Is there really a better combination than Christmastime and Dolly Parton? Happy December, everyone! As hard as it is to believe, we've finally made it to the holiday season after enduring almost a full year of a country divided and a worldwide pandemic, and if that's not something to celebrate this month, then I don't know what is!
I've been looking forward to Christmas for quite some time now. The thought of being able to put up the tree, wrap presents, bake cookies, and wear all of my favorite Christmas sweaters, was able to get me through some very difficult times while processing the current state of the world, and my own personal struggles.
And Christmas ended up coming a little early for me this year as Netflix released their new holiday special, "Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square" back in late November, and I was excited to check it out. I've never been a big fan of musicals, but I thought I'd see if the queen of country, someone who I absolutely adore, could change my opinion of them.
The Positive
Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square tells the story of Regina Fuller (portrayed by Christine Baranski), a cold-hearted politician who returns to her Midwestern hometown as she plans to evict multiple business owners in order to sell the place and make room for a new mega-mall.
But soon Regina receives a visit from a sparkling angel (Dolly Parton) who hopes to help the bitter woman change for the better. Slowly Regina begins to see the impact that her actions have had on the people around her, while memories of her past come flooding back to her.
This holiday musical was directed by Debbie Allen (Grey's Anatomy, A Different World, Fame) and featured fourteen songs newly composed by the legend herself, Dolly Parton.
Being that Parton has strong Christian values in real life, I really admired the fact that this was a faith-based film, focusing on the importance of forgiveness. Our main character Regina has treated the residents in her hometown of Fullerville quite poorly, to say the least, but slowly as she begins to have a change of heart, her angel encourages her that if she can change for the better, then just maybe, the town may offer her the gift of forgiveness.
However, in the musical number "Wickedest Witch Of The Middle", we do see that the town hasn't behaved much better than Regina as they gather at the church and let their frustrations out through song, and list off the various things they would like to do to the woman looking to evict them; while meant to act as comic relief, I thought this scene worked as a way to remind us that both sides are struggling to handle things in the nicest, and most appropriate way.
Speaking of musical numbers, I found that the songs featured in this special, such as "Light Your Lamp", "When an Angel Knows Your Dreams", and "My Christmas Prayer", were some of the most touching I've ever heard in a musical like this, and it's no surprise that I liked them so much, as they were sung by Dolly herself. Though admittedly, for each one that I liked, there was at least one that I didn't, we'll touch on that in a moment.
Remember how I mentioned at the beginning of this review that I've never been the biggest fan of musicals? Well, Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square, unfortunately, wasn't able to make me feel any differently about them.
First of all, this film felt much too far over the top for me, as it was jam-packed with just about every groan-worthy cliché that you could possibly come up with, and as much as I would love to give you some of the examples, we'd be venturing over into spoiler territory and I'd much rather you witness all of these moments in this movie for yourself.
And as much as it pains me to admit it, some of the music that was featured in this special didn't do a whole lot for me either, which was more than a little disappointing, considering that Dolly was the one behind all of it. The thing is, a lot of these tunes sounded a little on the generic side which felt very odd to me, as we all know Dolly Parton is far from generic.
"Opening Number", and "Wickedest Witch Of The Middle", are two examples of songs that seemed as if they could have been written by anyone and lacked the magic that Dolly's music normally has, and there are several others that have that same exact feel to them, this had me wondering if someone involved asked for either revisions or had certain requirements for each song, that, however, is nothing more than pure speculation on my part.
But above all else, there was simply too much music packed into this film's one hour and thirty-eight minutes runtime. That may sound like a decent amount of time to work with on the surface, but trust me, it's not. Once again, there are fourteen songs featured in this special, and because of those aforementioned problems, they can wear you down very quickly.
For me personally, I would have preferred if the musical moments in this movie had come from Dolly Parton's character only. She is an angel after all, and it would have made sense that she would be the one to communicate with Regina through song from time to time, right? And it would have cut down on all of the songs that I thought were too generic, or too silly.
While it's not what I was hoping for, Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square does remind us that it's never too late to learn from our mistakes and use them to change for the better, but with its over the top nature and underwhelming music it just wasn't my cup of tea, therefore I've given this Netflix special an unfortunate, two out of five-star rating.
If you're someone who enjoys a feel-good movie regardless of how cheesy it may be, you'll most likely enjoy watching Christmas on the Square. But if you're looking for a festive Dolly Parton film that's truly heartwarming to watch this holiday, then I would recommend that you check out "Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors" instead.
Have you seen Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square? If so, please let me know what you thought of it over on Twitter by tweeting me @RR_Everything! That's where I talk about all of the latest shows and movies and also post updates on my future reviews. I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say and having a discussion about it!
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