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"Christmas Scavenger Hunt" is part of Hallmark's 2019 Countdown to Christmas special. The network created 40 original films between its two channels. With that quantity, the quality of each individual release is sure to suffer. This film is no exception to that general rule.
Lifetime released a film with a similar premise to this one called "Christmas in Louisiana" this year. In both films, a young woman returns to her hometown and gets back together with her ex boyfriend. The Hallmark version of this plot is a little better acted. The leading lady, Kim Shaw, has a somewhat snarky personality. She seems more cynical than these films' ladies usually are. The male actor, Kevin McGarry, is a standard Hot Guy. I felt Kim was emotive enough for me to root for her even if her beau is a bore.
This in comparison to the Lifetime film is weird. "Christmas in Louisiana" is not as well acted by its leading character despite being generally better film overall. The male lead there is enthusiastic and playful. Good qualities for any would-be future boyfriend who used to be your ex. I also admired that film's portrayal of its small town. The film was set in a real place, and we saw several images of it. In "Christmas Scavenger Hunt" the film town is just a set taking place in no real space. At least there is a nice panoramic shot at the end and real snow is present.
Like its poor sense of place, "Christmas Scavenger Hunt" suffers from the lack of plot problem a lot of Hallmark's films have this year. So the man and woman have to get together and there must be plenty of Christmas scenes. Why not add a rival love interest or something to drive these two apart a little. Instead, we get ever Christmas cliche we've seen before and then a throwaway backstory to bring them together. The whole film is either lazy or rushed or both.
score 2/10
doctorsmoothlove 6 December 2019
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw5302701/ |
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19-1-2020 11:17:04