Director: Christie Will Wolf
Writer(s): Gary Goldstein, based off the story "Mr. 365" by Ruth Clampett
Starring: Chelsea Hobbs, Christopher Russell, Matthew Kevin Anderson and Jill Morrison
Will Saunders is an attractive man who just so happens to celebrate Christmas every single day. He also employs a former homeless man, Hank, because when you’re this perfect, that’s the type of thing you just do. Sophia Worthy is a TV producer tasked with shooting a reality TV series with him at the center. There’s one little problem, though: Sophia isn’t a fan of the holiday season, which is exactly what makes her perfect for the job of interviewing someone who’s obsessed with it. She approaches Will, and he is understandably reluctant; he just wants to go about his daily business without interference, or attention, from the public. But the two share an undeniable bond and so it carries weight when Sophie reassures him that he will be painted in a positive light.
But enjoying Christmas 365 days a year is not something that comes without its fair share of problems: Will’s neighbor, Fred, is a curmudgeonly old guy who has filed an injunction against Will, barring him from putting Christmas lights up before November 1st. Why? No reason, really, except that he’s just an old guy with a permanent scowl frozen on his face, presumably from decades of being a smug asshole.
Anyway, Sophia and Will start to fall for each other (surprise!) but Sophie knows that if news of their relationship gets out, that she might be fired from her company, so they keep it on the down-low…until it gets out anyway thanks to Paul Rivera, Sophie’s nefarious boss. But he’s not just content with outing Sophia’s make-out session with Will: he also decides to take the innocent reality series and turn it into a smear campaign against Will, making him look like a bumbling idiot. (Although he does claim it was his bosses that wanted it, but still…have a spine!) This understandably upsets Will, who sees it as betrayal on Sophie’s part. After all, it’s the exact thing she promised would never happen!
Will true love overcome all blah blah blah blah? Blah blah blah blah blah blah!
You already know what’s going to happen just from reading the plot synopsis, so why are you even interested in watching it, or reading more about it? The two leads are very attractive, and seem to have a decent amount of chemistry together, which at least makes the romance aspect somewhat believable. They also deliver decent performances that are above the demands of the Z-grade material, and that are somewhat grounded in reality - the same can’t be said for the rest of the cast, who basically deliver theatrics that would feel more at home in a kids movie. The rest of the story is absurd…I’d call it a complete mess, but honestly, it’s no worse than anything else from Hallmark.
In fact, I have a confession to make: the streaming service we watched this on somehow kept glitching out during the final ten minutes, and despite our best attempts, we were unable to actually finish it. But I have a feeling I can accurately fill in the blanks!
I probably could have done the same if it glitched out within the first five.
STRAY OBSERVATIONS
- What the hell is with the poster art? It makes Sophie look like a creepy stalker as she peers out from behind a Christmas tree…
- What is the point of having the old guy in it at all? He spends the whole movie unconvincingly trying to look upset at Will, and then has a complete about-face at the end, for no apparent reason.
- Why are even decent examples of these movies so, so painful? And why do I keep subjecting myself to them?
ENTERTAINMENT RATING: 6.5/10
TRAILER
No comments:
Post a Comment