Alicia Witt has made a good living over the past decade or so by appearing in a LOT of TV movies, mainly ones set during the Christmas period. There may be some stars who have headlined more titles, although I haven't done any actual counting to make sure, but she definitely feels like someone who sits quite high up on the tree.
Here she plays Melody, a successful country music star who is stunned when an old friend accuses her of plagiarism once her latest hit starts to be played on the radio. Melody knows that she wrote the song when she was a teenager, but finding evidence of that means finding the original music. Which means, yep, returning home for the holidays. That inevitably leads to her repeatedly bumping into an old flame, Chase (Brendan Hines). The plot develops in an obvious and predictable way, the memory/spirit of a dead parent casts a large shadow over proceedings, and there's a pleasant song or two sprinkled throughout the soundtrack.
As is so often the case with these comforting Christmas movies, director Gary Yates and writer Julie Sherman Wolfe (expanding on a story by Nancy Grace and Josh Sabarra) have an extensive list of other Christmas movies in their credits already. They know the formula, they know how to put every piece in place, from the overly earnest nature of almost every character to the ever-present layer of sentimentality, and they know what viewers want from this kind of thing. We want snow, we want people drinking hot chocolate and eating cookies, and we can even stomach main characters who act in a way that is almost too good to be true.
It's not the best turn I have seen from Witt, but she can't really go wrong in this type of role. As likeable and easygoing a presence as she is, she doesn't convince as much in the role of country singer made good. It's not enough to unbalance the whole movie though, mainly because she's still Alicia Witt. Hines is a decent enough male lead, carrying a tiny spark of actual personality that allows him to edge ahead of so many other bland options I've seen in these types of movies. There's also a fun little turn from Andrea del Campo, playing Jillian, the sister of Melody, Ava Darrach-Gagnon is equally enjoyable as Dot, the sister of Chase, and Anna Anderson-Epp is given the role of over-enthusiastic and grinning child, Lucy (Melody's niece). Karen Kruper is Connie and Curtis Moore is Burt, Connie's manager, the people who approach Melody with their accusation of plagiarism.
There are very few of these movies that I would rush to rewatch. As I've said many times before, they're created to be pleasant "background noise" while you decorate the tree, wrap presents, and do whatever else you need to do on the run up to Christmas Day. I did like this one though, perhaps because I am predisposed to like any TV movie with Witt in a lead role. The central concept was a good way to have the main character revisit some key moments from her past, even if the whole thing could have been wrapped up within minutes.
This is definitely not the last film with a lead role for Witt that I will be seeing this year.
6/10
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