The 2020 Christmas Movie Catalogue
Sunday, December 13, 2020 at 5:04PM by Tony Ruggio
It wasn’t so long ago that Christmas movies were dead and buried, outside of Hallmark’s copious output anyway. They were no longer of much interest to major Hollywood studios and inherently verboten for indie distributors. Thanks to Netflix, Hulu, and the streaming wars, the genre is back and more prolific than ever. And in a year like 2020, we might need them more than ever...
NETFLIX Holidate
More pleasant than it has any right to be, this slightly-better-than-Hallmark offering is pretty trifling regardless. Emma Roberts and Luke Bracy make for a cute couple, but they’re saddled with characters that are more irritable than adorable. The high concept premise, about men and women who partner up exclusively for holiday events, has plenty of potential for comedic hijinks. Despite vets like Kristen Chenoweth and Francis Fisher providing ample support, the movie can’t help itself. It’s more interested in making its audience ooh and aah at the trite romance than laugh at the concepts. I have to admit, though, that the Ryan Gosling jokes made me feel seen. C
NETFLIX Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
Set in a fantastical village circa turn of the 20th century, a place brimming with ingenuity and diversity, where inventors are famous and toymakers the toast of the town, Jingle Jangle is an escapist adventure that will delight people of all ages, most of all anyone looking to escape 2020 (so...all of us). Visual effects, production and costume design, and hairstyling are a cut above most Netflix originals. This is a made-for-TV movie on paper that almost looks like a $150 million-dollar production in execution. Director David E. Talbert should be commended for finding the right balance between jolly and melancholy in his tale of a genius and family man on the downswing of his life. Were it not for a few wayward green screens and an especially aggravating vocal performance by Ricky Martin, this might have made my top 15 of 2020. Complete with memorable musical numbers and a moving turn by Forest Whitaker, this is quite possibly a new Christmas routine going forward. B+
ON DEMAND Fatman
A surprisingly creative and entertaining riff on the dark side of Santa Claus, Fatman is halfway undone by an undercooked and predictable ending, as well as a perfunctory score that instantly pegs the film as a straight-to-video yawner. It’s definitely better than that, but the Nelms brothers haven’t exactly gone out of their way to dissuade you from thinking so. Mel Gibson has been reliable of late for delivering appropriately gruff performances as old men wondering what happened to themselves and the world around them. Fatman is no different, and fortunately it’s not a wannabe red pill waiting to happen. The Nelms brothers manage to comment on the declining state of American mores (there are references to young men and mass shootings) without leaning to the left or right. You would think a gritty, “realistic” take on Santa Claus would mean less fantasy, less magic, and you’d be wrong. It’s unfortunate the creativity wanes in the final stretch then, when there are such amusing scenes as the head elf explaining how a pure diet of cake, cookies, and carbs is suitable for elf health. Walton Goggins is well-cast as an assassin with a chip on his shoulder. C+
HULU Happiest Season
Directed by lesbian filmmaker Clea Duvall, Happiest Season is clearly a passion project, one possibly culled from personal experience. Kristen Stewart is instantly relatable as orphaned young adult Abby, a woman at odds with her long-term roommate and girlfriend Harper (Mackenzie Davis) when she invites her back home for Christmas to meet her conservative family. As it happens, Harper has yet to come out to them, leading to all manner of shenanigans and dysfunctional drama, most of it involving sibling rivalry, ex-boyfriends (Jake McDorman), ex-girlfriends (the always-funny Aubrey Plaza), and Harper’s father (Victor Garber) running for Mayor. Daniel Levy is a hoot, stealing scenes as an atypical gay best bud who cares for his friends by tracking them. Allison Brie, Mary Holland, and Mary Steenburgen round out the family, each of them doing their part to enliven a script with such a knowable ending. Bemoan all you want that a queer rom-com is following in the predictable footsteps of straight romances before it, but for my mind, cliches and a glossy veneer are a surer sign of mainstream acceptance than raw authenticity on the fringes of indie cinema. And yes, I ship Abby and Riley too. B
DISNEY PLUS Godmothered
