The National Tree

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source: The National Tree

Moviecut—The National Tree

This is quite possibly the worst piece of film I have ever seen. One hot actor is the only good thing. That being said, I'd rather take a shotgun shell to the face than watch This. Absolutely horrible.

The main character, Rocky, is a blogger, so he makes vlogs, stop-motion videos, etc. Thus, there are stop-motion transitions throughout the movie that add some kitschy charm. Rocky is written as a realistic young adult; not moody and reclusive or syrupy sweet, like you normally see in holiday movies. He'd rather Skype with his friends and coordinate group collaboration projects than bond with his father where there's no wifi, but it's not like he's mean to his father. The plot is different from other holiday movies and it has a holiday flair without saturating you with the holiday spirit. The movie isn't too optimistic and doesn't have a lot of drama; it's just a son trying to win a contest in honor of his deceased mother. It's definitely one of the better holiday movies.

I thought it was a very touching movie, and the Teen character Rock was very likable. 2 Thumbs up for a loving Christmas Movie! Good job. A little different in the normal holiday theme, but it wouldn't be memorable if it followed the same old theme. It was great seeing Actor Andrew McCarthy in a movie again, even if he was a little hard to like in the beginning. I do recommend this film for family viewing, and it is perfect on the Hallmark channel. I've been very impressed with the holiday movies this year. Also for those of you interested in watching Hallmark Movies, may I also suggest ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas and Lifetime's FaLaLaLa Lifetime.

Flaws everywhere! I-80 doesn't run through Oregon or Idaho ... that I-84. It's I-84 until you get into Utah. The Interstate does NOT go through Salt Lake City. It goes through east/northern suburbs and then cuts to I-80. It's also VERY flat along both highways EXCEPT a small area in Eastern Oregon and Eastern Utah/Western Wyoming. ... no mountains or forests along the way. Mostly grasslands and farms. ALSO - all radio/TV stations west of the Mississippi River use call letters that start with K - not W. The reports of the forest fire (where's the forest on I-80???) Re on a TV station with W call letters. So we have this woman watching an Eastern US in Oregon? Good trick in the days before Cable/Satellite TV was prolific! As far as the story - nice father/son road trip. The relationship was strained because dad doesn't get teenage boys - but in the end, they come together for the same cause. Could have been a better story - not in a truck cab. The video blogging was ridiculous. Watch this only if you have NOTHING else to do...

Andrew McCarthy stars in this film. I am not sure if he is playing the part as "Too old" or it was poorly executed screenplay. Now the general outline of this film got me interested so that it was I viewed it. The film started off okay but it slowly sank into the abyss of melodrama. Every plot point is telegraphed. Now I don't mind a "By The Numbers" story but I do mind a story that is poorly executed. In this film the "The National Tree" a father and son are en-route from Oregon to Washington DC to deliver the National Tree to DC. This film becomes a road trip but upon closer inspection you can tell that don't travel far. The terrain never changes. Funny that an ALL American STORY was produced by Canadian Production company! Andrew McCarthy is miscast. He is about 19-20 years too young for the part. He acts like a 70 year old. He alone sinks the movie. It could of been much better had almost anyone else was cast as the lead. There is plenty of enjoyable Christmas theme movies. This is not one of them

I would like to know why they added the word "Mormons" in such a disgusting way? I also don't appreciate that they used Mormons so many times. There are Mormons all over the world. And they should be respected. Don't get me wrong I really enjoyed this move. But if the Utah and Mormons part was used as a joke it was not funny. Just like all religions and ethnicities they should not be made fun of in any situation, especially one that would be broadcasted through a movie. As a warning to all movies I hope they know that every one and thing in a movie should be respected. Thank you for allowing my comment to be seen. I really do appreciate it.

I'm not sure whether it's Canadians or US citizens who should be more annoyed with this film. I knew when I saw this film being heavily pimped by The Movie Network, with zillions of showings (versus only a handful for Hollywood blockbusters and worthy Canadian films) that it was going to be bad Canadian content filler. But they wore me down, and I caved in to watch it. How sad is it that the best a bunch of Canadians (enabled in part by Canada and Ontario tax credits) can do is to make an embarrassingly bad movie about a foreign country's national tree? As far as I know, the US has no "national tree" of the kind depicted in the film. It has a National _Christmas_ Tree (despite the claimed separation of church and state) in the Ellipse. The near-100-year claim is nonsense in the film. For example, The National Christmas Tree was a new cut (dead) tree every year from 1954 until 1973. Only after that did they decide to return to planted (live) trees. But it wasn't easy. From 1973-1977 it was a Colorado blue spruce from Pennsylvania, which fared poorly. In 1977, it was replaced with one from Maryland that did even worse. In 1978, it was finally replaced with the current one again from Pennsylvania. The actual "National Tree" of the US is Oak (note, not an actual individual tree, but an entire category of trees) As for the film itself: * strong Canadian accents from many characters that even a Canadian would notice are out-of-place * awful special effects (I mean really, if they are this bad, why bother? Yes, I'm speaking to the people who did the falling cinders, and the internet video conferencing -- go find another line of work.) * typically cloyingly earnest characters * I'm not what you'd call pro-Mormon, but I felt that Mormons and Utah were portrayed needlessly unfairly in the film, like they were people from another planet, who didn't understand the National Christmas Tree. If this is actually true in some way, it should have been explained. * for a film featuring I-80, you'd think they'd include such road characteristics as the tunnels in Wyoming, the Archway Monument in Nebraska, the bridge over the Mississippi River, the toll road in Indiana and Ohio, and the varying flat, hilly, canyon, and mountainous landscapes from state to state. Filmmakers obviously ignored the superior example set by the 2008 Canadian road movie, One Week. Who had the bright idea to shoot a road movie almost entirely in close-up? But even then, they still can't hide the Canadian-ness of the surroundings. Lime Ridge Mall (you know, with the Canadian Shoppers Drug Mart that you can see in the film) is in Hamilton, Ontario, not Chicago. And I somehow doubt that the Amish in Pennsylvania frequently fly the Canadian flag, and certainly not by itself. For some reason, Maryland (between Pennsylvania and DC) wasn't worth mentioning. They just drive directly from Pennsylvania to DC. I also didn't like the woman. She reminded me of the alien leader in the recent V mini-series. And if you take a job that requires significant travel separating you from your significant other, then you are not the person in the relationship who gets to complain when you can't get in touch on your schedule. That right belongs to person who stays at home. This woman has a heart of ice. Last, the young man and woman are shown drinking wine. Like many of the states they travelled through (Idaho, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Maryland) the District of Columbia has a total ban on consumption of alcohol by people under 21, even in private with parental permission. So, no, I didn't like it. Why is this junk cluttering the subscriber movie channels in Canada, when we get just one or two chances to see quality films that we actually want to see?