A Star-Crossed Christmas

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So much so, the Julie's dad says to her at one point "I thought I had raised a daughter who understood the values that this family holds. Darn it if James daughter Julie Pine (Jonna Walsh) and her new found love in Rick Spruce (Nick Ballard) who is Dave Spruce's nephew is going to be ignored merely on a decades old dispute between the two (2) tree farm owners.

When respective heirs Julie Pine and Rick Spruce unwittingly fall head over heels for each other during the holiday season, they must keep their growing romance a secret or they'll risk a Christmas blow-up that could destroy their relationship, their businesses, and any hope at bringing the feud to an end once and for all. I can’t find any photos of the Troops sequence, but IMDb did provide me with this, some women who were presumably involved with the film? It naturally centres on "Christmas", because of the seasonal setting of the rival Christmas tree farms, but not for what Christmas is really about, such as, the Nativity, and/or Santa Claus. By contrast, balsam firs, while belonging to the large family Pinaceae, are not members of the genera Pinus, but belong to the separate genus Abies.

The conflict could have done with more tension and the too tidy and over too soon resolution falls flat on delivering on the emotional impact, which isn't really there. The festively-named Holly (Sarah Fischer) stands in for Benvolio, whilst the strong and dependable Bear (John MacGregor) plays an equivalent role for Julie (the opportunity for an ‘exit pursued by’ joke was sadly missed).

Rick has been promised the opportunity to take over the spruce Christmas tree farm if he likes the work.The ending is actually done in quite a classy and not really cheesy way (Hey, it's a Christmas film there has got to be some cheese Lol) It's a really good funny and lovely film that gives you the feelgood factor also and puts a smile on your face. The acting fares decently, with a likeable John McGregor giving the best performance with charming, feisty Sarah Fischer close behind. Time and location aren't divulged, and none of the actors ever behave as if there's a chill in the air. The course of true love doesn’t run any more smoothly for Rick and Julie (Rick and Julie, ffs) who decide they love each other and should break up all within the same afternoon. But Rick has not grown up with the on-going feuding, which he thinks is nothing to do with him, or Julie, and he persists, and wins Julie around.