The sheriff arrives at his office and begins to berate another deputy Carl, whom we have just witnessed drinking on the job, for failure to do his job properly. We see scenes of several characters beginning their day a mother and her son getting breakfast, a woman watching morning news (which mentions that it hasn't snowed on Christmas for 40 years), Vicente the store owner opening his store and a young man driving an older model convertible muscle car down the highway. A flashback to 39 hours earlier then begins. As he and his deputy Billy gather behind his car to take stock of the situation it starts snowing. After a brief flurry of shots the sheriff calls for a ceasefire. I think I have grounds to sue.Gunfire erupts at Vicente's Liquor Mart in El Camino, Nevada. The editing and the pacing are atrocious.I mean, that was the best plot device they could think of to get these people trapped in a liquor store? Really? Plus, I've had Tim Allen half-singing Joy to the World stuck in my head twice now. The script is so awful, and these guys give wha absolute little they have, their total all. The only reason I'm giving this a 1, and not a flat zero, is because of Luke Grimes, Dax Sheperd, and surprisingly, Tim Allen. Mostly, it forces a bunch of spoon-fed sentiment, with autistic children and a stupid family story. Terrible script, the story itself is plotless, Vincent D'onofrio's character is so unwatchable and unbelievable, and this flick simply can't decide what it wants to be. A Netflix review said it was like if Hallmark or Lifetime decided to make a violent rated-R movie. I Can't believe anyone actually ,liked this film, and I can't believe how many otherwise talented actors are in it. Terrible script, the story OMG, what a POS. Such an odd, but ultimately worthwhile choice to make for an original feeling Christmas flick. It's the situation itself that makes things fun though. A talented cast of familiar names like Tim Allen, Vincent D'Onofrio, and a few others make things a little more enjoyable than they otherwise would have been. The performances in this movie are surprisingly good. The really surprising part is just how violent it is. It's pretty well made despite a low budget and Hallmark quality production. There's a single mother with a child who never speaks that ultimately ends up falling for the young drifter, to help fill in the checklist for what's almost mandatory for the more traditional variety of these movies. Yet, it's not entirely devoid of warmth, humanity, and even a few seasonal clichés. It's certainly a lot darker than your average Christmas movie. Bullets fly and a lot of alcohol is consumed. Rather than spreading Christmas cheer when he pulls into town looking for the father he never met, Eric Roth (Luke Grimes) inadvertently causes all hell to break loose when a local psychotic cop decides to make him the target of his drunken rage. Bullets fly Not your average holiday film.
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