Christmas at the Ranch

Because of how cliche Christmas at the Ranch is, I began thinking about the genre of Christmas romances as a whole. Specifically, I question whether Christmas romances count as an exploitation subgenre. Christmasploitation. Obviously, if your definition of exploitation requires mature content, they do not. But there are elements of Christmas romances that feel most similar to exploitation cinema. There’s a reliance on essentially remaking or even ripping off previous movies in the genre. Creativity is rarely a good thing in exploitation. It’s supposed to be lowest common denominator entertainment that often fits into a very small box outlined by previous entries in the subgenre. This is true for both Amazon cannibal movies of the 70s and Christmas romances of the last several decades. It’s true of Christmas at the Ranch as well. There’s little originality here, but that is something of a hallmark (ha) of the genre.

The work-obsessed city slicker character in Christmas at the Ranch is named Haley. She only returns to her family ranch at the pleading of Charles, a family member who works hard to keep the ranch open. The ranch is run by Charles, grandma Meemaw and Kate, a cowhand who Haley is jealous of before they even meet. Haley spends most of the movie certain that there’s no way to save the ranch, even if she begins to want to. This is the main impediment to her romance with Kate. Other than that, the two get along well and share many loaded moments. Frankly, every problem in Christmas at the Ranch leads back to the financial. Which ends up being a good thing because in fiction land, money is only a problem so long as they need it to move the plot forward.

Last year, I reviewed Under the Christmas Tree. In that review I said I finally understood the appeal of the Christmas romance genre. I also said I expected that novelty to wear off as I watched more similar films. I was right. Earlier this month, I reviewed A Holiday I Do. I gave that one only barely a passing grade. By this third entry of lesbian Christmasploitation, the novelty has fully worn off. I get the cozy, predictable appeal of these movies at least abstractly. But I can’t understand the desire to watch films so similar to each other that you might as well just rewatch the same movie. But complaining about the cliches in Christmas at the Ranch makes me feel like those reviewers who critique slasher movies for having violence and blood. It’s a requirement of the genre! And in the case of christmasploitation, that genre isn’t for me.

Still, I could just not bring myself to care about this romance. We know they’re going to get together, and it likely won’t happen before the last 10 minutes. It’s so predetermined as to bore me. You don’t get to see a lot of actual romance in Christmas at the Ranch. The film basically ends on their first kiss. You don’t really get to see Haley and Kate be cute girlfriends, it’s just the lead-up to that. Additionally, these two actresses don’t have very good chemistry. Though again, I feel like that’s almost a staple of the subgenre. Primarily, my issue is that neither woman has any real character. Or the traits they do have are so stock as to not be interesting. Because these characters are in a narrative that’s so beholden to cliche plot points, it really hinders them from developing an individual personality.

I personally didn’t enjoy Christmas at the Ranch. It’s not my kind of movie. But clearly, there’s a huge audience who likes this kind of movie. Christmas at the Ranch is a middling example of a subgenre I don’t like. Under the Christmas Tree is still the one I would consider the “best.” Christmas at the Ranch is less uneven than A Holiday I Do. Though despite its flaws, I found A Holiday I Do to be more charming and cozy than Christmas at the Ranch. Maybe this is because the novelty has gone. But also because I didn’t like the focus on financial problems in this film. Also, there’s enough dark moments and tragic backstory as to somewhat intrude on the cozy feeling. I hope the film does find the audience who would enjoy it. That audience simply isn’t me.

Overall rating: 4.9/10

Other WLW films in similar genres