The 2020 Lifetime Christmas efforts did vary and often veered between mediocre and slightly above average and were indicative at times of rushed productions. But there were enough of them that were still watchable and more (was pleasantly surprised by some) and were not amateur efforts. Actually think on reflection that the standard was of better quality than 2019's batch. 'A Sugar and Spice Holiday' sounded promising and really appreciated its inclusion of diversity.
Luckily, 'A Sugar and Spice Holiday' turned out to be better than expected. As the review summary indicates, it is not too sugary and has enough spice. It is easily one of the best 2020 Lifetime Christmas films and one of the few to be very good, when most were between mediocre and pretty good as said already. Is 'A Sugar and Spice Holiday' perfect? No, none of the 2020 Lifetime Christmas films are. But the good things are many and the best aspects are very well executed indeed.
Am going to start with the things that are not quite there. Admittedly, it is predictable and some decision making in the final third don't quite make sense and considering the job of the person in question are hard to buy.
Do agree that Suzy is a bit whiney in the final quarter and that the contest facilitator role was a little overacted.
However, a lot of good things are here and they outweigh the not so good. It looks attractive, especially the scenery, and the music has a pleasant and nostalgic quality that doesn't become overdone, over-emphasised or too syrupy. The direction was sympathetic but still gave the film momentum when necessary.
The dialogue is heartfelt, thoughtful and flows well without being self-indulgent or too flowery. The story is charming and moving, and doesn't go down the cheesy or sugary sweet route. So refreshing too in 'A Sugar and Spice Holiday' to have characters that felt like real people and ones that one gets behind in their trials and tribulations, they are also better developed than most in Lifetime Christmas films. There are stereotypes here but they are tasteful ones and are surprisingly well developed. Something not commonly found in recent years Christmas films. The characters have a very natural and sincere chemistry and the acting is very good, great in the case of the two leads.
Overall, very well done. 8/10.
A Sugar & Spice Holiday
2020
Action / Comedy / Drama / Romance
A Sugar & Spice Holiday
2020
Action / Comedy / Drama / Romance
Keywords: christmas
Plot summary
Chinese-American Suzy Yung has succeeded in everything she's done in her drive to be the best. As a Los Angeles-based architect, she is on the cusp of a promotion at her firm, right on her planned track. However she learns that she is competing against one of her colleagues, Marshall, for the promotion, he who, despite being a talented architect like her, has always greased the wheels as his way to be noticed above others. The promotion will be awarded to whoever's design is chosen by their client for a major project, the designs due by New Year's Eve in a couple of weeks, which means that Suzy's trip home to small town Hampton Meadows, Maine, for the holidays will be a working one. She finds upon her arrival home that there is pressure for her to participate in the annual gingerbread contest in which the six communities in Happy Valley compete, this year for a $15,000 grand prize, the team from Hampton Meadows earmarking that money if they win for much needed renovations to the town's community center. Suzy's love for food, especially baking, came from her paternal grandmother, her "Nema", that love the reason Suzy frames everything around food and in being known as the best gingerbread maker in town, just like Nema was before her. However, Suzy hasn't baked since Nema passed, but decides to join the Hampton Meadows team in honor of Nema, who taught classes at the community center. In the process, Suzy is reunited with her childhood friend, Billy Martin, who recently moved back to town. That move back was both in running from his life as a Silicon Valley designer, and running to his family toy shop in helping his ailing father. While Suzy and Billy were more like buddies in school, Billy always dragging Suzy into the only trouble she ever faced, which put Billy in Suzy's mother's bad books, they seem to be verging into a potentially more romantic relationship. But with Suzy's work pressures, and the gingerbread competition on top of trying to find time with Billy on a personal level, Suzy may find that she can't have it all, especially if Billy, who is still trying to find his place in life, may not live up to the high standards she sets not only for herself but for others around her.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
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Not too sugary and has enough spice
Same but different
The movie starts out so close to the formula. The unethical boss tells Suzy and her competitor that she lied to them. Now they have a time limit to present a proposal and a promotion rides on it. But Suzy says "what about my holiday?" The answer - work at home. Oh and I'll call you every 5 minutes to ask you how you are doing and accept a vague answer. Suzy goes home and gets roped into a contest along with, you guessed it, her old high school male sidekick. She's an architect and he's a toymaker and toy seller, yet they are both expert bakers. Wow, just the setup wears me out.
From there on we get expected results but some of them happen in slightly unusual ways. There's a little twist in the contest, but it's obvious how that will turn out. I was especially surprised by Suzy and Billy's choices which made sense, but endings rarely go that way.
I've said before that you have to consider these movies similar to the fantasy genre in that you can't expect reality. So I'll make these comments, but then dismiss them from consideration even though I found them very irritating. I already mentioned the unethical boss who gives them a ridiculous deadline. Then it's bad enough Suzy gets roped into the contest. She also wastes all kinds of time on other things too. And Suzy makes three big mistakes. We don't see the first one she makes play out until after the other two, but almost anyone can see it coming as soon as Suzy makes the call. The next two are ridiculous. No experienced baker would make the first. No experienced 21st century technical professional would make the second. Another reviewer aptly commented that the consummate professional woman, Suzy, gets a littlie whiny threatening to give up on everything. Like I said, you can't expect any resemblance to reality in these movies.
Acting: Jacky Lai and Tony Giroux give good performances and have decent chemistry. Several supporting actors weren't as good. The contest facilitator reminded me of Mayor Tinsdale on Good Witch for her overacting, but then maybe like Catherine Disher she was supposed to.
Good Enough
A sugar and spice holiday was a sweet movie. It was well acted and had some nice moments. But the CGIs were horrible. Still, the movie is heartwarming and has a lot of sweets in it.