Reviewing Holiday Features: At The Movies With Kasey
There are fewer new holiday movies on the various non-Hallmark streaming services this year than I have seen since 2019. Disney only did A Very Jonas Christmas, and I am not qualified to comment on that one. Among the options, however, I found some gems and some real duds.
Netflix had the biggest drop of new movies this year. A Merry Little Ex-Mas stars Alicia Silverstone and Oliver Hudson as Kate and Everett, a separated couple trying to make the holiday special one more time for their kids (Emily Hall and Wilder Hudson). But Everett’s new girlfriend (Jameela Jamil) arrives, and the trio ends up in conflict between her flashier celebration and Kate’s passion for handmade, sustainable traditions. Oh, and a himbo at a tree farm (Pierson Fode) falls for her, too. It is a real missed opportunity that Melissa Joan Hart appears only briefly as Kate’s friend and not in a bigger role as her sister.
I suspect Alicia Silverstone had a crunchy wishlist for Kate and got most of her requests. She is a handywoman and a green energy expert, and I dream about her house now. The cast is charming, which helps overcome the predictable plot, making A Merry Little Ex-Mas pretty good for the genre.
My Secret Santa features Netflix darling Alexandra Breckenridge as a single mom who takes a job playing Santa at a resort for the employee discount on snowboarding lessons for her daughter. Complicating this silly Mrs. Doubtfire-like premise is the flirtation she develops with the resort owner’s son, Matthew (Ryan Eggold), when not dressed as Santa. Tia Mowry plays the “villain,” Natasha, a cut-throat exec with dramatic flair. There are too many subplots and too many side characters in this film, and I did not care about the romance except to see what happens when Matthew realizes he’s been wining and dining Santa. As Santa, though, Breckenridge is so sweet that she gives Miracle on 34th Street vibes.
Champagne Problems stars Minka Kelly as an American exec sent to Paris just before Christmas to buy a vineyard, but she’s in for competition from others who want the property, and resistance from the owner’s son, played by Tom Wozniczka. Minka Kelly is adorable, but this movie is utterly ridiculous. It’s much better if you think of it as a story about an American woman stealing the heart of a Frenchman’s dog. Also, as an eccentric party boy who wants to buy the vineyard, Sean Amsing gets the best laughs.
Jingle Bell Heist was unforgivably dull. The film stars Olivia Holt as a young woman who moved to London so her mother could undergo cancer treatment. When the medical costs escalate, she takes an offer from another struggling worker, Nick (Connor Swindells), to help rob the fancy department store where she works. The camera loves Olivia Holt, and the set design for the store is colorful and kind of retro, but so much of the film has a toned-down look that, paired with the lack of chemistry between Holt and Swindells, the poor character development, and the clunky screenplay, it does not have any of the sparkle that the premise promises.
On Hulu, Joy to the World focuses on an author and influencer, Joy (Emmanuelle Chriqui), who is about to be outed as a fraud when her publisher arranges for a national morning show to broadcast live from her family’s home on Christmas Eve. Contrary to the stories in her books, the closest thing she has to family is her housekeeper, Marta (Helene Lohan Cameron). So, she gets Marta, the mailman (Guy Sprung), two neighbor kids (Taya Messier and Josh Reich), and her best friend (who she’s actually in love with), Max (Chad Michael Murray), to masquerade as her family. Watching Joy throw together a festive, handmade, but also perfect Christmas in mere days was gripping. Chriqui and Murray have great chemistry, which also helped make this cliched fare fun.
Finally, Amazon released Oh. What. Fun. and Merv. Oh. What. Fun. stars Michelle Pfeiffer as Claire, who just wants her kids–Channing (Felicity Jones), Taylor (Chloë Grace Moretz), or Sammy (Dominic Sessa)—or her husband (Denis Leary) to nominate her for a “Holiday Mom” contest to visit her favorite talk show (hosted by Eva Longoria). Instead, she feels like no one appreciates her, and her anger finally boils over for an unexpected holiday twist.
We’re all horrible in our own ways, just as we’re all wonderful in our own ways; this movie goes to great lengths to convince us that the kids are horrible. But they are ungrateful. Michelle Pfeiffer carries her character’s emotions well, but the plot feels unwieldy, sometimes too zany, and sometimes pulling punches. It’s good enough, but not a new classic.
Finally, Merv uses the holiday season as the backdrop for the story of Anna (Zooey Deschanel) and Russ (Charlie Cox), a couple trying to help their dog, Merv, get his spark back after their breakup hurts his mental health. It’s a weird concept for a movie, but it has a dog, and sometimes that’s all you need. This movie needed much more, though. I agree with Merv that it’s depressing.
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