Out of Nowhere Springs Hope
"The Town Christmas Forgot" is another one of those made for TV Christmas movies which you might not have watched but will recognize the story or in fact stories because we have two going on here. On one hand we have a tale of a family who are so wrapped up in their own busy lives and their latest gadgets that they've forgotten the joy of simple living. And alongside that we have the tale of a town which is dying as businesses are forced to close and hope has all but dried up. It means that "The Town Christmas Forgot" is predictable but as Christmas movies go entertaining even if some of the performances are a bit hit n miss.
As the Benson family head to Colorado for a Christmas skiing holiday, Annie (Lauren Holly - Too Late to Say Goodbye) is busy on her cell phone doing business whilst her husband Charlie (Rick Roberts - Man of the Year) is playing with the sat-nav and their daughter Trish (Torri Webster) is plugged into her MP3 and son Nolan (Azer Greco) is trying not to annoy his sister. But when their fancy SUV breaks down they find themselves forced to stay in the forgotten town of Nowhere, a dying small town where hope is all but gone as businesses struggle to survive. Struggle is how it is for the Benson's as they learn that car parts won't arrive for a couple of days and with no phone reception, computers, internet or even cable there is nothing to do. But slowly each of the Benson's discover the joy of the simple life whilst also learning what Nowhere needs to find hope again.
So "The Town Christmas Forgot" is as cliche as they come as we have the two predictable storylines going on, that of the Benson's learning to appreciate simple things again and at the same time trying to help the town of Nowhere. But whilst it is predictable and frankly incredibly corny, what else do you expect from a Christmas movie, it is fun as we have Annie helping Sam with the town pageant, Charles finding joy helping in a soup kitchen, Trish making friends with the singer of a school rock band and Nolan making a friend of the grumpy old man who owns the closed down toy shop.
The thing is "The Town Christmas Forgot" is intentionally corny from the over acting through to the cheesy acts which perform in the pageant and when you embrace the fact it is doing it intentionally it is fun, in a groan out loud sort of way. And whilst cheesy it also delivers an ample spoonful of sweet and saccharine especially as we have a few sing a long a carol moments. But because we are talking a made for TV Christmas movie it is expected and it is a fun, feel good bit of Christmas fluff which doesn't try to moralise over the despair of struggling small towns.
The only let down is some of the acting as whilst Lauren Holly is good as Annie Benson some of the over acting from others is too over the top. It sadly spoils a couple of the scenes as face pulling becomes wrong and gestures are too fake even for a movie which intentionally embraces the corny side.
What this all boils down to is that as made for TV Christmas movies go "The Town Christmas Forgot" is average, it is a fun feel good movie which will make you smile and put you in a bit of a festive mood. But it is unoriginal and intentionally cheesy so unless you embrace the big ball of festive Edam you won't enjoy it.
Tags: TV Christmas Movies, Christmas Movies
