"Our Christmas Love Song" is one of the freshest of the Christmas season TV movies I've seen in some time. To begin with, it's the first in a long time in which the two leads have never been married. So, there's no lost spouse who died, or a young child to raise alone. As a dad and grandfather of a sizable brood, I'm certainly not against children in movies, or stories about single parents and their struggles. I've had a couple of those in my family. But for holiday entertainment, those plot situations have been so overly used that there's so little new in any of the stories. And that translates to watching the same movie over and over again, and not a very good one to start with. It's hardly what one can consider entertainment over Christmas.
The next big plus for this film is that it does not have the next common aspect of the usual Christmas season romances. So, there's no corporate overworked executive going to a town to close down the local lodge or other business. It's also not set in a small town in the mountains, where I've also enjoyed hiking and vacationing over the years; but which are overly done when paired with the first two cookie-cutter aspects.
Instead, this film resembles what had been a common type in the late mid-20th century. Its plot centers around country music; and a one-time couple rediscovering one another. But, it's a more complicated and very interesting plot, because along with that, the female lead is being accused of plagiarizing another country singer's old tune.
There's a young child in the picture - the niece of the female lead and singing star, Melody Jones. Alicia Witt plays Melody superbly and with such natural ease. And it's a timely story where Lucy's dad won't be home for Christmas because he's been deployed overseas in the Army. Lucy's mom is Melody's sister, Jillian. Their mom, Nancy, owns a diner (another frequent plot aspect of many Christmas films), and Melody's dad had died several years ago. They all have fond memories of him, and Melody's start in music with her dad
The male lead is Chase Mattson, who sang with Melody when they were younger. But, as she progressed in the musical world, he stayed behind to run the family's tavern and support his younger sister after their parents died. Brendan Hines plays his part superbly, and all of the rest of the cast in this film are very good.
Melody hadn't been home for Christmas the past two years because of her tours. But this year she's going home for Christmas, and tells her manager, Piper, to do the same thing and turn off the bell on her cell phone. The nudge for her to do that came from a meeting with her mentor, Connie Black and her husband and manager, Burt. They wanted to "settle" with her over her new song, "Heart of Christmas," because they think she pirated it from one of Connie's hits of 10 years earlier, which Melody had sung with her in a duet.
Melody just sang and released her new Christmas song, from one she and her dad had written together when she was a young girl. Now she needs to find the original sheet music of their song to prevent a lawsuit. Back home in Madison, Indiana, everyone is happy to see her home again. Many people remember her singing "Heart of Christmas" years before - her mom and sister, the pastor of her church, Chase and others. But, can she find the sheet music to prove her original authorship of the song?
In the course of being home after missing two Christmases, Melody's memories, family and other connections make her realize how much she missed the closeness of loved ones. While the outcome can be guessed as with all of these films, the other aspects of this more complex than usual plot add a touch of intrigue and make it all the more interesting. And the resolution of the dispute over Melody's new song exonerates her and has a beautiful Christmas-twist from her heart for her one-time mentor.
This is a very good movie for the Christmas season. It has music, a touch of light comedy, a little intrigue, and romance in a very interesting plot with fine acting all around. This is another of the prodigious Canadian output of Christmas holiday movies. While it was filmed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the story is set at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, and in Madison, Indiana - the hometown of Melody and Chase.
For a different, interesting and entertaining film, this Christmas movie earns eight stars and may make it into some film libraries for annual or periodic Christmas viewing.
Here are some favorite lines from this film.
Melody, "I hope they like it." Piper, "Like it? They are gonna love it" Melody, "You're my manager. You have to say that."
Piper, "What was it that your mentor used to tell you?" Melody, " Connie?" Piper, "Connie Black, Queen of the Country. A new song ..." Piper and Melody, both speaking together "... is just a hit song no one has heard yet." Piper, "That's right."
Melody, "This song came from my heart. It's a part of me. I'm not going to lie and say that I stole it."
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