Cute as the Dickens

This was just as delightful as I remember it being when I saw it last December on the Hallmark Now channel (free trial subscription). I remember thinking that it was one of the best Christmas movies of the season and wondered why it wasn’t on their network Countdown to Christmas 2023. I didn’t review it then because of that and because there are just so many reviews one can do in a week at the busiest time of the year. So it was no hardship to look at it again last night.

Erin (Rachel Leigh Cook) is somewhat of a Christmas scrooge. She only appreciates Christmas for the joy it gives others, particularly her own niece and nephew. She is picked at random for “Operation: Wish” conceived by two of Santa’s elves, Chuck and Debbie, to help humankind rediscover its Christmas spirit which has been lost in the wake of such crimes against humanity like social media and macaroni and cheese ice cream. She is driven to distraction by the two elves incessant emails to claim her last wish (the first two were for her Mom’s Christmas cookies and her old boyfriend to to come back and give her the credit she deserves for his new found success (long and entertaining story: She ends up throwing the asshole out of the house). Finally in frustration and a little scared because her two previous wishes came true by coincidence, she wishes for Christmas to disappear. When it does, she soon realizes her mistake and spends the rest of the movie trying to bring Christmas back with the help of the love interest, Sam, played by Sam Page. He did not endear himself to Erin at first when he showed up for their blind date in Reindeer Antlers. Of course now that Erin has wished that there is no such thing as Christmas and never was, his love for the holiday is not an issue. But yet, despite his initial incredulity over what she is blathering on about, he helps and supports her because he really really likes her. We know it’s true love when she calls him to bail her out of jail.  It was sweet and romantic.

Erin’s attempts to explain Christmas and how to celebrate it to everyone are very funny and thought provoking. A tree in the house? Pantyhose full of rocks? And who was this Mary Krismas again? She sets about trying to recreate it for her loved ones, Sam, and then the whole town. It is gold mine of visual humor. Red and Green aren’t a thing now that Christmas never was, so Erin has to make due with pink and chartreuse. When she sends her parents out to purchase the usual Christmas paraphernalia, they come back with leftover Halloween decorations,  pink feather boas, Hawaiian Leis, tennis balls, and beach balls (“You said to get ornaments like brightly colored balls!”). Is christmas even possible without twinkle lights? Will a fox do for a yard ornament? Because reindeer? Really?

Everyone who had a part in this movie was wonderful, but I particularly loved the quirky performances of Patrick O’Brien and  Bailey Stender who played Chuck and Debbie, the two elves responsible for the whole fustercluck who were eager to help Erin but had to do so with only the most discreet use of Christmas Magic.  The writers made the decision to keep religion and spirituality out of this movie entirely. And I see why they did that. But to me, it brought this one down just a bit. I would have appreciated even a cursory nod to the original reason for Christmas, since this was what the movie was kind of about. It was kind of an elephant in the room. Despite that, with Santa’s help, all ends happily with Erin finally realizing she loved Christmas for the joy it gave her, not just her loved ones, and satisfactorily paired up with Sam. (“Is romance always part of Christmas?”, he asked. “Of course, whole channels were devoted to it.”) In the end, even Chuck and Debbie got their wish and no longer had to deal with humans again.