another person who didn't care for Thomas, really admire her but here she for my tastes was too over the top and overdid the quirkiness, which made her annoying and not in harmony with the rest of the film. Sweeney and MacFarlane surprisingly have very little chemistry, too distant and under-rehearsed like. That the relationship itself is under-utilised and largely ignored does not help.
Closing thoughts: Overall, a disappointment.
4/10.