Since it’s the Christmas Season, and there’s been some coverage of holiday films on here, it’s only fitting that I do a review on a film I recently saw. Of course, someone recommended it to me because they were in it, but I’ve never been too big on holiday films, especially ones nowadays because they’re mostly all from Hallmark and they’re all somewhat the same like a song that gets cover after cover. Still, I decided to give it a try. Was it worth it? Read on and let’s see.
Christmas Retreat starts out with workaholic Kim (Rhiannon Fish) doing work even during a Christmas party. Wow, it nails one of my personality traits already. Her co-worker and her mother persuade Kim to take some time off but she’s too fixated on her phone to even care. One night while hailing a taxi she crosses paths with another busy person named Mark (Clayton James) and it’s obvious the two have issues with each other at first. Oh my, what could happen if they meet again? Next morning, Kim is coaxed by her mother Mary (Lynn Whyte) to head to the resort because she’s too upset her fiancee Steven (Jonathan Hawley Purvis) won’t marry her with her being busy all the time. Mark ends up having to go too because Kim made him late for his meeting and his boss favours his inexperienced son over Mark firing him so he needs to clear his mind too. While up there, Mary and Kim meet Mark and his sister Rae (Carly Fawcett) who runs the whole thing and Mary reconnects with her friend Celeste (Vanessa Lynn) who has brought along her big brother Ted (James MacDonald), a retired photographer. From there, everyone gets settled in and rule #1 at the resort is no electronic devices of any kind. Kim does the age-old cellphone in the sock because she still has work to attend to from time to time and she’s trying to reconnect with Steven. Mark catches her outside with her phone at one moment and she points out that he still has his as well. The two come to a truce and decide not to rat each other out… at least not until much later. From there, it’s on with the Christmas-based activities including making gingerbread houses, wreaths, and listening to stories about memories or anything Christmas-related. What else really? Except for the predictable love scenario as Kim and Mark slowly develop feelings for each other, and the same thing seems to be happening with Mary and Ted. 7 days go by kind of slowly for both of them but somehow they manage through it, getting to know each other better in a flapjack restaurant and what happens in the end? Does Kim finally reconnect with Steven and figure things out? What about Mark? Has he found himself a newer job where his boss doesn’t replace him with a family member? Did I mention that it’s Christmas?
If you ask me, it’s kind of predictable. Not just the ending, the whole thing. Sure, it’s got some differences compared to the usual movies but they’re not highly noticeable. The two main characters themselves aren’t the most likeable either. In fact seeing them fight was kind of annoying and then as they got friendlier, it was obvious where things were going. I wasn’t the least bit fazed. Some of the other characters like Rae and Celeste had some quirks but they just weren’t around for too long, they were just there. Everyone else was either obsolete or interesting in a small sense. However, it was kind of surreal seeing a movie in the mountains, as I haven’t seen something like that in a long time, so the setting was kind of neat. But Christmas movies just don’t seem to work for me. This one was an overdone plot with very few changes to the basic formula. Needed some work, but since it’s the holiday season, maybe I’ll be a bit generous with the rating.
