A Christmas in Vermont
I chose this as my first movie because I just spent five days visiting my sister in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, which has a population of around 7,500 people. It’s the largest city in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont and is the commercial center of the region, but the only “big box” stores in town are Ocean State Job Lot and Dollar Tree.
St. Johnsbury has a cute, but somewhat struggling downtown. It’s one of my favorite places to shop small. This past weekend was St. J Sparkles Holiday Weekend, so there were discounts at many of the stores, plus double points on the St. J Sparkles punch card. I easily filled my card by the end of the weekend, and picked up my prize on the way out of town this morning. I love all the merchandise Magic Wolf makes, but especially this year’s St. J Sparkles shirt.
So let’s get to the movie, “A Christmas in Vermont,” from 2016. I found one movie poster that makes me think it may have originally been titled Vermont Christmas Vacation because the movie does, in fact, have Chevy Chase in it. My theory is National Lampoons didn’t want to have any association with this film and issued a cease and desist.
The movie also has Morgan Fairchild in it, but she’s only ever on the phone, never in person with any of the other characters.
To sum it up, the movie starts with Riley in New York City. She’s sent to close this small Vermont coat company that employs most of the small town. She first befriends a lonely elderly widow who lost the spirit of Christmas when his wife passed away. It turns out he founded the company, and Riley helps him and everyone else remember the way things used to be run, when the company produced quality products. Riley comes up with the idea to sell throwback holiday sweaters and saves the company, falls in love with Vermont and Wyatt (in that order).
What Vermont town is this supposed to be? Unfortunately, we never learn the name of this small town, where everyone knows everyone, but there’s a professional-level ice skating rink.
Was this actually filmed in Vermont? No, it was all filmed around Buffalo, New York.
How much Vermontness was included in the film? There were some scenic, snowy shots in the beginning of the movie that looked like it could be Vermont, but there was no snow anywhere in all of the sciences, which makes me think this was not only NOT filmed in Vermont, it wasn’t filmed around Christmas time. There was one mention of maple syrup, two of cheddar cheese. Riley transitions from her big city attire to flannel by the end of the movie.
How much small town > big town is in this movie? There’s definitely an anti-city vibe running through this whole movie. When the main character goes back to the city after being found out, her big city boyfriend says, “What’s gotten into you?”
Her answer: ”Christmas, Christmas is what’s gotten into me.”
Main character leaves NYC for Vermont and a chance at love. It’s like an L.L. Bean origin story.
What were your takeaways? The movie stunk, but I do like the storyline of making more quality items and vintage designs. I do most of my clothes shopping on eBay these days, and I’m currently wearing Sorel snow boots from back in the time when they were still made in Canada. So much clothing today is made out of plastic.
After watching this movie, would you buy the fake company’s product? Yes, absolutely, as long as it‘s not acrylic. Considering how fast they manufactured the sweaters to turn a profit, it’s probably acrylic.
How many music montages were there? 3!
