Christmas in the Heartland

This is an uninspired "switcheroo" movie in which two teen girls from different socioeconomic backgrounds trade places to see how the proverbial "other half" lives. Despite hailing from Vermont, it doesn't take the two lead characters long to drop the "g" in any gerund they use while referring to every noun they see as "this here" shortly after arriving in Oklahoma, clearly under the influence of "locals" who never miss a chance to use homespun witticisms like "more nervous than a night crawler at a fishin' derby." The family from a blue-collar background, led by Shelley Long as Grandma Judy, is, of course, as fond of plainspoken truths and an honest day's work as they are of barbecue, and the family from a wealthy background, featuring Bo Derek as Grandmother Elsa, is, of course, snobby and materialistic, despite the grandfather's realization that, yes, there's more to life than money. And, of course, not to spoil anything, the two girls who pull the "switcheroo," as well as their families, learn the True Meaning of Christmas.

To say that the ending is a little too convenient is putting it mildly. Aside from Shelley Long, who makes the clunky attempts at "downhome" dialogue sound almost plausible, the acting is either flat or overdone. Apparently, Hollywood and/or the Hallmark Channel believe that the best way to make people realize that the holidays should be more of a season of giving instead of wanting and buying things is to continually churn out trite movies with this message, and Christmas in the Heartland is yet another attempt to get this message across.