Movie Review- A Nashville Christmas (2020)

Last year, when the Hallmark Channel announced their Countdown to Christmas lineup for 2020, they announced many movies that peeked my interest. One of the movies I wanted to watch the most is A Nashville Christmas Carol. It was advertised to have multiple country singers in the movie playing characters. Because of the country singers, and the fact it has a country music feel to the whole entire story, I wanted to watch the movie.

In November, the Walmart closest to where I live put out the Hallmark Channel Christmas movies on DVD. One of the movies they put out was A Nashville Christmas Carol. Once I saw it, I picked up a copy and, when I had the time, I watched the movie.

According to the Hallmark Channel webpage for the movie, the movie synopsis is as follows…

A television producer is forced to work with the man who broke her heart on a country music Christmas special while being interrupted by Christmas spirits determined for her to revisit her past. Starring Jessy Schram and Wes Brown.

In addition to Scharm, who’s character is named Vivienne, and Brown, the movie also stars Sara Evans Raelynn, with Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Kix Brooks, and Wynonna Judd.

The movie is based off the Charlies Dickens Christmas classic A Christmas Carol. Unlike the original story, Vivienne did not always make poor choices in her life. Any poor choices she made was due to hurt from others, such as her mother abandoning the family when she was a child, and betrayal of others, mostly Brown’s character. Even though she is committed to her job, she also tries to care for others, such as donating toys to less fortunate children. And, unlike Scrooge, she lacks the confidence in the motivation of her decisions. In A Christmas Carol, Scrooge is certain that the way he lived his life was the right and only way to live it. In A Nashville Christmas Carol, Vivienne isn’t always sure if she is making the right decision or if she really is living her life correctly.

This change makes the story in A Nashville Christmas Carol interesting and heartfelt while standing on it’s own from the story that inspired it. The movie dives into the worries people have about their motivation behind their actions and if they really, truly are good at heart, especially if they struggled with pain left from interaction with people who are critical of their actions and motives. It also shows that even though people around you may say you are one thing, you can still be something else.

Because of the change in the plot, the movie’s Christmas ghosts act and treat Vivienne differently than they would if it was Scrooge. There are three ghosts: The Ghost of Christmas Past, or Pat, played by Kix Brooks of Brooks and Dunn, The Ghost of Christmas Present, played by Kimberly Williams-Paisley, and the ghost of the Vivienne’s mentor, Marilyn, played by Wyonna Judd. There is no Ghost of Christmas Future in the movie because, as it will later be revealed, there is not need for one.

It is a very enjoyable movie. It deals with problems many people deal with and is a great reminder that our choices aren’t always interpreted the way we’d hope them to. Everyone did a great job acting in the movie including Sara Evans as a seasoned performance member of the Christmas special and Raelynn as a new performer to the Christmas special. I really enjoyed watching this film and highly recommend this film to anyone who wants a twist on A Christmas Carol with a Hallmark Channel spin to it and/or enjoys country music.

Well, that’s all for now! Thank you for reading!