Christmas Across America With Willie Nelson

The cover art, which features a prominent picture of Willie Nelson, would lead most viewers to believe that the country star has a major role to play on this video. Not so. Nelson appears briefly at the beginning and the end, both times seated, obviously reading cue cards. Video and film clips of Christmas-related activities, many culled from visitor's bureaus of major American cities, have been assembled and set to over a dozen Christmas carols, with the majority performed as instrumental versions. For each song, Nelson has one or two voiceover lines at the beginning, like: "From New England to the midwest, homes take on a different look around the holidays." That's a serious news flash. While some of the clips are nice to look at (the gaily festooned boats in coastal waters, for example; or the practice of placing small candles in bags filled with sand in New Mexico), neither the video nor the audio are particularly crisp--lending a bland edge to what is already a bland concept. And though we occasionally know where we are in America (when in New York, for instance), we often haven't the slightest idea. Besides Nelson's "Pretty Paper," the rest of the musical selections are, for the most part, the standard Christmas carols. Not recommended. (Available from most distributors.)