I thought this Christmas movie was adorable! I found the main actors to have good chemistry together plus I enjoyed the supporting cast as well. I also enjoyed seeing REAL crisp air as this was filmed in Canada during a colder climate... typically Christmas movies are filmed in the spring or summer and you can tell because the sun is shining bright and of course all the fake snow! I see this flick didn't get rave reviews but as for me, I found it refreshing- well done to the cast and crew!
Homemade Christmas
2020
Action / Comedy / Drama / Romance
Homemade Christmas
2020
Action / Comedy / Drama / Romance
5.8Keywords: christmas
Plot summary
Megan is the one person show behind the business Christmas for Hire, which centers on her expert DIY skills to fix any Christmas decorating or entertaining problem, especially at the last minute. Beyond having paying customers, most desperate for her to fix whatever problems they may be facing, she also donates much of her time to charities, such as her best friend Jenny's charity, Big and Little Heroes. It is also through Jenny's 9-to-5 job that Megan meets Chase, the head of his own lucrative design firm. He is outwardly the man of her dreams, Jenny encouraging Megan to pursue those dreams in believing they being a good match, which Chase obviously believes as well in they starting to date. One of Megan's customers this season is Trinkets and Toys, which sells artisan crafted items only. Owner/operators Kurt and Mike hire her for the straightforward job of decorating the Christmas tree in their store, they out to impress David, their only potential investor in Kurt's goal to expand the business to be able to compete against the big box retailers whose business model he doesn't want to emulate in keeping to those artisan crafted items. But in a mix-up leading to a misunderstanding, Kurt and Mike feel they have no other choice but additionally to hire Megan solely to be the face of the pitch to David, Kurt who wants to limit her involvement otherwise in he being the brains behind the pitch. Megan and Kurt's initial animosity toward each other due to the situation is exacerbated by Kurt not wanting her involved otherwise despite she believing her skills making her a benefit. But as Megan and Kurt begin to spend more time together, they each begin to believe that they have a copacetic outlook on life and that they work well as a team in striving for common goals. With Chase still in the picture, Megan may not be able to see that while he is the man of her dreams, he is not a kindred spirit like Kurt with who she is truly falling in love. What happens between Megan and Kurt may depend on the outcome of the pitch to David and what role each of Megan and Kurt plays in that success or failure.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Tech specs
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB 813.16 MB
1280*714
English 2.0
NR
Movie Reviews
Reviewed by
Really Cute!
Reviewed by
Doesn't dazzle the viewer
Far from it in fact, to me it was the complete opposite and had very little to it. The 2020 Lifetime Christmas efforts did vary and often veered between mediocre and slightly above average and were indicative at times of rushed productions. But there were enough of them that were still watchable and more (was pleasantly surprised by some) and were not amateur efforts. Actually think on reflection that the standard was of better quality than 2019's batch.
'Homemade Christmas' though is one of the misfires and one of the worst 2020 Lifetime films. There were a few good things, not massive though, that are sadly outweighed by the flaws, with the worst flaws being absolutely terrible. Is it among the worst that they ever did? Not quite, but it is one of the closest the 2020 output got to being on the same level as the worst of Lifetime's 2019 Christmas output, which is really not a good sign.
Some of the photography was quite nice. Some pleasant moments on the soundtrack.
Michelle Argyris had her charming moments and moments of amusing interaction with Travis Nelson later on.
A lot doesn't work at all, with a big issue being Nelson, who sleepwalks through his role and always looks awkward. Argyris also looks uncertain and stiff in much of the first half of the film, and too much of the chemistry actually looked disconnected and stilted. Especially again in the first half, before getting slightly better later. Also thought that the relationship didn't develop that well at all. It feels rushed and jumps around too much and it felt underwritten as well. The direction at best was routine and the supporting cast did their best but were under-directed and were given very little to do.
This is also one of the few 2020 Lifetime Christmas films to not look very good. Most of the others looked surprisingly professional, but 'Homemade Christmas' clearly looked rushed. Most evident from the very sparse settings that don't look very festive. The music is too low key and not memorable in the least. The dialogue has no flow and has a lot of cheese and over-sentimentality. The story has a pretty terrible first half, which is very dull, contrived and jumpy and even when it gets slightly it is thin and predictable. Didn't care for any of the characters, all either bland or annoying and all not developed at all, Nelson's character is written in a way where it is hard to believe what anybody sees in him.
Overall, very lacklustre with some very poor elements but a few small good things. A generous 4/10.
Reviewed by
I've seen worse.
So, Travis was cute and he did have unexpected depths, but the character of Mike seemed like the better option as the leading guy or even for the leading guy to fall for, because she was actually quite annoying and her voice grated a lot.
I always like Christmas stories that focus on retail and toys in particular, because it doesn't matter how old you are, or even how much of a Scrooge you are, everyone has a memory of a toy shop at Christmas and a desperate desire for a specific item.
It must be tough to try and make a film about toys and their appeal to kids in the age of the X-Box and PlayStation. Even Barbie and Lego barely seem to get a look in nowadays.
Perhaps this difficulty is why this one sadly didn't quite hit the mark and while it wasn't that bad overall, I think that it could have been done a lot better. It is worth a watch, but there are others to see first.
There is a bit too much going on and too many characters brought in, which might have worked with better direction and storyboarding.
6ish?/1000.