And there is a good amount of holiday love, holiday decorations, holiday hope and a sizzling onscreen romance, easily making “Once Upon a Main Street”, one holiday film definitely worth watching! Recommended!
PURCHASE THIS FILM ON AMAZON PRIME
TITLE: People Presents: Once Upon a Main Street
FILM YEAR: 2020
DURATION: 88 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition
COMPANY: Lifetime Television
RATED: TV-PG
RELEASE DATE: 2020
Directed by Polly Draper
Written by Don Perez
Executive Producer: Leslie Gilliams, Melissa Joan Hart, Paula Hart
Line Producer: Jemma Jones
Music by Felix Bird
Cinematography by Ryan Galvan
Edited by Rob Pallatina
Casting by Valerie McCaffrey
Production Design by Robert Wise
Art Direction by Natalie Blake
Costume Design by Sally Kruse
Starring:
Vanessa Lachey as Amelia Lewis
Ryan McPartlin as Vic Manning
Polly Draper as Rowena Marson
Scott Takeda as Billy Woo
Moonie Fishburn as Chandra
Sara Sanderson as Paige White
Patrick Duffy as Elder Dubois
Amelia Lewis (Vanessa Lachey) is super excited when she buys an available storefront, planning to open a year-round Christmas shop. But her celebration comes to a screeching halt when she discovers that Vic Manning (Ryan McPartlin) has also bid on the property. Amelia and Vic have the same idea, get to the seller—Elder Dubois (Patrick Duffy) in the next town—and convince him to sell his space to them. Despite the holidays, Elder is down in the dumps. It’s the first Christmas without his wife, and he’s in no mood to chair the decoration committee for the “Battle of the Main Street” yearly holiday competition with the neighboring town. Hoping to win favor with Elder, Amelia and Vic volunteer to take over his duties. After continually bickering and trying to one-up each other, the two combatants learn to work together and even get the merchants on Main Street to put aside their differences for the greater good. Everyone, including Amelia and Vic, realize that compromise is the key that leads to a happy—and romantic—ending.
Here we are with day 13 of my Holiday Film Marathon and this time, I’m checking out “Once Upon a Main Street” directed by actress Polly Draper (“The Naked Brothers Band”, “Thirtysomething”) and written by Don Perez (“MacGyver”, “Elena of Avalor”, “My Christmas Dream”).
The Lifetime Television telefilm stars Draper and the main protagonists played by Vanessa Lachey (“Dads”, “Disaster Movie”, “Truth Be Told”, “BH90210”), Ryan McParlin (“L.A.’s Finest”, “Chuck”) and also Sara Sanderson (“Sleepy Hollow”, “Hollywood Wasteland”), Patrick Duffy (“Dallas”, “Step by Step”) and more.
“Once Upon a Main Street” is presented by People Magazine and revolves around Amelia Lewis (portrayed by Vanessa Lachey) who is buying a property to run her dream business, a year-round Christmas shop.
We are then introduced to Vic Manning (portrayed by Ryan McPartlin) who is trying to get a park space, which is then taken by Amelia. Needless to say, the two don’t get along after the parking situation.
When Amelia receives a call from the real estate company, she goes to see what happens and thinking that the deal she made was all completed, the real state agent tells her someone included a higher bid than hers. And sure enough, when she meets the person who submitted a higher bid, it turns out to be Vic Manning, who wanted the property for his gourmet chocolate shop.
The real estate agent tells them that if they both meet with the owner, Elder Dubois (portrayed by Patrick Duffy), he can decide who can own the building. As the two meet with him, Elder tells them that he has a lot going on and he can’t make a decision.
When the two ask what is on his mind, he tells them that he came back from the Main Street Merchants Association and they have a competitive holiday decorating competition against neighboring towns and have a lost five years straight, especially with the egos of certain business owners. But he is currently mourning the death of his wife and became estranged with his daughter afterward, so he is not in the Christmas spirit.
Amelia decides to help Elder and not wanting to be outdone, Vic agrees to help as well.
He allows the two to stay at his home to help plan the Main Street holiday competition and work with the local businesses, and while both Amelia and Vic don’t trust each other, by working each other and spending a lot with each other, these two start to fall for each other. But will their competitiveness of wanting the building prevent romance from developing? And can they help Main Street win the holiday decoration competition?
First, let me start with a preface and say that Vanessa Lachey did a magnificent job in her role as Amelia. She embodied the character, her love for the holidays but also showing that competitive side of her. As for Ryan McPartlin, he has starred in numerous holiday films and each one has has starred in, tends to be the better of the holiday films. And in addition, this is a Hartbreak Production film produced by mother and daughter team, actress Melissa Joan Hart (who is well known for her roles on TV from “Clarissa Explains It All”, “Sabrina the Teenage Witch”, “Melissa & Joey”) but also starring, directing and producing numerous holiday films for Limetime Television and also its holiday competitor, Hallmark and longtime producer, Paula Hart.
One thing I notice from Hartbreak Production holiday dramas, they get the casting right. And this goes for “Once Upon a Main Street”, both Vanessa Lachey and Ryan McPartlin have great chemistry and Vanessa does a great job, it’s like she’s not acting. She is perfect for the role of Amelia and if anything, these two made this telefilm work wonderfully.
And for those who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, it’s cool to see Patrick Duffy in this drama, in a more emotional role.
And there is a good amount of holiday love, holiday decorations, holiday hope and a sizzling onscreen romance, easily making “Once Upon a Main Street”, one holiday film definitely worth watching! Recommended!
PURCHASE THIS FILM ON AMAZON PRIME