For example, Jess had lines such as 'tinsellitis', 'American Mary Poppins', 'how do you take your coffee? A tad too seriously', all of which made me laugh a little. The dialogue on occasions was fun and cute. I found myself engaged thru-out, which is a good sign (I did not, e.g., grab for my iPad during the movie). The story, overall, was pleasant to watch. It is a bit of a stretch with the comparison here. However, I am not sure I agree with Jess (played by Sarah Drew) when she says in the film, 'Philadelphia is the Vienna of the US'. I first fell in love with Vienna while watching Before Sunrise (starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy), an excellent romance film by the way, and have been there several times since. This is another of what I call a 'classic Hallmark movie': beautiful scenery, dress, props and sets a warm story and a solid script good acting and plenty of Christmas spirit and festive cheer. In conclusion, didn't quite click with me but see it for Vienna. Other parts of the direction are routine and character changes and motivations can happen out of the blue and too quickly, especially in the final quarter. 'Christmas in Vienna' works well as a travelogue and a love letter to Vienna but as a coherent and involving story it is a failure. The story is pretty much the same recycled plot elements seen in most Hallmark Christmas films with the only difference being the setting, while also being very thin and lacking in energy. The corn and sugar became too hard to take. Furthermore, most of the dialogue is very vapid and can be too cheesy, silly and saccharine. The relationship itself is not focused upon enough and is underwritten. His chemistry with Drew is lukewarm at best and mostly barely existent, didn't get the sense that they were in love and they weren't even that believable as friends. His character is also very one-dimensional, dull and hard to warm to because of his cold personality. Brennan Elliott comes over as very wooden and clinical here, there is no warmth to his performance and the personality isn't there. Drew however deserved a much better leading man. Some moments of amusing and sweet dialogue and warmth and charm isn't completely absent. Sarah Drew does a good, charming job in the female lead role and while the character isn't complex she also isn't too perfect or has negative character traits exaggerated. There is some nice sympathetic direction going on here and there. It doesn't make the mistake of most Hallmark Christmas films in being too constant or too loud. The music is nostalgic and there is a sense of time and place, with an authentic Christmassy-feel and not being over-melancholic. The camera clearly loves the locations too, because it is just as beautiful to watch without being too indulgent. 'Christmas in Vienna's' biggest star is Vienna (and it is the actual location this time) itself, which is nothing short of stunning. First and foremost, the production values.
'The Christmas Ring') from a male lead and chemistry point of view 'Christmas in Vienna' is one of the weakest of the batch. 'Christmas in Vienna' is not one of the best 2020 Hallmark Christmas films ('Five Star Christmas', 'A Cranberry Christmas', 'Christmas with the Darlings'), but while there was worse from this year (i.e. A case of the location stealing the show and making a huge positive impression, but also with too much that doesn't come off too well. While certainly not hating it, 'Christmas in Vienna' generally left me unimpressed. 'Christmas in Vienna's' premise is one that could have gone either way, which tends to be the case with Hallmark Christmas films with similar plot lines. Hallmark is a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to their Christmas output and their films overall and 2020 was definitely a variable year for them. Christmas has always been my favourite time of year and it is always wonderful to see Vienna on screen, with it being such a beautiful place and often served well on camera.
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