Christmas Tree Lane

Alicia Witt's Christmas Hallmark efforts are variable, as are her performances in them. While the likes of 'A Very Merry Mix Up' and 'Christmas List' were worthwhile watches despite flaws, she was in mediocre misfires such as 'The Mistletoe Inn' and 'Christmas on Honeysuckle Lane' as well. Actually do not think she's too bad an actress despite not being a big fan, but whether she is good in her films is dependent on the role and that's the aspect where the Hallmark films she stars in vary.

Was a bit mixed to not wowed by her here in 2020's 'Christmas Tree Lane'. As far as her Christmas Hallmark films go, 'Christmas Tree Lane' is neither one of the best or worst. Somewhere in between. 2020 was a mixed year for Hallmark, and as far as the Christmas batch for that year goes, this is neither one of the best or worst. It is a watchable film and does nothing to offend, but there is not much that is remarkable about it and overall it left me a bit mixed.

'Christmas Tree Lane' looks good, the photography complementing the pleasant scenery very well. The music is some of the best of any Hallmark film in a while, it's catchy and lovely to listen to and Witt has a beautiful set of pipes.

Despite finding his character underwritten, Andrew W. Walker does a nice job and is subtle and charming. The supporting cast are very solid and it is a case of the supporting cast being better than the leads. Some heart-warming and light-hearted moments here and there.

Other than her singing Witt didn't do much for me here. The character comes over as too over-zealous and Witt has times where she overdoes it and others where she is bland. While Walker acts well, he also has very little to do and his character is little more than an under-developed plot device. His chemistry with her didn't really gel either, the romance felt both under-developed and underused with not an awful lot of growth and was then hurriedly written and together the two seemed under-rehearsed.

The dialogue early on really isn't good and is quite stilted. The story didn't grab me enough and was very formulaic, with an easily telegraphed, rushed and too neat ending, dull in pace at times from the story being too thin and at points silly. The direction was merely standard and the characters aren't that interesting.

In conclusion, watchable but very unremarkable. 5/10.

Nothing original, which isn't unusual I suppose in these movies, but it was like a greatest hits collection of all the favorite tropes. Almost like it was a competition to see how many they could fit into 90 minutes. Good actors doing good work, but just lacking in anything that pulls you into the story because of how obvious the tropes are, and how little romance there actually is. Is this the new standard that the first and only real romance or kiss is at the very last moment right before the credits roll. I guess that would be ok if there were clearly visible sparks earlier on, that were not acted upon for propriety or other credible reasons. This movie had none of that. Oh well.

The best part of Alicia Witt Christmas movies are her songs at the end. I hope the trend continues in the future. This movie covers no new ground, there are no storyline twists and you can see the ending coming after the first 5 minutes. But if you enjoy watching Alicia act, sing and play piano, you will like this movie. Just forward to those parts and enjoy the song at the end.

As much as I love both leads in this film, they are not two that I would put together and I think the film ends up being a bit middling, because the chemistry is not there, but it is a nice enough story.

How do you save a whole street that is due to be demolished? You put on a Christmas show of course, but what happens when the new hot guy in town turns out to be working for the developers?

Andrew W Walker is lovely here, but Alicia Witt is just a bit wrong in her part.

I think "pleasant" is the key word here. The story is fine, the pace seems fine, the cast is fine, but it lacks any real spark romantically. To me it seems like the leads could be really good friends. What I did really enjoy was Alicia Witt's piano performance, she's the real deal musically and we got a taste of excellence there.