There are some movies that make no bones about their influences, what they crib from and hope to replicate. Godmothered is a clear attempt at replicating the success of Enchanted and Elf, and in that order. The plot itself is Enchanted to a tee, with a goofy, naive, fish-out-of-water female protagonist traveling from the land of cute woodland creatures and fairy godmothers to our cynical Earth of difficult parenting and kids saddled with a sad chip on their shoulder, like a deceased Mom or Dad, for instance. Tonally, Godmothered is more akin to Elf, less action-oriented (don’t forget Enchanted has sword fights and fire-breathing dragons) with Christmas tidings for kids and oddball humor for adults. There’s no Santa or “spirit of Christmas” talk, so it’s almost a Christmas movie by default. These blatant influences may mean it’s all very familiar, and you could devise a drinking game out of how often they discuss “fairy tales” and “happily ever after,” but that doesn’t stop Godmothered from being nearly as effective as those aforementioned blockbusters. Jillian Bell and Isla Fisher make a good team of good cop, bad cop sensibilities on happiness, Jane Curtin and June Squibb provide motherly pizzazz, and a predictable ending is somehow sneakily emotional if you’ve got a holiday hankering for schmaltz. B-
NETFLIX The Christmas Chronicles Part Two
This makes the original look rather subtle by comparison, and reminded me of the difference between holiday classic The Santa Clause and its grating, over-the-top sequel. Chronicles 2 is a better movie than The Santa Clause 2, but they share a similar nearly fatal flaw: an annoying villain. First of all, as a super-fan of The Office, it’s a creative tragedy that Chris Columbus didn’t cast Rain Wilson as Santa’s mischievous tinkerer Belsnickel. Instead, he opted to make the character a former elf-turned-eighteen-year-old-looking human played by Julian Dennison. He’s essentially one of those bad guys who’s baaad the whole way through, yet we’re supposed to accept a half-baked redemption wholesale in the final act. On a more positive note, getting a look-see at Santa’s, nay, Mrs. Claus’ workshop is incredibly fun, maybe for the first time getting treated to more world-building around just how the toys and candy canes are manufactured. There’s even a bit of time travel that’s emotionally rewarding, and the ornery Nordic elves are unending comedy. Unlike Godmothered, plentiful “spirit of Christmas'' talk and overt pandering to the Hallmark crowd ensures this sequel is the lesser of the two, but it sure is nice to see Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn together on screen again. C
More Christmas Movie Reviews
• Dolly's Christmas in the Square ABCDF reviewed by Christopher James
• Happiest Season A- also reviewed by Eurocheese
Reader Comments (10)
I had almost the opposite reaction to you on FATMAN - weird first hour (didn't really get into the humour they were going for, not much really happened), saved by the last part (the shoot-out), didn't like Goggins (he didn't really sell the ruthless assassin for me), the commentary felt more to me like old white men going "the youth of today, hey? Hopeless."
But I gave it the same score. I will also mention Marianne Jean-Baptiste as a good Mother Claus.
For a moment I thought that was Michael Keaton in the center image. The idea that he would make a movie called FATMAN is quite hilarious...
"Who are you?!?"
"I'm Fatman."
I think Ricky Martin is the best part of Jingle Jangle when talking about actors. Production and costume design are good although a little elaborate for my taste.
Fatman was a minor disappointed for me.. so much potential... so much talent involved... did not go the extra mile and it was so obviously limited by budget...
Should have included Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special ;)
It's over the top silliness and yes, a concert film of sorts... but it's also exactly what the 2020 Christmas season needed. She looks and sounds amazing (particularly in the large white princess gown towards the end)... and if this doesn't get you in the Christmas spirit, nothing will :) B+
I can’t understand the almost universal praise for Jingle Jangle. (It’s certainly not just you as the reviews were nearly ALL positive.) I found it a mess with songs that felt forced and poorly written (“the square root of impossible is possible”...sheesh...) and a story that was drawn out and poorly developed. The performances for the most part were decent including a fine lead turn from young Madalen Mills, but it was a ROUGH one for me to get through. (And how do you put Anika Noni Rose in your movie and not have her sing a solo song?)
Now I watched about ten minutes of Dolly’s Christmas on the Square before I turned it off so Jingle Jangle may not be Netflix’s worst holiday musical this season, but I for one don’t get the love.
I saw and loved "Dashing in December" a perfect Hallmark Christmas romantic fantasy with a gay twist
Well shoot, I kind of liked Holidate. Maybe I was just in the mood for an R rated raunchy version of a typical Hallmark movie, no more nor less.
Jingle Jangle was both boring and messy, even though I liked all of the actors in it. Forest Whitaker in particular was excellent.
Dave -- i feel the same about HOLIDATE. Like, I recognize that maybe it was bad but so are a lot of the treacly Christmas movies and people love them anyway.
BTW Lifetime just premiered its first gay holiday movie this past weekend called THE CHRISTMAS SETUP starring real-life married couple Ben Lewis and Blake Lee and also Fran Drescher! It is... in a word... delightful. Check it out.