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Christmas On Cherry Lane

By Golu
Its that time of the year again when multiple Christmas movies are shown on various TV channels here in US and since last couple of years we have seen Hallmark channel bring open to add gay storylines to their holiday films. We see three different families tying to celebrate Christmas in the Cherry lane neighborhood and it's only after 10-15 minutes we are told that we are seeing these three families in three different time periods. Now, the film definitely had my interest. More on that later, but remember that this is a holiday film and in more of then than notches, sometimes you leave logic and brain behind and try and enjoy the spirit of the festival and review movies keeping that in mind.

Three different families prepare to celebrate Christmas whilst living on Cherry Lane. There’s mechanic John and his pregnant wife Lizzie in 1973. Then there’s retiring high school principal Regina, her new fiancé Nelson, and her young adult kids Conrad and Winnie and the time is sometime 90s. Lastly, there’s our awaited gay couple in 2023, professional chef Mike and his music manager husband Zian also known as Sam.  John and Lizzie just moved onto Cherry Lane the previous day and are trying to juggle getting settled with hosting a big family dinner and preparing for the imminent birth of their first child. Regina reveals to her children that she’s gotten engaged to Nelson and that she’s going to retire from her job, sell the family home on Cherry Lane, and move to Florida after this last Christmas there. Mike and Zian struggle to prepare for their first Christmas at Cherry Lane whilst contractors finish remodeling the kitchen, all while they prepare to meet their new foster daughter who will spend the holidays with them. Through it all, we jump through the various timelines to learn that the different families are connected in surprising ways beyond just living on the same street.

As you can see that the film is not strictly a gay film per say, but to my surprise this is the only holiday film so far that I am aware of this year which has any gay plot or sub-plot. Anyway, the one thing interesting about the film is for sure that  happen in three timelines where we as viewers try to figure out how they are interconnected. This film is definitely not the story of three generations of a family set 20ish years apart. Instead, connecting most of these characters by friendship and a spiritual family bond emphasizes the importance of goodwill towards your neighbors (actual ones and universal ones). Sadly, none of the storylines in the three timelines are engaging enough. Maybe just the gay storyline where you feel the stress and excitement of not having their kitchen ready and sudden news of a foster child coming their home on Christmas Eve. The other two stories feel too low stakes that they become tedious and boring. You know this is the kind of film where everyone is like high on caffeine with too much infectious holiday energy, but these stories just don't have any meat. The ending also felt bit rushed, I think a seamless flow between the three timelines would probably have made more impact. Its commendable that Hallmark channel tried to do something very different this time, but besides the plot there is nothing in the way characters talk or behave or the sets that could help the audience differentiate between the three timelines, which is also a major hindrance. They all feel like are happening at the same time. Overall you may still enjoy the film while being in holiday spirit, but if the saw the film in isolation, it really doesn't offer much sadly. (4/10)
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