Have said many times about my love of Christmas and getting a lot of pleasure out of in particular watching films, cartoons and specials during this period, something that most years has been much needed. Wanted to see some more festive films that were more recent, lower in budget and were not childhood favourites, so in a way to broaden my horizons and have been doing so since November 2019. The idea sounded nice and a couple of the plot strands had a good deal of potential.
Potential that is not really done anything with. There are a few good things but also unfortunately too much bad for me to recommend. As far as Christmas films go, there are certainly far worse out there that fare even worse in the acting and storytelling stakes. There are also a lot better, that have a lot more charm and spark. There have actually been some good Christmas films out there seen in the past four years, so me disliking 'Mistletoe and Molly' is not being said with bias.
'Mistletoe and Molly' does have a few good things. It is an attractive looking film, with the scenery being beautiful. The soundtrack is pleasant and suitably festive.
There are moments of easy going charm with Zach Smadu.
Unfortunately that is pretty much it. Eden Broda's acting is limited to about two expressions, the most frequent one being that of being perpetually stunned. She and Smadu have no spark or chemistry together, too distant, and the relationship never develops. The supporting cast are poor, with a lot of wooden, motionless line delivery going on. Especially Shane Marriott. The chemistry between the whole cast is disconnected and none of the characters are fleshed out enough to care, just bland. The direction is routine.
Furthermore, the writing is too often stilted and forced especially in the very slow going beginning. Tonally, it's unfocused, taking itself too seriously to be light hearted and the lack of interesting characters and underwritten storytelling stops it from having any charm or heart. The story is predictable, when there is signs of any, and is very dully paced. There was potential for the film to have a lot of heart, like the father and daughter relationship, but that also doesn't develop and feels shoehorned in at a point in the story where the placement feels awkward. Anything to give the female lead character development is practically neglected after being briefly introduced, so the film feels incredibly bland and incomplete feeling as a result.
All in all, dull and has very little to it. 3/10.
