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(More customer reviews)This review will be a critique of the movie, for those unfamiliar with Christmas Town. Those of you who love the movie, will probably love the DVD, although it's presented as a barebones release with no real special features. The uninitiated, who are searching for a new Christmas classic, can continue searching elsewhere. I have to agree with the other reviewers. This movie is pretty bad. Not in a so-bad-it's-good sense...just plain bad. It's not the worst film ever made, but the story, casting, acting, and even the filming locations are all lackluster.
The story revolves around a ten year old boy named Mason and his workaholic mother who take a trip to visit the boy's Grandfather in a Christmas themed town. The town houses NP (North Pole) Enterprises, which turns out to be a distribution center for the real Santa Claus (bet you didn't see that one coming). The town is also home to the local restaurant owner, who is, of course, the love interest for our single Mother (bet you didn't see that one coming either).
The movie plays out as your typical Lifetime Movie Network feature, with all the usual predictable drama and romance. However, about 3/4 of the way through, the movie takes a bizarre turn, as Mason infiltrates Santa's NP Enterprises compound. The tone of the movie completely changes, and becomes comedic (although the term "stupid" would be a better descriptor). After about 15 minutes, the tone of the movie shifts back to drama. The comedic part seems almost surreal, and doesn't mesh well with the overall flow of the rest of the feature.
The real problem with this story is that the characters don't really grow over the course of the film. The Mother starts off as a self-centered workaholic, and ends up pretty much the same. The romance between her and the strapping young restaurateur barely even gets off the ground. Her son is an obnoxious character as well. Throughout the movie, he repeatedly does the same four things: complain, disobey his mother, run away, and spy on people (usually in that order). At the end of the movie, he's still up to his usual shenanigans. Since this is a character driven film (vs. a plot driven one), it makes me wonder what the purpose of the script was, if the characters didn't grow.
Aside from the poor story, this film also has terrible casting and acting. Santa's evles are played by fully-grown, middle aged, men, who act like grumpy dock workers. Patrick Muldoon's acting can be likened to an announcer on a coffee commercial, except, instead of touting the virtues of hand picked beans and rich aroma, he drones on and on about the magic of Christmas and the power of believing. Every time he opens his mouth, something that's supposed to be profound comes out.
The sets and filming locales for Christmas Town are on the same level as the acting. First off, there isn't a trace of show to be seen anywhere, and it looks as if everything was filmed in mid-summer. Santa's warehouse isn't very magical either. There's an unintentionally hilarious scene in which Mason is looking around in doe-eyed wonder at the joys of Santa's storeroom. The only problem is that it looks like this scene was filmed in Costco...and not even in the toy aisle. There is also a long sequence in which Mason sneaks through a maze of corridors at NP Enterprises' headquarters. The problem here is that it's very obvious that he's running through the same two hallways repeatedly, as you can see him passing the same signs and doors time and time again (almost like a scene from Tom and Jerry).
Sure, there are much worse ways that you could spend two hours. If you see Christmas Town show up in the local TV listings, go ahead and check it out. However, this DVD definitely isn't worth the $15+ that it retails for. If a money exchange needs to occur in order for you to watch this movie, you're probably going to be disappointed.
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Disillusioned Liza McCann and her son travel to Hollyville to visit her estranged father. The town's profuse decorations and intense Yuletide spirit exasperate Liza, who has hated the holidays ever since she was a little girl. But a series of magic and inexplicable events force Liza to rethink everything she thought was true. Will the magic of this Christmas town help Liza reconnect with her father and open her heart to the true spirit of the holidays? Heart-warming and fun for the whole family, CHRISTMAS TOWN stars Nicole de Boer (DEAD ZONE), Patrick Muldoon (STARSHIP TROOPERS), Garry Chalk (DECK THE HALLS), and Gig Morton (SNOW BUDDIES).
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