Written by: Joie Botkin
Starring: Candace Cameron Bure, Barbara Niven, John Brotherton, BJ Harrison
Rating: [3/5]
Christmas elicits plenty of positive emotions in the world whether one believes in the consumerism of the holiday, the religious aspect, or the family bonding element. It smoothes over the edges of many things, which also includes a competitive contest. Through this Hallmark feature, The Christmas Contest brings enough sincerity to its story with a winning couple at the center despite the trappings of its producer.
When the local town has a contest centered on the Christmas season with a prize going towards their charity of choice, Lara (Candace Cameron Bure) must take on her ex-boyfriend Ben (John Brotherton) as they battle it out. As they compete they begin to realize their appreciation for Christmas coincides more than initially anticipated.
As with all Hallmark Christmas movies, entering a viewing experience with one of them comes with distinct expectations of what you can expect regarding the quality of the filmmaking. These films obviously operate on fairly tidy budgets as this channel pumps tens of these movies out every Christmas season. With the proper expectations hit, The Christmas Contest mostly works because of the soul of the film as it hits enough of the right notes to exemplify the best these films can do with their entertainment and elicit this warmth that comes with this joyous time of the year.
The stakes involved in this film center on which of these two will win and which charity the grand prize will go to. On the other hand, the relationship between Lara and Ben has the potential to reignite after initially breaking up on not-so-amicable terms. This context gives them the opportunity to see a different side of each other and ultimately the more important one as they partake in all of these events for this television news station. Candace Cameron Bure and John Brotherton prove to be a great duo to portray these characters and bring them to life even with the cheesiness of the script because they know exactly what they’re doing and absolutely have fun with what the material provides.
The love between the two leads carries much of the significance of the plot but in addition, we see how Lara and Ben relate to the charities they hope the funds go to should they win. Ben certainly undergoes an arc where his initial intentions take him to partially use this event to revitalize his career as an athlete. A motivation receives some alteration in the end when he sees the true meaning of what impact he has in partaking in this event. Then we have Lara, who seeks to help the Senior Center that her mother frequents. Lara initially needs some convincing to even begin her involvement in this contest, but the connection it fortifies with her mother makes for something incredibly sweet and ultimately helps in winning me over outside of the more generic fare this feature provides.
As for the events within the contest, they definitely go hard in the ways they celebrate Christmas, which includes making a significantly sized and decorated gingerbread house. Everything in it has some extreme wholesomeness and the kind and calm competitive nature side on the much calmer side of the holiday. Certainly, money’s on the line with this competition but with it going to charity, it doesn’t allow this contest to turn into some dirty scrap with those cutting corners and doing whatever possible to ensure they leave victorious. The kindness remains throughout and evidently more than friendly when it comes to Lara and Ben as they continue to build up to possibly coming together once again because of the experience.
All you can expect from a Hallmark movie, The Christmas Contest does well in crafting a kind, warm, and fun story with some pleasant characters. Certainly, a film one could throw on in the build-up to Christmas and attain all of the warm and fuzzy feelings one seeks as it shows the meaning of the holiday and what it ultimately means to these characters. We witness some growth amongst characters like Ben with his own personal selfishness as well as the opening of the heart to fully embrace the holiday for Lara. A complete winner for this particular genre of substandard filmmaking.
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