A Land of Childhood Memories
As a child Jules Cooper (Nikki Deloach - A Dream of Christmas) loved spending Christmas with her Grandmother, Glinda, as she had created "Christmas Land" a small Christmas themed village. Now 25 years later and having become a globe trotting business executive Jules discovers that Glinda has left her everything; the house, the village as well as the Christmas Tree farm. Deciding to pay Christmas Land a visit she is greeted by Tucker Barnes (Luke Macfarlane - The Mistletoe Promise), a local lawyer handling the estate and who hopes Jules will open up the village again and run it like her Grandmother did, although Jules is looking to sell it. That pleases not only her boyfriend, Mitchell (Jason-Shane Scott - A Husband for Christmas), but also property tycoon, Mason Richards (Richard Karn - A Perfect Christmas List), who wants to buy it. But spending time not only at Christmas Land but also with Tucker leads to Jules feeling conflicted as to what she wants.
Anyone who frequents The Movie Scene in December will know that I am a total sucker for Christmas movies and not just the big screen ones as I am a fan of Hallmark Christmas movies as well. But as a fan of this particular brand of festive fun it would be fair to say that nearly every time I watch a new Hallmark Christmas movie I get a distinct sense of déjà vu, although more often than not struggle to remember the name of the previous Hallmark Christmas movie it reminds me of. And the strange thing is that it is a good thing because it means whilst a movie will end up distinctly familiar I still get to enjoy it.
That brings me to "Christmas Land" a Hallmark Christmas movie which filled me with that sense of déjà vu as the whole story of a city girl inheriting a business/property and finding herself torn between selling or re-opening it has been used before. And just as familiar is the whole storyline surrounding Jules having a boyfriend who ends up being wrong for her whilst clearly the nice guy from her hometown is right for her instead. To put it simply you would have to have never watched a Hallmark movie before to find anything new in "Christmas Land".
But as I often say about Hallmark movies; when they hit the sweet spot when it comes to vibe it doesn't matter if it is familiar because it will work. As such the setting, the clothes and the choice of actors all work well in "Christmas Land" with Nikki Deloach and Luke Macfarlane having chemistry, not so much romantic chemistry but they have a light comedic chemistry which is what makes the movie. Well their light chemistry and the great look of Christmas Land which is the sort of place I would love to visit makes the movie.
What this all boils down to is that "Christmas Land" maybe a new Hallmark Christmas movie for 2015 but it features a story which has been told before. But it tells the story well even if its familiarity means than there is little in the way of surprises.
Tags: TV Christmas Movies, Christmas Movies