This particular dose of candy cane flavored fluff is Dear Santa, a holiday made-for-television movie that premiered on Lifetime in November of 2011. Directed by Jason Priestley (yes, that Jason Priestley), this movie features Amy Acker (Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing, Angel: The Series, Person of Interest), David Haydn-Jones (Time Bomb, White House Down), Patrick Creery, and Gina Holden (Flash Gordon, Blood Ties). Normally, I'm the type that runs screaming in the other direction from Lifetime movies. They tend to make my inner writer cringe. However, it's the holidays and also the season for forgiveness, so we'll let it slide. And come on, who doesn't love a cheesy Christmas romantic comedy?Exactly. No one. So make yourself some hot chocolate or eggnog, appropriately spiked, and settle in for a feel good film for the holidays.
Crystal Carruthers (Acker) is a spoiled, rich brat who is still living on an allowance from her loaded parents at the age of thirty. Her world revolves around shopping, socializing, and lattes. That is, until her parents give her that classic ultimatum: Crystal has to do something with her life or face being cut off from her posh lifestyle. Of course, our young socialite panics and promises her mother she'll figure something out. Her parents give her until Christmas to sort herself out.
One cheesy trope down, about a million more to go.
Crystal's panic soon subsides as it seems fate has intervened in the form of a letter to Santa, conveniently blown out of the postal carrier's hands and into Crystal's. The letter is from a young girl, Olivia, and in it she tells Santa she has only one wish for Christmas: it's the second Christmas since her mom passed away and she just wants a new wife for her dad. You can practically see the light bulb blinking on above Crystal's head, even though you know deep down that a million things could go wrong with this insane idea. But it's a romantic comedy, so take another sip of your eggnog and strap in because it's time for Crystal to go a-stalking.
(I mean that in all seriousness. She tracks down their house, and ends up trailing the father and daughter in her very conspicuous black Range Rover for a day. Never said Crystal was the brightest crayon in the box, but she gets points for effort,even if realistically it's a bit creepy.)
Crystal's trip following the stereotypically attractive single father around leads her to a Soup Kitchen, where the man presumably volunteers. Our crazy privileged protagonist wanders in and pretends she's meant to be there volunteering as well, and she meets the father, Derek (Haydn-Jones), properly. Crystal is in nothing less than a state of culture shock at being in a soup kitchen, but she makes do. She even makes a friend in the form of Pete Kennedy (Creery), the "head chef" at the soup kitchen. Pete, in his bright pink chef's jacket and designer lip gloss, fills our requirement of sassy gay friend in the film. Mark it off on your rom-com bingo cards, and take another drink of eggnog. Trust me.
Pete soon informs Crystal, that no, Derek doesn't just volunteer at the soup kitchen, he runs it. The soup kitchen had been a pet project of his late wife's and he continues to run it, keeping his promise he made to her.
So not only is he an attractive single father, he's just a genuinely good-hearted person. Merry Christmas Crystal. Let the cliche romantic comedy shenanigans begin! Including, but not limited to: making the sassy gay friend an accomplice, adorable bonding with the daughter, foiling the plots of the "evil" current girlfriend, and of course, holiday themed parties and subplots.
Is it cheesy? Yes. Can we tell it's a bit cheaply made? Definitely. Will it make you feel good? Absolutely. Yes, it has many of the holiday movie cliches, and innumerable romantic comedy tropes, but it's an adorable movie that will make you feel good and put you in the holiday spirit. Yes, Crystal starts out as a spoiled brat seeking only to help herself, but she grows over the course of the movie, and by the end you'll be cheering for her. I did.
I give Dear Santa two mugs of spiked hot chocolate covered in whipped cream. (This is my points system. I do what I want.)
If you want to check out Dear Santa, you can find it currently streaming on Netflix. It will also be shown on Lifetime on Sunday, December 22nd at 7pm and again at 11pm. It'll also air again on Christmas Eve at 2pm.
Next week, I'll be covering another holiday favorite, and one that is a classic in my family. Check back to see which it is! Until then, what are your favorite holiday movies? Leave your answers in comments. Happy Holidays!
No comments:
Post a Comment