Dolly Parton's Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love

The movie doesn't always take itself seriously. ... But with its dual messages of "hold your families close" and "always be kind," Dolly Parton's Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love is ultimately as sweet as the Whitman's Sampler the Parton kids get to dive into.

Once again written by Pamela K. Long and directed by Stephen Herek, it's not quite up to the mark of its predecessor, whose strengths were in ordinary domestic relations and challenges--a Smoky Mountains "Waltons."

To the extent it works, credit the cast (including Gerald McRaney as Dolly's minister grandpa) and some of the little touches in Pamela K. Long's script, like Dolly's first brush with indoor plumbing.

While the filmmakers behind the Parton Christmas franchise (among them veteran daytime soap writer Pamela K. Long) have sprinkled some genuine moments in the story and made a great hire in casting Nettles as the tenacious Parton matriarch, they have inadvertently made their subject, the charismatic singer herself, into someone whose life you’d rather not hear about anymore.

Enjoy Colors for what it’s worth--for the message, the music and Parton's benevolent spirit. Just know there must be a better movie to be made about her life than NBC is offering.

Everything here is laid on twice as thick as it was in the first movie, delivering a story that’s more obnoxious than engaging.