The Christmas (Train) Parade (2023) -
I know that I'm supposed to believe in miracles at Christmas, but the events of this film were all a bit hard to believe. Pulling off the massive gathering that Charlotte (Emma Johnson) did would have required actual magic.
Her son Benny (??) was dead special and a terrible actor to boot, which didn't help.
At least Ryan Northcott was charming in his way as Zackary, but not entirely the whole package that these films have been known to provide with their leading men.
Neither of the leads were really subtle enough though and their performances were definitely not very realistic. Along with the rest of the cast they seemed to have been directed to be slightly exaggerated and almost pantomimic.
There were a few embarrassing moments throughout too and there were also some very idiotic concepts and flaws with the script writing.
Romy (??) the Mayor from one of the towns that Charlotte was trying to unite was adorable however and probably a better town official than most that anybody could think of.
When the producers, etc finally realise that Christmas Eve is definitely too late to host a brand new or even revisited/previously abandoned festive event, especially one that people hadn't planned for, they might start to get some writing that has a more realistic plot to it.
At a push it might have worked for just the one small town but not to unite four, as Charlotte was trying to do in order to save the train station and the traditions of those towns.
In the end Zack was cute, but not really enough to make me want to rush back and watch this one again and I didn't really buy the chemistry between him and Charlotte that much.
4.69/10.
