“Mistletoe in Montana” is a family film that will entertain people of all ages.
Click here to watch “Mistletoe in Montana” on Amazon
TITLE: Mistletoe in Montana
FILM YEAR: 2021
DURATION: 83 Minutes
COMPANY: Lifetime Television
Directed by Kellie Martin
Written by Don Perez
Produced by Jemma Jones
Executive Producer: Leslie Gilliams, Melissa Joan Hart, Paula Hart
Music by Felix Bird
Edited by Rob Pallatina
Casting by Rick Millikan
Production Design by Robert Wise
Art Direction by Bia Gallo
Set Decoration by Michael Yori
Costume Design by Anna Redmon
Starring:
Melissa Joan Hart as Merry
Duane Henry as Mark Aguilar
Jame Sheridan as Stan Cartwright
Sam Marra as Jasper Yellow Springs
Harley Bronwyn as Debbie Smith
Michael Grant Terry as Freddy James
Danielle Larreacuente as Laura Jones
Hero Hunter as Timmy Aguilar
Mallian Butler as Becca Aguilar
Emma must convince her first love Tyler, now a famous pop-star, to sign with her record company, while also trying to save the town’s Christmas Caroling Celebration.
I have mentioned this last year that when you come upon a Hart Production holiday telefilm, to definitely check it out as Melissa Joan Hart and her mother, producer Paula Hart are known for creating very cool Christmas telefilms since 2016.
But what I find interesting is that actress Kelly Martin (“ER”, “Life Goes On”), who starred in the 2019 holiday telefilm “Christmas in Montana”, is director of “Mistletoe in Montana”. The writer for the film is “Don Perez” (“MacGyver”, “Once Upon a Main Street”).
The film stars Melissa Joan Hart (“Clarissa Explains it All”, “Sabrina the Teenage Witch”), Duane Herny (“Captain Marvel”, “What Just Happened??!”), Jamey Sheridan (“The Ice Storm”, “Syriana”), Sam Marra (“Homecoming”, “Stumptown”), Harley Brownwyn (“Les de l’hoque”, “Scream Therapy”), Michael Grant Terry (“Bones”, “The Archer”, “Grimm”), Danielle Larracuente (“Quantum Leap”, “This is Us”, “Bosch: Legacy”), Hero Hunter (“Young Dylan”) and Mallian Butler (“Black-ish”).
In this holiday telefilm, Merry (portrayed by Melissa Joan Hart) is a person who runs a ranch retreat in Montana and works along the ranch staff Stan (portrayed by Jamey Sheridan), Jasper Yellow Springs (portrayed by Sam Marra), Freddy James (portrayed by Mcihael Grant Terry) and Laura Jones (portrayed by Danielle Larracuente).
Merry and the staff prepare for a wealth family, the Aguilar’s to arrive.
Los Angeles software engineer and single father Mark Aguilar (portrayed by Duane Henry) arrives with his two children Timmy (portrayed by Hero Hunter) and daughter Becca (portrayed by Mallian Butler) and their nanny, Debbie Smith (portrayed by Harley Brownwyn).
For Mark, he had wanted to return to the ranch as his mother took him there long ago and wants his children to experience it. But while his youngest is up for it, Becca is a city girl and lives off Internet and is upset that the ranch area has none. Meanwhile, Jasper falls for the nanny.
As Merry tries to entertain the Aguilar family, she and Mark grow closer through their time together.
While the film is a holiday film, as you have the Christmas lights setup in the ranch interiors, I do feel because a lot takes place outdoors in the ranch in the field with horses and everyone in western uniform, of the many Hart holiday telefilms I watched, this one felt the least Christmassy…but I did enjoy it and it is the first Melissa Joan Hart film to feature a possible interracial romantic film with an African-American man. Hart does go out on a date in “Feliz NAVIDAD” with Mario Lopez but shows up briefly.
But Lifetime continues their progressive stance on creating holiday telefilms featuring interracial relationships, holiday telefilms featuring an African American family, Latino family, Asian family and even LGBTQ characters, which is a positive for the network.
For the most part, “Mistletoe in Montana” is a family film that will entertain people of all ages.
