My Secret Santa | Blogmas Day 20

-

 

It's Blogmas Day 20!

In desperate need of a job, single mum Taylor (Alexandra Breckenridge) disguises herself as Santa in the hope of being hired by a ski resort.

This is the last of this year's Netflix movies that I'm reviewing for Blogmas this year, and even though I didn't love this film, I definitely saved the best 'til last!

The concept was really interesting, and original-ish. Because yes it's basically a gender-swapped Mrs Doubtfire, but that idea isn't really used for Christmas movies so it definitely feels fresh.

It would have been great if the filmmakers had played more into the humour of the situation. Instead, it is mostly played completely seriously with a few humorous moments thrown in, when the concept is actually funnier than they give it credit for.

Another thing I would have changed is that it felt weird to make the character an ex-band member and hardly have her sing. Yes it was part of the plot but it just felt like such a waste. The story could have been exactly the same without her past being included, so why not let her sing?

And something else that didn't entirely work for me was the reason for the plot in the first place - why did this need to be a secret? Why didn't she audition as Santa and then once hired, tell them she's a woman? It didn't make sense that they did no background checks and had no idea who this person really was. Of course Christmas films as a rule don't really need to make sense, but it was still way too far-fetched.

But that being said, I really liked the reveal and ending.

Also, I haven't really mentioned the couple, not because there's nothing to say about them, but because their relationship wasn't the most important part of the film.

But they were a really sweet couple, they worked really well together, and they're one of only a few couples in this year's Blogmas that I really believe would last outside of the film.

Overall, if you can ignore all the things that don't make sense then this is an enjoyable one, definitely the best of the Netflix Christmas movies I've watched this year.


Title - 7/10

Originality - 6/10

Christmas Spirit - 7/10

Christmas Music - 5/10


It's 5 days until Christmas!

Come back tomorrow for Blogmas day 21!



Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you so much for your comment xx

Popular Posts

Yes Chef! Christmas | Blogmas Day 17

-
Image
  It's Blogmas Day 17! Culinary school teacher Alicia (Tia Mowry) decides to compete in an annual Christmas cooking competition with the help of mentor Logan (Luke Humphrey). Did I pick this movie just because the title reminded me of The Bear? Maybe, but it was also a food one that focused on cooking rather than baking, so that was another fun thing. I liked this movie. Yes there are a good few movies this year based on baking or cooking, but this is the only one that's based on a competition, which makes things interesting. The main couple are really sweet together. Their chemistry isn't as strong as it could be by any means, but there's definitely something budding there, and it's really nice to watch. That being said, it was definitely pushing the enemies-to-lovers- trope a bit too hard, given that the characters mildly disliking each other for maybe 15 minutes doesn't really make them enemies. I liked that the characters, particularly Alicia, had a life out...
Read more

Tidings for the Season | Blogmas Day 15

-
Image
  It's Blogmas Day 15! A newscaster's (B. J. Britt) life changes when he meets a single mother (Tamera Mowry-Housley) and her son ( Elijah-Justus Lewis) . I didn't know much about this one before picking it, but the little I got from the description interested me enough to add it to the list. I really liked this film. For a start, it finally gave me a single-parent story where the kid is not only the best part of the film, but a really good actor. He made the film as original and entertaining as it was. But I liked all the characters. They were fun, well-written and the actors worked well together. It took a while for the chemistry to develop between the love interests, but because I was already invested in the story from early on, I didn't mind having to wait before I could really buy these two as a couple. That being said, this allowed the chemistry to build slowly, which really made you believe that these two were falling in love. It was worth the wait to make things...
Read more

Jingle Bell Heist | Blogmas Day 16

-
Image
It's Blogmas Day 16! Two strangers (Olivia Holt and Connor Swindells) team up to rob a London department store on Christmas Eve. This was one of the ones I was most looking forward to this year. Not only does Netflix have an interesting slate of new movies, but this one had a really unique premise, so I wanted to see how everything played out. Unfortunately, it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. But as I've said, I was impressed that the premise was so unique, and the film itself is definitely one of the most original movies of Blogmas. The actors are great and they have good chemistry, but their chemistry didn't work for what they were. They were supposed to be strangers, but they didn't seem unfamiliar at all. It felt like they'd known each other for years, so I never quite believed that these were strangers who were forced to work together. Speaking of which, the romance doesn't really develop as the film progresses, it just appears after a while, almos...
Read more

The Holiday Sitter | Blogmas Day 19

-
Image
  It's Blogmas Day 19! While babysitting his niece and nephew over the holidays, Sam (Jonathan Bennett) enlists the help of neighbour Jason (George Krissa). This is the second Blogmas movie this year starring Jonathan Bennett, and he must be the secret ingredient of Blogmas because both movies have been great.  This one may actually be the best of Blogmas - I loved it so much! These kind of stories, two opposites thrown together, always tend to be quite fun, so I was looking forward to seeing it. I liked it almost instantly because the introductions to all the characters were really good. I felt like I got to know them really quickly and became invested in their lives before the story even got going. And this made me really excited for the characters to meet! Thankfully it was worth the wait because the actors worked really well together and had great chemistry - definitely some of the best chemistry I've seen this Blogmas! The filmmakers made an effort to instil Christmas int...
Read more