Others have summed up 'Christmas in Tennessee' very well, both its good and not so good points. The former of which there is thankfully more of, even though it is a long way from flawless it does well in achieving its primary aims of being light-hearted undemanding entertainment and a pleasant enough diversion. It is not easy with every Hallmark/Lifetime Christmas film to not take things too seriously and take it for what it is, dependent on how bad the flaws are, it was thankfully easy here.
As far as the Hallmark/Lifetime Christmas films go, of which there are countless existing and some are (much) better than others, 'Christmas in Tennessee' is one of the solid high middle ones. If the story was balanced a little better than it was, with the different story elements being equally focused and the right ones given primary focus, it could have been one of the best and was quite close to being. There was more than enough to it to make me feel satisfied watching.
'Christmas in Tennessee', as said, could have balanced its story better. The business angle is focused on too much and at the end of the day didn't end up fitting that well with the rest of the film. It complicated the storytelling somewhat and the film lost its momentum. A shame because the romance and Santa elements are handled very nicely but could have been utilised more, particularly the romance.
Some of the dialogue is on the soapy side and because of not being focused on enough the romantic chemistry didn't feel fully formed.
The acting is better than average though and often quite good for this sort of film, where this component has been a mixed success (meaning either extreme of good or bad or uneven). The two leads' chemistry does have enough moments of charm and doesn't look awkward. The Santa plotline is where the film is at its strongest, with it injecting much spice and warmth without getting too sappy. The story is not perfect but it didn't feel dull generally and was light-hearted and heart-warming.
While not awards-worthy (nor is it that sort of film), the production values are pleasing and for a made for television film there is nothing really amateurish about it. The music is a pleasant listen and is used well, while any comedy didn't feel overdone and the more serious ones not ham-handed or too sickly.
Overall, quite good. 7/10
As far as the Hallmark/Lifetime Christmas films go, of which there are countless existing and some are (much) better than others, 'Christmas in Tennessee' is one of the solid high middle ones. If the story was balanced a little better than it was, with the different story elements being equally focused and the right ones given primary focus, it could have been one of the best and was quite close to being. There was more than enough to it to make me feel satisfied watching.
'Christmas in Tennessee', as said, could have balanced its story better. The business angle is focused on too much and at the end of the day didn't end up fitting that well with the rest of the film. It complicated the storytelling somewhat and the film lost its momentum. A shame because the romance and Santa elements are handled very nicely but could have been utilised more, particularly the romance.
Some of the dialogue is on the soapy side and because of not being focused on enough the romantic chemistry didn't feel fully formed.
The acting is better than average though and often quite good for this sort of film, where this component has been a mixed success (meaning either extreme of good or bad or uneven). The two leads' chemistry does have enough moments of charm and doesn't look awkward. The Santa plotline is where the film is at its strongest, with it injecting much spice and warmth without getting too sappy. The story is not perfect but it didn't feel dull generally and was light-hearted and heart-warming.
While not awards-worthy (nor is it that sort of film), the production values are pleasing and for a made for television film there is nothing really amateurish about it. The music is a pleasant listen and is used well, while any comedy didn't feel overdone and the more serious ones not ham-handed or too sickly.
Overall, quite good. 7/10