Director: Shaun Piccinino
Writer: Lauren Swickard
Starring: Lauren Swickard, Josh Swickard, Ali Afshar, and David Del Rio
This one is yet another tired entry into the “save the
family farm” trope, but this one takes things to such ridiculous extremes that
it can be difficult to watch at times. However, it’s (partially) saved by the
two leads (spouses in real life), who deliver tour-de-force performances…at
least, as far as cheesy holiday romances are concerned.
Josh Swickard is Joseph, a very attractive man who clearly
has no trouble with the ladies. He works for his overbearing mother (surprise!),
buying up land from people to---one can only presume—turn them into casinos, or
resorts, or some other lofty venture. His latest task is to secure the land
owned by Callie and her family, in exchange for some cold, hard cash. Now, in
reality, this would probably be a very mutually beneficial situation: Callie’s
family farm is wracked with debt, her fiancé and father died in the same car
crash, and her mother is (voluntarily) dying of cancer—I’d say that would be
the perfect time to just say “fuck it” and move on from the family business.
But good ol’ Callie (Lauren Swickard) is an “all-American”
girl, and she’d rather join everyone else around her in death before she gives
in to the greed of some land developer looking to make a few bucks at her
expense, no matter how desperately she could actually use it.
Through a weird series of events, Callie confuses the
all-white Joseph for Manny, a ranch hand who is supposed to start working on
their farm. Joseph clearly has never worked manual labor a single day in his
life, but Callie doesn’t really seem to notice, as she informs him that some
“suit” is supposed to visit her to make her family an offer on the farm.
Sensing her hostility, Joseph decides it’s best to just continue to pretend
he’s someone he’s not, in order to eventually get what he thinks he wants (to
get her to sell the land), but then realizes that it isn’t at all what he
wants.
This trope-a-thon throws every sad cliché it possibly can
toward the viewer, and it makes for a rather frustrating experience. While
Callie is clearly made to look like the “tough family leader”, there just comes
a point where you have to throw in the towel for her and tell her to move on. I
get that she has “pride” in the farm, but when even your own (dying, may we
remind you) mother is on-board with selling it, maybe it’s time to just take a
little hint. Sure, it was once the family business, but times
change—certainly your dead family members would realize that, and want you to
be happy above living in poverty just to continue the family tradition.
Beyond the palpable yearning of the leads, the movie also
finds some footing in the relationship between Joseph’s assistant, and the real
Manny (who of course the assistant happens to stumble on, because the towns in
these movies are so small that only the cast can fit in them). At first, it
becomes merely a business proposition: the assistant pays Manny $3,000 to keep
his mouth shut, and to not report to work, something he has little problem
with. But despite making us believe the story is going to go one way (that
Manny will continue to blackmail them to keep getting what he wants), it
settles down; the assistant, who basically lives with him for the week, and the
Americanized Mexican man become good friends. Their relationship is pretty
familiar, thanks to lazy writing, but the cast helps elevate it into another
bright point for a movie that sorely needs them.
In the end, this is a promising movie that is undone by the
“throw everything and hope it sticks” method that was apparently undertaken by
the filmmakers. However, some of it does manage to stick, and that - along with the outstanding lead performances (especially Lauren Swickard, as Callie) - are what elevate this above some similar fare. However slightly.
STRAY OBSERVATIONS
- Beyond the tropes listed above, there’s also a kid involved, my least favorite of all tropes. Her character isn’t all that annoying, but she still feels pointless by default, the way kids usually are.
- Of course Callie’s dead fiance’s best friend—who wants desperately to court her now that his friend is out of the picture—is the one who pieces everything together, leading to the obligatory, completely misguided, fight.
- This one might set a record for “most interrupted attempts to tell a person the truth”, as Joseph tries three times to reveal his true identity to Callie, only to get cold feet each time.
- They bang! It’s amazing to me how many Christmas movies just want to be so “wholesome” that they neglect the inclusion of the most romantic, passionate act two lovers can engage in. (Although the fact they're married in real life also probably helped.)
- The strongest part of the movie is also its weakest link: Lauren Swickard (who, for the third time, plays Callie) also wrote the shitty script! Come on, Lauren! Next time write a story that matches your performance!
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