Even though there are no other Christmas movies named anything like it, I kept getting My Favorite Christmas Melody confused with something. I have no idea what but I kept thinking that I watched this already. Maybe all these Christmas movies are starting to drive me insane.
Abby (Mya) is a singer-songwriter. Three years ago, she had a Christmas song she wrote stolen by a popular singer. Now she works writing jingles for commercials. Fighting with writer’s block, Abby decides to go home for the holidays where her mother, Cynthia (Shakura S'Aida), is the principal at the local high school. Cynthia convinces Abby to help the school’s band instructor, Travis (Rainbow Sun Francks), prepare for the holiday pageant.
As a whole, I enjoyed the movie. Mya is a wonderful singer and the movie lets her sing multiple times. While the music is a little cheesy, it’s not bad. It fits perfectly into a Lifetime Christmas movie. I am glad that a movie about musicians allows them time to actually play music.
Now for the bad parts. Abby, and most everyone around her, complains about the jingle-writing gig claiming it’s not “real art.” She’s getting paid to write music! There aren’t a lot of musicians that get paid to actually write music. it’s an annoying complaint.
On top of that, Abby is very salty about the stolen song. Which is understandable but, at some point, she needs to let it go. it’s been three years and she literally snaps at people who like the song. She claims that her manager got a lawyer who said there was nothing they could do. But, judging by the sheer number of lawsuits we have nowadays about songs, there is no way the lawyer just said “Nope. Sorry.” without taking it to court first. Giving them the benefit of the doubt - let’s say the lawyer was right. It’s been three years and the song is massively popular. Stop taking your aggravation out on the people around you. It doesn’t look good.
Despite the annoying business side of the movie, I do think it is worth watching. There are some good lessons about music being more than technique and putting your heart into it. I just wish they would have gotten rid of all the guilt stuff. I think it would have been a better movie if they didn’t keep harping on how her job sucked.