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Hallmark’s “Christmas Camp”

“Christmas Camp” aired July 11, 2019 on the Hallmark Channel as part of their Christmas in July celebration and the fact that we’re halfway to Christmas makes me VERY. HAPPY. INDEED. This movie starred Lily Anne Harrison and Bobby Campo in an around the Hudson Valley in New York. The house in the movie is The Inn at Pine Plains.

In a nutshell

I wanted to love this movie. It’s Christmas in a July. It’s my appetizer before the big holiday meal. And yet while I love seeing some of my favorite tropes finally back on my TV screen, this movie fell a bit flat for me.

Plot

Hoping to earn a promotion at the advertising firm where she works, Haley is sent by her boss to a Christmas Camp to help her figure out how to connect with her new client – a toy company – and create a winning Christmas ad campaign. While at the camp, Haley connects with fellow campers, and especially the camp director’s son, Jeff. Will Haley figure out that the holidays shouldn’t just be a time to work?

Actors

Lily Anne Harrison is brand new to Hallmark and somewhat new to acting. She has only been in ten movies, according to her iMDb, and only in the past 10 years. However, I liked her in this and since she is the daughter of Gregory Harrison (a familiar Hallmark supporting actor who has been around for decades), I suspect she’ll be in many more going forward. I liked her energy. Bobby Campo should be familiar to anyone who watches Hallmark. He’s been in several of the network’s movies, with “Snow Bride” being his first one. As for connections to Kris Polaha, Bobby Campo is only two degrees away. Campo starred in 2012’s “General Education” with McKaley Miller, who co-starred with Polaha in 2014’s “Where Hope Grows” (a movie I loved and think everyone should see).

Chemistry

Campo and Harrison played well off each other for the most part. The problem is that the romantic aspect came out of nowhere. I know we only get 90 minutes for them to meet, get to know each other, grow feelings and have a happily ever after, but for the first 30-45 minutes of the movie I only got a friend vibe from Haley and Jeff. So when a fellow camper at some point nudges Haley and implies there’s a spark, my thought was, “What couple is SHE watching?”

Feelgoods

I so wanted to have a feelgood moment in this movie, but because everything was so obvious, it left me cold and other than loving all the CHRISTMAS on my tv screen, I had no feelgood moments. More on that in a bit.

Tropes

Y’all, there were a TON of tropes. That made me a happy, happy girl. I pulled out my Holiday Movie bingo cards to play a round and I ended up covering 9 spots (not including the free space). Let’s see, there was a promotion on the line at her ad agency. At camp they did a ton – they decorated a Christmas tree, they had a snowball fight, they made snow angels, there was some baking (although we only saw the finished product), and there was a special ornament to put on the tree (the framed picture).

Not only that, we had the obligatory almost-kiss AND the final kiss featured a covered porch AND sudden snowfall. Lastly, the movie featured an 80s tv star in John James, who was on “Dynasty” in the 1980s. Oh, how I love my tropes.

Did I Hear/See That Right?

Oh my word, this movie had some many questionnable things – and this totally dragged down the final score for this movie. It was absurd how many notes I took on this one. Let’s go through a few of them.

Early in the movie all the campers are supposed to write their Christmas wishes down in paper. They are all sitting around a table. And rather than do the task, Jeff proceeds to chat up Haley and make small talk while everyone else at the small dining table is absorbed in their task. Clearly if I was seated at a table for 8 people and two people began chatting it would be very distracting. Not at Christmas Camp, apparently!

The tree that Haley cuts down in the forest is clearly 1) not planted in the ground and 2) painted white. How do I know this? BEcause painted tree were heavily featured in this movie. See the picture a few paragraphs up? Notice the white trees in front, and the green trees in the back. Does snow only fall on SOME trees in a forested area? Is that how snow works?

She supposedly takes Max the dog on morning walks, but the “walk” consists of sitting on a park bench. My dog would not be happy if I took him out for a walk and then just sat in a chair on the porch.

They did this weird snowball task where they had the throw a snowball at a painted sign and talk about what they learned at Christmas Camp. The problem is, they did that task halfway through camp BEFORE they completed all their daily tasks. Shouldn’t they do this on the LAST day of Christmas Camp?

