MIXED SNOW JOB
TV movie monger Alex Zamm directs 2017's Christmas in Evergreen. And oh yeah, he's done a few other holiday flicks as well (A Christmas Prince, A Royal Christmas). With "Evergreen", Zamm puts Christmastime in the forefront, with every frame looking like a Yuletide postcard or the inside of some gleaming snow globe (I'll get to that later). The late Frank Capra and the late Nora Ephron, well they would be mildly proud if not wincing up in heaven. "That magic, it's all around us". Okay easy there Kris Kringle.
Christmas in Evergreen, yeah it's a slow burn, a paint dryer, devoid of dramatic heft but it still managing to somewhat tickle those warm, winter fuzzy-s. Think Christmassy, think Frankenmuth, Michigan on steroids, think I got to get a steaming cup of hot chocolate poured on my head. Good old British Columbia, Canada, well it substitutes for East Coast Vermont as "Evergreen's" minuscule shooting location. "This is what Xmas is supposed to look like". I guess. Yo, what's up with those artificial, CGI snowflakes? Yikes.
Starring the likes of Ashley Williams, Teddy Sears, and Barbara Niven (they sure do like to mug to the camera), Christmas in Evergreen lives in a cinematic fantasy land and still manages to include those silly season, plot cliches. I mean there's the girl everyone loves who wants to leave her hometown to find herself (check). There's the single dad she meets that lost his wife a year earlier (check it). Then there's the ending Christmas festival that has to succeed or else the town in question becomes kaput (check yourself before you wreck yourself). Finally there's that big smooch at the end (check mate). Add some fake, atmospheric water vapor (mentioned earlier), a snow globe that grants wishes (also mentioned earlier), and a pseudo Santa that spews knowledge like an annoying Greek chorus and you have a harmless day of festivity flick that's predictable as ugly sweaters near the end of December. "Christmas" tided.
Written by Jesse Burleson
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