'Christmas in the Wilds (2021)

Opening thoughts: Love Christmas with all my heart. Love the fun and nostalgia it brings, and cherish all the time spent with family and friends every year. Decided in 2019 to see some newly released (at that time) Christmas films to broaden my Christmas film horizons (namely those from Hallmark and Lifetime), this turned into a quest that is still ongoing. Feelings have been extremely mixed doing this and even when trying to take them for what they're meant to be some have been lacking (though there have been some surprisingly good ones too).

UPTV were responsible for quite a number of above average films, Christmas and not, but they were also responsible for a fair share of misses. When they missed, they did so big time. 'Christmas in the Wild', and its predecessor 'Romance in the Wild', is a fine example of them missing big time. It is down there as among the worst Christmas films seen recently, and manages to repeat all of its predecessor's flaws (in a film that had almost nothing good it) and just as badly.

Good things: 'Christmas in the Wild' has some nice scenery, but that is it with the praise.

Bad things: Despite the scenery being nice, it is wasted by the disorganised editing that constanty jumps around and the poorly framed and equally chaotic photography. The direction lacks focus and never seemed to be in complete control or that engaged with the material.

Which in itself is incredibly weak. The dialogue throughout is cheese ridden, is very flat and never flows. The story never picks up momentum, suffers from a complete lack of tension and has no charm or heart. There is little Christmassy about it and everything is taken too seriously.

The characters with no exception had little to no development and had bland or/and grating personalities, with exaggerated negative traits and groan inducing decision making. Calling the acting bad is being generous, nobody looks comfortable and it was like the cast knew the material was bad and decides to not try.

Closing thoughts: Overall, very poor.

2/10.

I admit I've never been to Ohio. But whoever decided to claim that this movie is set there just randomly chose a state's name out of a hat. When I saw an Ohio license plate I guffawed. Ohio prominently displayed on a map reinforced the setting as avalanche probe, pine tree filled, wolf infested Ohio.

Despite that, this was sweet and cute. I love me a low stakes Christmas movie. And while this clearly isn't Ohio, it, at least, isn't a Christmas movie filmed in 60 degree weather. Seeing someone's breath outside? There's a concept!

Yes, it's a bit banal as someone noted. However it includes characters that I was happy to spend a little time with. Not great, but decent.

Boring story with little coherence other than trying to bring Buck and Jessica back together in time for Christmas. Other than the deadline, and decorating one tree, there isn't much about Christmas. Most of the movie is a long string of mishaps keeping the couple apart. Literally one after another. The is some potential friction as Meg tries to woo Buck, but he is so clearly not having it while he spouts half-hearted praises of Jessica. There are brief snippets of side stories such as Roma and the dog Charlie, Jeanine stressing over her son's girlfriend Jessica and some kids trying to cut down one of the park's trees turning Jeanine into bad cop.

The acting is poor all around. Kaitlyn Leeb's Jessica is appealing as the girlfriend, but her chemistry with Victor Zinck Jr. Is minimal. Most of the dialogue is banal.