They had a graduation party on the last night. Now, all through the week we had seen the same batch of people participating in the camp. A widow with a son away with the Marines, a newlywed couple, and a single dad with his two kids. But on graduation night there were all these random people suddenly dancing in the living room to celebrate the end of camp. Who were these people that we’ve never seen before?

There were a few more, but those are some of the highlights.

Re-watchability

Even though it’s my favorite type of Hallmark movie, and even though the leads were likeable, I do not thing I’ll watch this movie again. Certainly not anytime soon because according to the Hallmark Channel website, they are not airing this one again in July.

The Ranking

So where does it fit in the rankings? I’m afraid it’s in the lower third for the year, even with some of the Christmas tropes I love so much.

Winter Love Story (air date: January 19) – 685 pts – weighted score: 115.8 (81.2%)
Love to the Rescue (air date: March 23) – 679 pts – weighted score: 115.4 (80.9%)
Mystery 101 (air date: January 27 (HMM)) – 454 pts – weighted score: 94.2 (80.5%)
Love on the Menu (air date: February 23) – 642 pts – weighted score: 113.8 (79.9%)
Bottled With Love (air date: April 13) – 649 pts – weighted score: 112.2 (78.7%)
Love Takes Flight (air date: April 27) – 670 pts – weighted score: 111.0 (77.9%)
Love, Romance & Chocolate (air date: February 16) – 627 pts – weighted score: 110.2 (77.3%)
The Last Bridesmaid (air date: June 22) – 643 pts – weighted score: 109.2 (76.6%)
Paris, Wine & Romance (air date: May 4) – 638 pts – weighted score: 108.3 (76.0%)
My Boyfriend’s Back: Wedding March 5 (air date: June 8) – 635 pts – weighted score: 108.0 (75.8%)
Flip That Romance (air date: March 16) – 597 pts – weighted score: 105.8 (74.2%)
Mystery 101: Playing Dead (air date: June 23 (HMM)) – 425 pts – weighted score: 86.5 (73.9%)
True Love Blooms (air date: April 6) – 598 pts – weighted score: 103.1 (72.3%)
The Story of Us (air date: February 9) – 605 pts – weighted score: 101.3 (71.1%)
A Brush with Love (air date: March 30) – 563 pts – weighted score: 97.7 (68.6%)
Ruby Herring: Silent Witness (air date: January 20 (HMM)) – 357 pts – weighted score: 79.5 (67.9%)
Love, Unleashed (air date: July 6, 2019) – 559 pts – weighted score: 96.2 (67.5%)
Love Under the Rainbow (air date: March 9) – 581 pts – weighted score: 96.0 (67.4%)
One Winter Proposal (air date: January 12) – 535 pts – weighted score: 95.8 (67.2%)
Just Add Romance (air date: March 2) – 548 pts – weighted score: 95.6 (67.1%)
From Friend to Fiance (air date: May 25) – 555 pts – weighted score: 94.8% (66.5%)
Christmas Camp (air date: July 11) – 530 pts – weighted score: 93.9 (65.9%)
Crossword Mysteries: A Puzzle to Die For (air date: March 10 (HMM) – 354 pts – weighted score: 74.1 (63.3%)
Sister of the Bride (air date: June 29) – 516 pts – weighted score: 89.8 (63.0%)
Valentine in the Vineyard (air date: February 2) – 503 pts – weighted score: 89.5 (62.8%)
Love, Take Two (air date: June 15) – 507 pts – weighted score: 87.8 (61.6%)
Snowcoming (air date: January 26) – 485 pts – weighted score: 87.3 (61.2%)
The Winter Castle (air date: January 5) – 475 pts – weighted score: 85.9 (60.2%)
Sailing Into Love (air date: May 18) – 455 pts – weighted score: 78.0 (54.7%)
A Winter Princess (air date: January 18) – 380 pts – weighted score: 70.5 (49.5%)
A Feeling of Home (air date: May 11) – 386 pts – weighted score: 69.7% (48.9%)
Love in the Sun (air date: June 1) – 361 pts – weighted score: 62.5 (43.8%)