A Christmas Solo - Holiday Movie Musings

 

I was hunting for the Rob Lowe holiday movie “The Christmas Shoes” when I came across this recommendation on Amazon Prime: A Christmas Solo. This one was free, so it won out.

New girl moves to town with her Mom (no father in the picture), and instantly becomes the mortal enemy of a girl who no longer has a Mom. Newly moved-in girl sings well enough to win the coveted solo role in the traditional town pageant, edging out the shoe-in that is Angry Motherless Girl.

Of course, the additional foil is that single mom and single Dad hit it off immediately, sparking a romance that is at odds with angry-girl’s hatred of the new girl. Anger intensifies!! Bad things happen, parents have a falling out, will the pageant be saved?

Honestly, not as bad as I am making it sound. The acting is good, the dialogue is better than most, the side-characters are given equal attention to good character building and dialogue, and the resolution and message at the end—while a bit cheesy even for a holiday movie—is sweet.

This won’t pluck your holiday heart-strings, however. Other than it being set at Christmas (with rather detailed interior holiday home decor for single parents of teens), and the foil between the main characters being a holiday performance, there isn’t much else here to raise your holiday spirits. It’s a cute enough movie, but you can do better if you’re looking for a little Christmas cheer.

Fine, can take it or leave it.

Amazon Prime.