CHRISTMAS CAPSULES: Operation Christmas Drop (2020)

Director: Martin Wood
Writers: Gregg Rossen and Brian Sawyer
Starring: Kat Graham, Alexander Ludwig, Trezzo Mahoro, and Bethany Brown

Part U.S. military propaganda, part (well, mostly) cheesy holiday romance, Operation Christmas Drop tells the (true) story of the Department of Defense’s “longest running humanitarian mission, in which military personnel and civilians come together to gather supplies for people on isolated islands, and drop off large wooden crates full of food and other necessities. It provides a rather curious backdrop for a gag-inducing holiday romance in which Kat Graham (one of the most naturally beautiful actresses in Hollywood…or anywhere for that matter) plays Erica, a career-focused (!) woman trying to work her way up in Washington D.C.

She is sent on a mission from her superior, with the potential for promotion should her mission be successful: go to a beachside Air Force base, and—though it’s not really directly “spoken”—find enough reasons to justify shutting it down. Of course, this is over the Christmas holiday, which means she won’t be able to spend Christmas with her family; in a rare twist, she doesn’t really care, as she’s not too fond of her father’s new wife (of course, since parents can never just get divorced or separate in these movies—because that wouldn’t be Christian enough—her mother died three years ago).

Confident and hellbent on achieving her mission, she is caught off guard when her “escort” around the base is Andrew, an equally-confident, Christmas-obsessed Air Force captain who helps to oversee the annual Christmas Drop. As per usual, the two trade barbs at first, that quickly turn into sparks of romance; but will she choose to fight for what’s right, or phone in a report just to stay on the track to promotion?

Actually, fans of this type of cinematic endeavor might be a little disappointed, as the romance takes a backseat to Erica’s frantic attempts to save the campaign. Of course, the two do end up falling for each other, despite their initial misgivings, but chemistry-wise, they feel more like good friends rather than lovers destined to be together. And Erica’s sudden change from seeing the Christmas Drop as a waste of government resources, to being the main champion of the cause, is laughably abrupt, even for this kind of movie.

If there’s one thing we can count on from Netflix-produced romances, it’s that the acting will at least be above-average; Operation Christmas Drop doesn’t disappoint in that regard. The leads are charming and, even though I would say Alexander Ludwig (as Andrew) is not a very conventionally-attractive looking guy, he wins the viewer over with his laid-back personality. As I said, I don’t think they really explode chemistry, but they’re likeable and flow well together, even if it’s not in a lover kind of way.

Can I come back to the sustainability of Netflix as a whole? They’re dropping billions of dollars worth of money on content every year, but pulling in around $500 million in subscriber fees. There are no advertisements…how is this a sustainable business model? Just this movie alone cost $24 million to make—outside of the salaries for the cast and crew, I don’t see much more than $2 million on the screen.

At any rate, this is a rather ho-hum exercise in genre clichés that mostly manages to be cute, but does feature some anger-inducing clichés that would have been best left out. If this is your type of movie, you’ll probably find enough here to like. But thanks to its focus on an actual story rather than the relationship between its two main stars, this certainly won’t win over any Scrooge-types, and might not even win over most of its targeted demographic.

OVERALL RATING: 5.5/10

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS

• The random computer-generated gecko is probably the worst example of CGI since the early 2000s; clearly not enough was spent in areas where it was most needed.
• The “miracle” that occurs to save the day feels more like a quickly written cop-out, rather than an actual miracle.

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CHRISTMAS CAPSULES: The Holiday Calendar (2018)

Starring in these lighthearted holiday romance movies is about the equivalent of starring in a porn: You never see top talent star in either of those examples, nor has anyone who got their “start” in one of those ever crossed over into mainstream movie roles. They are basically a vessel for the Haylie Duffs and Lacey Chaberts of the world to still earn a paycheck after their primes have escaped them.

That being said, Netflix has immense buying power, and The Holiday Calendar features probably the best looking main star combination of any Hallmark-style romance film ever made, in Kat Graham and Quincy. Often, viewers only have the looks of the cast to fall back on when the story takes a nose dive, or when characters act out of character just to force the “fight scene” seemingly required of all these movies. Yet, they both bring some acting chops, as well as a believable level of chemistry, to their roles, which helps to elevate this one above the norm.

Graham is Abby, a woman who, of course, is looking for love. Quincy is her longtime best friend who, of course, has always been in love with her. When Abby's uncle gifts her an antique advent calendar, she initially thinks nothing of it...until the items inside lead her to Ty, a man who's too good to be true. Quincy's pleas that something isn't right with him fall on deaf ears (there's the fight scene!) as Abby feels she has found the perfect one for her. But the calendar works in mysterious ways, and by the time she reaches the final day, she finds that all the clues were pointing in an unexpected direction. Well, new for her...I mean, we knew where it was headed once the opening credits started.

This one is less annoying than most, though there are still an abundance of “Why are they acting that way?” moments that seem inserted out of sheer obligation to holiday films moreso than anything else. Yet it's watchable, thanks to the believability of the lead pair, and...well, really, that's about it. Everything else is pretty lackluster and too predictable.

RATING: 6/10 (Note: These ratings are weighted and adjusted for Christmas movies and are not at all comparable to ratings of "real", "normal" "films".)

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