For the most part, “A Christmas Solo” is good a holiday diversion and a film worth checking out!
Click here to watch “A Christmas Solo” on Amazon
TITLE: A Christmas Solo
FILM YEAR: 2017
DURATION: 88 Minutes
Directed by Christie Will Wolf
Written by Sheryl J. Anderson
Producer: Gilles LaPlante
Executive Producer: Sebastian Battro, Tom Berry, Breanne Hartley, Stan Spry, Kelli Williams, Eric Scott Woods
Music by Michael Neilson
Cinematography by Jan Klompje
Edited by Jeremy Klassen
Casting by Ann Forry
Production Design by Darryll Doucette
Art Direction by Ritesh Matlani
Costume Design by Yana Konteft
Starring:
Kelli Williams as Jennifer Flynn
Jonathan Scarfe as Nate Prentiss
Pippa Mackie as Charlotte Flynn
Kayla Wallace as Melissa Prentiss
Ricky He as Henry Jackson
Naika Toussaint as Audrey
Natalie von Rotsburg as Ms. Baxter
Ciela Estrada as Eva
Shelby Armstrong as Kayla
Two single parents with rival daughters stumble into the possibility of love for Christmas.
“Mean Girls” meets holiday telefilms for “A Christmas Solo”.
Wait? Deja vu, didn’t I just review something with a “Mean Girls” theme?
So for day 54, I check out the holiday telefilm “A Christmas Solo” directed by Christie Will Wolf (“Slightly Single in L.A.”, “Eat, Play, Love”) and Sheryl J. Anderson (“Charmed”, “Fash Gordon: A Modern Space Opera”, “Sweet Magnolias”).
The film stars Kelli Williams (“The Practice”, “The Fosters”, “Lie to Me”), Jonathan Scarfe (“The Equalizer 2”, “Van Helsing”, “Hell on Wheels”), Pippa Mackie (“#Roxy”, “The Cold Zone”), Kayla Wallace (“Heatwave”, “The Magicians”), Ricky He (“The Good Doctor”, “From”), Naika Toussaint (“Once Upon a Time”) and more!
“A Christmas Solo” is a film about new beginnings for two families.
Veterinarian Jennifer Flynn and her daughter Charlotte (portrayed by Pippa Mackie) have moved away from San Francisco to a new town. And are both wanting to have their first Christmas together in a new place since the death of her husband two years ago.
Jennifer wants to make Christmas special for Charlotte, who also has an amazing singing voice.
Nate Prentiss (portrayed by Jonathan Scarfe) and his daughter Melissa Prentiss (portrayed by Kayla Wallace) are trying to enjoy the holidays since his wife and Melissa’s mother left home for another man.
Nate is wanting to have a civil Christmas as his daughter has not been taking things well since her mother left them. She has become rebellious, cold and mean spirited, because her mother refuses to spend time with her and her father is busy and she feels she is alone.
For the holiday choir, the main singer had to bow out due to illness, which Melissa feels she deserves the main position. That is until her friend Henry (portrayed by Ricky He) and Audrey (portrayed by Naika Toussaint) encourage Charlotte to go for that main singing position.
This leads Melissa and her friends to treat Charlotte like she’s a parasite and do whatever they can to make her feel unwanted and hated at school.
Meanwhile, both Nate and Jennifer meet at a shop and often see each other that they begin dating and start to have feelings for each other.
But Nate is unaware of what kind of person his daughter has become, and that she is bullying Jennifer’s daughter. And Jennifer is unaware that her daughter’s bully is Nate’s daughter.
Needless to say, this is a good holiday film and of the “Mean Girls” type of storyline for holiday telefilms, Resolution is a bit cheesy but it is a holiday resolution that works well for a holiday telefilm. Of course, if someone goes all out in trying to hurt you, can you easily forgive that person and be all smiles later? Probably not. But for the sake of a holiday film, holiday films tend to showcase forgiveness in lightning speed.
And one last nitpick, I wish they never used the film’s cut scenes in the introduction (gives too much away), they could have used holiday scenery or even red or green background if anything.
But I enjoyed the film and the drama going on. For the most part, “A Christmas Solo” is good a holiday diversion and a film worth checking out!
