jagough49 Review of The Spruces and the Pines

The Spruces and the Pines (2017 TV Movie)

A clever Romeo-and-Juliet feel-good Christmas family movie!

[9/10 · 12 January 2020]

Also known as "A Star-Crossed Christmas". Christmas is approaching. A Romeo and Juliet romance takes place among two commercially competing, and emotionally feuding New England Christmas Tree farming families. Against their families' wills, Julie Pine, daughter of James Pine (whose wife died almost a year ago), comes home from university, with only one semester remaining in her Horticultural degree, to help her father with the Christmas rush. Meanwhile, coming from Texas, where he had been a successful used-car salesman, Rick Spruce, accepts the invitation of his uncle, unmarried and childless Dave Spruce, to help his uncle at this busy season. Rick has been promised the opportunity to take over the spruce Christmas tree farm if he likes the work. Coincidentally, not knowing their family origins, Rick and Julie meet, several times and, after a few brisk and amusing sparks between them, begin falling in love. When they realise they each come from different sides of the bitter Pine-Spruce feud, Julie initially rejects Rick. But Rick has not grown up with the on-going feuding, which he thinks is nothing to do with him, or Julie, and he persists, and wins Julie around. They agree it is more than time that the feuding stop, but they realise that, for the time being, they are forced by their circumstances to hide their Yuletide relationship. Meanwhile, one of the big burly Pine workers, nicknamed "Bear", and one of the cute Spruce workers, Holly, have been secretly dating, despite knowing that their mutually antagonistic bosses would fire them on the spot if their relationship was revealed. In the nearby town, Martha Fuller, the unmarried owner of the only sweet bakery and coffee shop in town, realises what is happening, and, secretly, wishes she could attract bachelor Dave Spruce. She is clearly scheming to manipulate Julie, and the others, ... But only the two grumpy old men know what the feud was about, and each of them angrily refuses to discuss it. (Martha also knows, but feels unable to explain to Julie or Rick.) Happily, all of this is resolved, partly because Holly discovers some old photos from when Dave and James and Julie's mother before she married, and Martha were all happy friends together; and partly because Julie explores some of her mother's boxes of belongings, discovers the family's misplaced Christmas-tree topper - a large crystal star - and three letters written on her deathbed by Julie's mother - one to Julie, another to her husband, James, and a third to Dave Spruce. One scene is inspiring, if only for its unusual seasonal culinary interest: Julie Pine: Well, this is a Christmas tradition that every tree farmer should know. (Julie opens a canister) Rick Spruce: Are those pine needles? Julie Pine: Yup. Rick Spruce: You put those in the tea? Julie Pine: They are the tea. (Julie prepares the drink, putting a small sprig of pine needles in each mug, and pouring in about two inches of boiling water.) Julie Pine: My Mom would make this for us every winter. Here you go. (She passes one of the mugs to Rick.) Rick Spruce (uncertain): Thank you. Julie Pine (urging him): Go on, ... (Rick hesitates, but then, cautiously, sniffs, and then sips.) Rick Spruce: It's like Christmas in a cup! Julie Pine (pleased he likes it, and understands it): Cheers! Rick Spruce: Cheers! (They both happily drink!) Wikipedia's article on "Pine" tells us: "A tea made by steeping young, green pine needles in boiling water (known as tallstrunt in Sweden) is high in vitamins A and C". Also, other Wikipedia articles note that "pines" and "spruces" all belong to the botanical family Pinaceae, while the pines, as such, belong to the genera Pinus. By contrast, balsam firs, while belonging to the large family Pinaceae, are not members of the genera Pinus, but belong to the separate genus Abies. That is, firs are not pines! Despite this, early in the film Dave Spruce berates Rick for selling customers a hated "pine", a Balsam fir. Hmm, ... Julie, the horticulture student, could have corrected Dave! Once you get over the corny family names, Pine and Spruce, and forget the cheesy nickname "Bear" for a big burly smiling tub of a man (maybe not such a bad nickname after all), and accept that the story of ridiculously feuding families and thwarted star-crossed lovers is a happier variant on Romeo and Juliet, this is a good film. It naturally centres on "Christmas", because of the seasonal setting of the rival Christmas tree farms, but not for what Christmas is really about, such as, the Nativity, and/or Santa Claus. Instead it emphasises the importance of listening to your heart, and caring for others. But maybe that is not such a bad Christmas message, after all!