So Cancel Christmas and Christmas In Wonderland are two of my favourite Hallmark/Christmas movies ever. A Very Merry Mix-up comes quite close but no one shows that any more and that makes me sad. There are of course a handful of others but I find you never actually remember the names of them until you catch a snippet when they are actually on telly and it's like 'oh yeah! I remember this one' and that's how me and mum play out each Christmas as we live on these channels.
I really like the morals in this cheesy movie. Don't get me wrong, some of the acting is ridiculously cringy and the scene transitions remind me of a powerpoint, but the feel good ideas and overall emotions in the movie are brilliant. Let me give you the low down.
Santa is given until Christmas Eve to change the outlook of three individuals or else he loses his job and becomes just another Christmas image to sell, sell, sell. One trouble maker and his friend are both on the naughty list, then you have Adam who is on the nice list but has lost his zest for life after a car accident put him in a wheelchair and killed his dad. Santa and Mr Randal Elfman need to restore this little guy's belief in life while simultaneously improving the other two and getting them off that naughty list!
So throughout the whole film we find out a little bit about these three boys, Farley Morgan acts out because his mum died, Steve Rojack tags along because he is scared to be left behind and follows his friend like a lost sheep because he doesn't know what else to do, and Adam Claymore, son of a teacher the other boys have terrorized, is just so out of touch due to is own grief he has cut off the rest of the world. Our Christmassy heroes get to work straight away and by the end of the movie we are left with a smile on our faces as the boys help Adam and in turn, in a way, he's helped them to become better people.
The running joke in my house, which my dad makes every single time, is that we don't have to sit through the whole film, just watch the strange summary bit at the end. For the last 3 minutes of its run time they just put the whole film on fast forward. While he is not wrong, you'd still benefit from watching the whole thing, how else do you get to feel like you've achieved something for Christmas?
It also has quite a big name as Santa if you look for that sort of thing in a film. Judd Nelson plays our dear old Father Christmas in this movie, and my mum pointed out, the very first viewing, that he was in The Breakfast Club like that meant something to me. Still haven't seen it but at least now I know of its cult classic status. I think it is rather cute he went from bad boy to Santa, over the top, scary cringy acting to go with it. But that is the nature of big red isn't it, he has always been rather full on.
Also Connor Price plays Steve if that means anything to anyone. He had a few small stints on Disney Channel and was in an episode of the Haunting Hour. I know him from other stuff but the question is do you? Let's face it, I am known for watching the unheard of and obscure, you guys don't have that luxury.
If feel like the budget for this film was used up on that flashy wheelchair and Christmas decorations. I'm not saying that as a bad thing by the way, it brought in some sympathy and some great xmas vibes, but as far as Hallmark movies go, despite being one of my favourite movies, it isn't very good. You start out with all this expectation and then you get 2 dimensional lines only just pulled off by the actors adlib talent. Not a great start. It always reminds me of another Hallmark Christmas film I've seen (that I don't know the name of) where she is told to get into Santa's sleigh and then almost immediately told to get out again and you can see the surprise on her face as it was obviously a case of ok next scene and they just left it in! This is why these films get a bad wrap.
I also really like how this one is slightly different from the normal movies they churn out each year. As always you get the sob story and the sympathy vote, but this one doesn't really focus on romance. Normally the guy gets the girl by the end, and we do see a spark between Farley's dad and Mrs Claymore, but it doesn't take away from the true theme and meaning of this film.
Overall then, I would like to give Cancel Christmas a 5/10. It is both good and bad, and the name is a tad misleading, the threat of the cancellation of Christmas gets forgotten very quickly, but it is your typical feelgood holiday movie and we can't ask for more than that!
As always people, stay safe, get festive, and start your Christmas shopping early to avoid disappointment!
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