Christmas On Main Street/Once Upon A Main Street (2020) -
There was a lot to dislike about this film and not too much to enjoy.
In order to gain favour from Elder Dubois (Patrick Duffy), the man who owns the shop that both of the lead characters want to buy, Vic (Ryan McPartlin) and Amelia (Vanessa Lachey) do whatever they can with the town committee to get the Main Street decorated for Christmas and win a contest against other local towns.
What followed was quite a childish storyline and it was a bit too much of a joke, far fetched and daft. The saving grace was Patrick Duffy who at least was a nice calming effect amongst the overacting and extreme personalities of the rest of the cast and characters. It was like he was the human on the set of a Muppets film. The Director Polly Draper in her cameo as Rowena was the worst of all.
Vic and Amelia were both unlikeable characters with agendas that got off on the wrong foot from the start and seemed very forced together.
Ryan McPartlin as Vic was handsome, but he was a little bit too much like an old western cowboy character and somewhat hammy and unnatural as a result. He didn't fit as a chocolatier either. I could not imagine him running a handmade chocolate shop, but I also felt that Amelia should have done her research about opening a Christmas shop in a town that had repeatedly lost the town's festive competition.
And these productions always have the various characters taking on the task of revitalising the contests and consequently the town at the last minute, which makes the whole concept ridiculous. There was no way that they could have pulled it off in time, even if the whole town dropped everything that they were doing and had a huge budget saved up for just such an occasion.
There was also some really terrible fake snow that was actually blankets! I've seen better set dressing in amateur theatre.
So overall I didn't buy the connection that was eventually made by Vic and Amelia and their continual almost kissing thing was really annoying too. I wanted them to get it over with, realise that there was no spark and move on to each finding somebody else.
I couldn't feel the magic of the story or the bringing of the community together, because it didn't deliver either comedy or heartfelt drama. It was just a mix of meh. I keep saying this about this genre of films in the hope that someone starts to pay attention and create something with a bit more clarity on what they are trying to produce.
4.6/10.
There was a lot to dislike about this film and not too much to enjoy.
In order to gain favour from Elder Dubois (Patrick Duffy), the man who owns the shop that both of the lead characters want to buy, Vic (Ryan McPartlin) and Amelia (Vanessa Lachey) do whatever they can with the town committee to get the Main Street decorated for Christmas and win a contest against other local towns.
What followed was quite a childish storyline and it was a bit too much of a joke, far fetched and daft. The saving grace was Patrick Duffy who at least was a nice calming effect amongst the overacting and extreme personalities of the rest of the cast and characters. It was like he was the human on the set of a Muppets film. The Director Polly Draper in her cameo as Rowena was the worst of all.
Vic and Amelia were both unlikeable characters with agendas that got off on the wrong foot from the start and seemed very forced together.
Ryan McPartlin as Vic was handsome, but he was a little bit too much like an old western cowboy character and somewhat hammy and unnatural as a result. He didn't fit as a chocolatier either. I could not imagine him running a handmade chocolate shop, but I also felt that Amelia should have done her research about opening a Christmas shop in a town that had repeatedly lost the town's festive competition.
And these productions always have the various characters taking on the task of revitalising the contests and consequently the town at the last minute, which makes the whole concept ridiculous. There was no way that they could have pulled it off in time, even if the whole town dropped everything that they were doing and had a huge budget saved up for just such an occasion.
There was also some really terrible fake snow that was actually blankets! I've seen better set dressing in amateur theatre.
So overall I didn't buy the connection that was eventually made by Vic and Amelia and their continual almost kissing thing was really annoying too. I wanted them to get it over with, realise that there was no spark and move on to each finding somebody else.
I couldn't feel the magic of the story or the bringing of the community together, because it didn't deliver either comedy or heartfelt drama. It was just a mix of meh. I keep saying this about this genre of films in the hope that someone starts to pay attention and create something with a bit more clarity on what they are trying to produce.
4.6/10.