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Singer Devin (Peter Porte) and songwriter Harmony (Kelley Jakle) are a
dream couple, as he's a gifted performer and she has the skill to tailor
songs for him - and that they're romantically involved just makes this all
the greater of the story. But then, shortly before Christmas, he breaks up
with her, basically because she tries to get a little more control over
essentially her songs than he's willing to grant - and suddenly she finds
herself with a broken heart and nowhere to go for Christmas. So she
decides to ditch LA and pay her estranged father (Stephen Howard) a
surprise visit - which means returning to the snowy small town she has
grown up in and always strived to escape. But 15 miles out of town her car
breaks down, and she can count herself lucky to be picked up by handsome
local Luke (Adam Mayfield) and his 12 year old foster son Weston (Aden
Schwartz). And she can't deny she feels a bit attracted to him, especially
after she finds out that he, like her, is a singer/songwriter if, again
like her, not so much a performer. And then, out of the blue the two are
made musical directors of the local Christmas show by its organizer
Shirley (Sally Struthers), and they get really close doing this, also
egged on by Weston. And it seems Harmony has found happiness in the place
she once left to get her life truly started. Things couldn't go better -
unti Devin knocks on her door to tell her he wants her back, and he even
has an egagement ring in tow ... Now I have to admit, on a very
personal note I'm not at all into Christmas songs - to put it mildly -,
and there are quite a few in this film which made it slight torture - even
if I have to admit the singers all had good voices at least. But all my
personal feelings towards a certain music aside, this isn't at all a bad
movie, a nicely structured romantic dramedy with some relatable characters
going through some relatable issues, and not leaning too hard into the
Christmas spirit to find a solution, with its musical theme (my feelings
about the genre aside now) nicely woven into the plot, with a
down-to-earth ensemble carrying the thing rather beautifully. Of course it
helps being into Christmas music and Christmas movies when it comes to how
enjoyable it is for one individually, but objectively the film has lots
going for it.
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