Christmas Tree Lane kick starts Hallmark Movies and Mysteries’ 2020 holiday run with a familiar story. Alicia Witt plays Meg Reilly, owner of a music store on a once busy shopping street in Denver. Her shop, along with other locally owned businesses on Christmas Tree Lane, is slated for demolition in order to make way for a media and tech hub. She rallies her fellow merchants to try and save their stores by throwing a holiday bonanza, and during the easiest, most painless planning meeting ever, they agree to host decorating contests, vintage carriage rides, and a main stage concert – anything to draw customers back to the area and remind them of Christmases past. Yes, they probably should have tried this years ago, and no, we never find out where they get the money for glossy pamphlets and free pastries in every store, but it’s a plan. Meg also finds a sympathetic soul in Nate Williams (Andrew Walker), whom she befriends after taking issue with his overly festive coffee order. (Let the man have his sprinkles, Meg.) After sharing her sob story and a couple old records, she has him buying into the nostalgia and lending his support to the merchants’ efforts too. What she doesn’t know is that he’s the one overseeing the revitalization project.
Of course this is the way it has to be because Hallmark has a formula, and changes be damned. To be fair to Nate, he’s in the dark as well and doesn’t go out of his way to deceive Meg. The guy is newly returned to the area, having made his mark as an architect elsewhere. His dad wants him to take over his real estate investment firm, yet Nate’s experience only makes him more appreciative of the history and culture of Christmas Tree Lane. Using his relationship with his father and his insider knowledge of similar redevelopment projects, he does all he can to convince his own company to preserve the thoroughfare.
I wish there was more to say about this movie, but it’s absolutely average in every way. If you’re undemanding and just want something festive on the teevee, this fits the bill. There are Christmas trees and glittery baubles galore. The story comes with enough romance and redemption to generate some happy holiday feelings. Walker, who looks like he’s been drinking some of that Paul Rudd anti-aging juice, puts in a respectable performance, but Nate has no spectacular qualities, except being a really nice guy and Walker does that well. I’m not a great fan of Witt; she often twists her face in a way that makes her seem like a very confused deer caught in headlights, but I do love the time they give her to perform a self-composed Christmas song. With Meg’s music store at the center of the movie, some additional musical numbers or flourishes might have brightened things, but it looks like Hallmark was aiming for sheer competence and got it.
Released: 2020
Dir: Steven R. Monroe
Writer: Michael J. Murray
Cast: Alicia Witt, Andrew Walker, Drake Hogestyn, Briana Price, Paul Anthony McLean, Shannon Engemann, Malaika Guttoh, Aubrey Reynolds, Michael Scott, Matthew Bellows, Susan Dolan Stevens, Bec Doyle, Ben Lokey
Time: 84 min
Lang: English
Country: United States
Network: Hallmark Movies and Mysteries
Reviewed: 2021
Fits of Fury 