Christmas in the Heartland (2017) Bo Derek, Shelley Long, Brighton Sharbino, Christian Kane, Sierra McCormick, Christopher Rich, Paula Trickey, Tiffany Fallon Movie Review

Christmas in the Heartland (2017)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Christmas in the Heartland (2017)

Another Christmas Switch

Thanks to her family's wealth Kara (Sierra McCormick - A Nanny for Christmas) has never gone without whilst Jessie (Brighton Sharbino), having just lost her mother, is a lot more down to earth and comes from a hard working, caring background. And both find themselves on the same flight and heading to spend Christmas with sets of relatives they have never met and are not looking forwards to meeting, which leads to them deciding to trade places for a week as no one would know having never met before. Trouble is both girls find themselves liking the new lives they have and the people who become their family.

A family Christmas movie with some heart warming depth is what I am sure the intention to "Christmas in the Heartland" was and maybe if I had watched it on a sleepy Sunday afternoon with family around me it may have worked that way. But truth be told "Christmas in the Heartland" didn't really work that well for me and had the awkward feel of a Christmas movie shot out of season. But not only that, I almost get a sense that the story on which it is based is in fact bigger than the scope of this movie, or at least the production budget.

Now "Christmas in the Heartland" is not a complicated movie as we have Kara pretending to be Jessie and getting to experience the warmth of everyday living and the closeness of family who are there for each other. On the other hand you have the down to earth Jessie pretending to be Kara and making a difference in her grandparent's lives by bringing some goodness in to their life which breaks with their posh ways. It is a charming movie which has a cast that most people will recognize someone be it Bo Derek playing a snobby grandmother to Shelley Long playing a more family orientated one and some will simply hear Christopher Rich's voice and remember him as Melissa Joan Hart's father in "Melissa & Joey".

The thing is in trying to be this touching drama about people discovering what is important "Christmas in the Heartland" ends up laying some things on a bit thick especially in trying to do the parallel aspect of Kara and Jessie having things in common. What it does is make "Christmas in the Heartland" a drama but with a forced side which at times borders on being corny.

What this all boils down to is that "Christmas in the Heartland" is a nice family drama which is set at Christmas. But the tone of the movie is very much aimed at being suitable for young and old a like and as such the mix of drama and fun don't always quote work or come together smoothly.

Tags: Christmas Movies


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