LAST VERMONT CHRISTMAS(TV)
(director: David Jackson; screenwriter: Blaine Chiapetta; cinematographer: Brian Shanley; editor: Angela Gamboa Bryant; music: Claude Foisy; cast: Erin Cahill (Megan), Justin Bruening (Nash), Catherine Corcoran (Audrey), Rachel Rhodes-Devey (Bethany), Samarah Conley (Ivy), Chantal Maurice (Lane), Jim O’Hare (Daniel), Ann Osmond (Peggy), Rob Figueroa (George), Alan Pontes (Brandon); Runtime: 75; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Danny Roth/Damiano Tucci; MarVista Entertainment/Hallmark Movies & Mysteries; 2018)
“It’s about as deep as a Hallmark card.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
An inspirational family drama on Christmas. The TV movie airs on the Hallmark Movies & Mystery network. It’s directed by David Jackson (“Off the Rails”/”Cup of Love”) and written by Blaine Chiapetta. It’s about as deep as a Hallmark card. Every Christmas the Marvin family of Woodstock, Vermont, gather together to celebrate the holiday in the house of the parents (Ann Osmond & Jim O’Hare). The three grown-up sisters–the recent widowed chef mom Megan (Erin Cahill), the lawyer Bethany (Rachel Rhodes-Devey) and the youngest music student Audrey ( Catherine Corcoran)– return to their parents house and enjoy bonding together and having a traditional Christmas. Megan comes from her home in Austin and brings along her young daughter Ivy (Samarah Conley), Bethany drives over with her husband George (Rob Figueroa) and Audrey drops out of a Nashville music school to stay on with her parents for the last few months. The sisters love celebrating the holiday at their parents house and are disappointed their retired parents want to sell the house and move to Arizona. The further surprise is that the buyer of the house is Nash (Justin Bruening), the bachelor high school boyfriend of Megan’s. He wants to use the house as an investment property, where he can flip it. The characters bake cookies, sing Christmas carols on Main Street and buy a Christmas tree together. Megan and Nash rekindle their friendship, but she’s undecided to commit to him and not sure if she wants to come back home for good. He becomes unsure if he wants to buy the house, seeing how much it means to the sisters. But things work themselves out and there’s a happy ending.
REVIEWED ON 11/23/2018 GRADE: C+ https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/