Director: Justin G. Dyck
Writer: Amanda McNeice, based on the novel by Caro Carson
Starring: Sarah Troyer, Bradley Hamilton, Kevin McGarry, and Samantha Gracie
It happens every year: I forget a movie almost immediately
after watching it. Most of the time, it’s because it’s instantly forgettable;
sometimes, it’s just because I’m either tired, or have a lot on my mind.
Hometown Holiday is such a movie, and it’s because it’s instantly forgettable.
The set-up of the movie is pretty weird, as it features a
well-known country singer character, who is not
the main love interest. Instead, it’s the agent trying to sign him to a
lucrative deal (for both parties), who has traveled all the way from L.A. to a remote
village in the hopes of getting him to sign his life away. That, along with the
female side of the equation—one of two sisters who slowly falls head over heels
with the talent agent, instead of the sister who knew the country singer back
in high school—makes for a rather bizarre story.
At any rate, the first half of this schmaltzy crapfest is
actually okay, with the unique story angle a nice change of pace. I actually
felt like it was somewhat unpredictable—like we were watching the side stories
of the characters in the millions of other “Country Christmas” movies where the
“small town” country star is the one who falls for some beautiful woman that he
used to know way back in the day, but whom he fell out of touch with (usually
for a reason that’s his fault), and whom he must win back by writing an
emotional song for, which he then performs in front of a large group of people
to confess his love for said woman. Refreshingly, all that is kept to a minimum.
Unfortunately, the second half is just a rage-inducing mess
that really is just frustrating beyond all measure. It’s like the characters
are slipped a “retard” pill and completely act out of character just to fancy
the whims of the poorly-written script. Because, of course, there has to be
some drama, and this one has two instances of rather far-reaching drama: she
gets upset because she finds out that he lied to her about being a rancher (no
one knows he’s an agent from L.A. at first). But then—later on—we discover she
wants to return to musical theater, a fact she keeps from him…that makes it
seem like she’s just every other fame-hungry whore he’s ever dated. Come on
peeps! Some communication would go a long way to eliminating these bad mix-ups!
And don’t even get me on the painful side story involving
the agent and his girlfriend (who midway through becomes “ex” girlfriend), a
fame-obsessed woman who constantly berates him for not sending in headshots
like he promised, and leaves him for an older Asian man just because he will.
Her scenes, I think, are meant to be over-the-top in a comedic way, but they’re
actually “over-the-top” in a “I want to jump into the TV set and punch her in
the face before jumping back out, breaking my TV with a hammer, and then
throwing it out of a third story window” kind of way. I mean, it’s not like
this movie really builds up much momentum to ruin it, but these scenes
certainly deflate what little it does manage to save.
In one bright spot, thankfully, the main cast is good: Sarah
Troyer (as Krista) has a natural beauty that creeps up on you—either that, or
maybe the makeup artists did a better job understanding her face as the movie
went on. Either way, I have to shallowly admit I was very disappointed in her
casting choice in the beginning (“Ugh, couldn’t they have gotten someone hot if
I have to stare at them for 90 minutes?!”) but by the end, she completely won
me over in the looks department (her "too angelic for words" character, on the other hand, is another story altogether). Bradley Hamilton, as agent Ryan Rourke, meanwhile, has an understated
“coolness” that works well for the part. He reminds me of a younger Josh
Hartnett; not in looks, but in the cool, nonchalant way he delivers his lines. I
suppose many may find his performance a little too one-note, or “bored”; I
thought it was a unique interpretation of a popular L.A. agent, without
resorting to the over-the-top antics that most of the characters in these
movies would force on you (“Look at me, I’m popular and a douchebag and wearing
sunglasses, and that’s how you know I’m supposed to be from L.A.!”)
Unfortunately, while separately they deliver solid
performances, there really isn’t much chemistry between them; I think I’d
believe them more as brother and sister than as two lovers meant to be
together.
In the end, despite the star's best efforts, this one’s ultimately another dud; I don’t think
it’s on par with some of the worst holiday shtick we’ve ever seen, but it’s got
more in common with those than anything that I’d consider “good”.
STRAY OBSERVATIONS
- Wait, didn't Krista inherit a family farm? How does she have time for, like, three different jobs and 10 different hobbies?
- In one scene so confusing that it almost comes off as brilliant, Ryan calls Krista after a disagreement, and then 30 seconds later claims he’s busy and that he has to go, as if she interrupted him.
- The side story involving his headshot-obsessed girlfriend is as cringeworthy as they come.
- So Krista was so popular in New York that fame “swallowed her up”, yet no one knows who she is, she doesn't feel the need to mention it until way later on, and she's so nervous in the teeny town of Buttfuck, New Jersey (or wherever this thing takes place) that she initially fails miserably?
- Note during the “party” scene, where the country star takes a kid’s drink away from him in order to put him to bed, and places it right next to four pre-filled cups of fruit punch that are untouched and available for people to take.
- Speaking of rage-inducing: That’s so fucking hilarious that the pregnant woman has such bad food cravings that she gets sidetracked in mid-thought; the "pussywhipped husband who supports his pregnant wife for fear of her sudden emotional outbursts" is also carried to vomit-inducing extremes here.
- Have the writers ever actually seen a countryside, or met someone who owned a horse, in person before?
- Kids in these movies are almost always annoying. The one here is a little less so than most, but they're always the worst actors and usually impossibly ugly, yet people pretend like they're just the greatest little shits ever.
OVERALL RATING: 4.5/10
TRAILER
No comments:
Post a Comment