Once Upon a Main Street (TV Movie 2020)

Once Upon a Main Street: Directed by Polly Draper. With Vanessa Lachey, Ryan McPartlin, Polly Draper, Scott Takeda. Amelia, who wants to open a year-round Christmas store, bids for a shop lot against Vic, who wants to open a chocolate shop. Rivalry becomes romance when they must work together.

“Is it really too much to ask the writers to create two likable leads? Not perfect or amazing or genius people-just likable enough to care about their little twists and turns to romance land.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHow hard it is it to nail that one key element, especially since holiday romance fans will gladly swallow predictable plots and cheesy tropes, as long theyu0026#39;re charmed by leads with even a little chemistry?u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOnce Upon a Main Street commits the cardinal sin of crossing the line between banter, even a prickly back-and-forth, versus obnoxious bickering. Prickly can be good, we enjoy it to a point, because it keeps us on our toes, and prickly chemistry is only inches from sparks.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut bickering grates. Like getting hit over the head. In the case of Once Upon a Main Street, it means getting hit over the head for half the movie by two overbearing, cranky leads. All wrapped in a more nonsensical plot than usual.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI never warmed to Amelia (Vanesssa Lachey), starting when raved at the realtor. She had a hard Me, Me, Me! vibe. From their first confrontation as strangers, Amelia either lied or was just nasty; either way it was telling. If their roles were flipped, I couldnu0026#39;t picture Vic (Ryan McPartlin) doing the same. Or her sharing the hotel room if she had it first.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe one bright spot was director Polly Draperu0026#39;s Rowena, an erratic ceramicist who stole every scene she was in.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eToo bad there werenu0026#39;t more of them.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHonestly, if I wasnu0026#39;t cooking something complicated, I wouldu0026#39;ve hit delete when this one failed the 15 minute test.”