December is the month for Christmas movies. It's like a mini-industry that keeps the likes of Tim Allen and Jenny McCarthy in the green.
Billy Ray Cyrus, who is known among folks under the age of 25 as Miley's dad and anyone over 25 as that "Achy Breaky Heart" guy, has jumped on the Noel bandwagon with a new film Saturday on Hallmark called "Christmas in Canaan."
The film is based on a book co-written by Atlanta's own "Gambler" Kenny Rogers. Yes, the legendary country singer is an author, too. I requested an interview with our homeboy Rogers but he was going out on tour and couldn't set aside the time. I'll talk to you one day, Mr. Rogers. One day!
The movie is set in the 1960s in Canaan, Texas, during the height of the Civil Rights movement. A mouthy young white boy gets in a fight with a bookish black boy. As punishment, their parents force them to live in the other person’s home for a few days. At first wary enemies, they become close friends, bonding over a wounded dog. Eventually, they also bond over Christmas. Cyrus plays the noble dad of the white boy. There are some light echoes of “To Kill a Mockingbird” as well as a famous male tearjerker of a film.
“I’ve always dreamed about doing something along the lines of ‘Brian’s Song,’ ” Cyrus said in an interview last month.
Cyrus said he had read the script but did not read Rogers’ book immediately because he was told not to. His character in the film, for one, is more involved than the one in the book.
“This movie,” he said, “is about love. It’s about love with no color barriers. You look at ‘Brian’s Song.’ A white man and black man who love each other as close friends. That’s what drew me to this script.”
Cyrus recalls his dad advising his son to have a career like Rogers, who branched into acting in his earlier days. “You can’t have all your eggs in one basket,” he said. Cyrus followed the advice, breaking through starring in a PAX series called “Doc,” then, of course, as his daughter’s fictional dad in Disney’s “Hannah Montana.”
Cyrus has talked to Rogers many times since the movie began. Cyrus even wrote a theme song for the movie in homage to his dad, who passed four years ago of cancer. Rogers complimented Cyrus about the song in a letter, noting, “Your dad would be very proud.”
“It moved me,” Cyrus said. “I’ll keep that forever.”
He hopes to snag Rogers on his next album. "He's a really sharp, intelligent, creative, loving soul. He's firing on all cylinders." Cyrus' next project on screen? A Jackie Chan film "The Spy Next Door" due out next month.
ON TV
“Christmas in Canaan,” Hallmark, 8 p.m. Saturday, December 12
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