Why this movie is getting absolutely flamed on imdb
Okay, this is not a good movie of course, but please check the reviews on imdb. It's getting absolutely flamed.
Because it's a made-for-tv christmas-movie about a girl going back to her home town it gets watched by the Hallmark crowd, and they really cannot stand it. They expect their sickeningly sweet formula and they're not getting it. The taboo relationship between an older guy and a younger girl doesn't fit their world view (even though there are millions of these type of relationships). Even though the movie acknowledges all the potential flaws such a relationship has and never claims it's gonna be true-love-forever. The characters are not completely flat. The main character actually has some significantly flaws (and the other ones too). There's a lesbian character. There's some actual partying and drinking (not the g-rated 'parties' in hallmark movies). There's some actual chemistry (at least between the main character and the bar tender), some funny moments. It has some actual edge.
There's also some people calling the main character unrealistically childish, but this is completely contradicted by the other reviewers who say they would feel exactly the same way if their dads would get a relationship like that and cannot believe she is portrayed as 'in the wrong' at the end (although tbf it's not so much 'in the wrong' as having to work through a natural emotion), and they do explain that she feels overly protective of/attached to her dad after taking care of him after her mom died.
If you want to watch a christmas movie that's a tad above the hallmark aids that's polluting tv in the holiday season, I would recommend this one. I really enjoyed it.