Brooke Nevin is always watchable, though some films of hers are better than others, and Patrick Duffy makes many of his films better, even those that are not particularly good. Hallmark have done a fair share of decent and more Christmas films, and films in general actually. As well as a fair share of average and less ones. Expectations were admittedly not huge for 'The Christmas Cure'. Nor were they rock bottom low. The story did not sound much special but there was potential.
Which was not really lived up in the execution of 'The Christmas Cure'. It was fairly typical Christmas Hallmark, though it was mostly related to the characters' work with Christmas being the backdrop, with some very recognisable plot tropes of theirs executed in a familiar fashion. Is it a bad film? No it isn't. It is also not particularly good, feelings on 'The Christmas Cure' were rather mixed. Carried by the cast but wanting when it comes to the story.
'The Christmas Cure' does have good things. The production values are quite nice, especially the scenery. There are some nice light-hearted and heart-warming moments when the film improves, namely down to the chemistry between the two leads. Which was on the most part very genuine and really liked how they were understanding and supportive of each other while not developing too fast. It was actually their chemistry that helped improve the film when it picked up.
Brooke Nevin and Steve Byers' performances also help quite a bit, with Nevin especially (a strong contender for the best thing about the film) being an absolute charmer as a lead character actually worth relating to with no exaggerated negative character traits or mannerisms. The two are very sweet together. The supporting cast are solid generally, particularly Duffy who is every bit as charming and likeable as Nevin. Also found Dale Whibley refreshing and would like to see his type of character more.
However, too much doesn't work in 'The Christmas Cure'. The script could have been so much better. It is not a strong suit in a lot of Hallmark Christmas films, but this was a case of some of the dialogue being laughably bad in the early portions, so much awkwardness, but even after the film picks up there were too many moments where it was still rather flat and lacked tension and emotion. The story is far too slight, to the point of being very uneventful, in the early portions, and it's all too predictable and contrived throughout. There is an exception to the supporting and that is a far too severe Kathleen Laskey in a role that could have been better fleshed out, in a film where most of the characters are ciphers.
Found the music too often lacking in subtlety and melodically quite forgettable. The pacing was generally off, with a real tendency to lag in the less eventful stretches (too many of those). Badly so in the first third or so, while the ending was typically rushed and pat. There is very little tension and the moments of charm and heart are not enough, also coming over as over serious and over sentimental.
Concluding, very mixed on this film. 5/10.
