Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Movie: Random Acts of Christmas
Release Year: 2019
Network: Lifetime
Starring: Erin Cahill, Kevin McGarry, Jaclyn Smith, Patrick Duffy
⚠🛑 Disclaimer: This review may contain movie spoilers
Review:
So last night I decided to continue on my Kevin McGarry movie journey and watched a Lifetime movie entitled Random Acts of Christmas. In this movie Kevin stars opposite Erin Cahill, Jaclyn Smith and Patrick Duffy. Overall I enjoyed the movie and in particular I liked McGarry and Duffy alot. I appreciate what the movie was trying to get at but I don't think it quite achieved everything it set out to achieve. There were a few performances and plot points that were just not the best, and quite a few missed opportunities that could have made this movie far better than it was. It is worth the watch and I will watch it again however it's not something that I would need to watch multiple times a year like "Wedding Veil" or "'Tis the Season To Be Merry".
One minute take:
Sydney (Cahill) is a single mom who is a journalist vying for a promotion. She is tasked with investigating and revealing who is gifting her small town with Christmas cheer...the Secret Santa. Sydney is competing with her colleague Andy (Hamza Fouad) to see who will reveal the mystery first. When Sydney gets stuck in a massive traffic jam she realizes this is all the doing of Secret Santa and abandons her car in the middle of the highway to go investigate. There she runs into Cole (McGarry) who is a freelance journalist...or is he? She and Cole end up working together to figure out the mystery and along the way Sydney realizes she can't reveal who Santa is as it will take away from the positive message that his secret gifts are doing in her community. A series of small secret Santa gifts, mixed in with way too gullible and over the top recipients, ensues. Sydney finally realizes that Cole is really the rich secret Santa who's name is Colin, and storms off as she can't believe that he lied to her and that her "spidey" sense was way off. Colin uses his connections to get the must have toy of the season and has it sent to Ollie. Sydney quickly realizes that she's being stupid and runs to Colin's mansion and they confess their love for each other.
Lead Characters:
I am a big fan of Erin Cahill but I didn't overly like her in this role. Yes she played the role of investigative journalist well and also played well opposite Kevin McGarry. What wasn't believable was her as a mom. She was WAY over the top with the mom excitement and it just seemed forced and fake. I understand he's her only child but she spoke to him and treated him like he was about 2 or 3. My kids would wonder what was wrong with me if I acted like that. This one is hard for me as I enjoyed her as a journalist and felt she nailed that part of the task, but when she was with Ollie I just didn't feel it.
Kevin McGarry...sigh. I have come to appreciate him more and more over this last week. Something about him on screen just captivates my attention. He is believable as the rich business man and exudes the confidence while at the same time showing his giving and charitable side. I loved his dynamic with Howard (Duffy) and felt like it was more of a father/son rapport than any employer/employee relationship. He knows how to work his emotions with his little gestures or looks and I even had a chuckle with the simple nervous throat clearing when he was mistakenly called her husband. For me his performance, as well as Duffy, is what made this movie for me.
Chemistry: The chemistry was good at times and other times just bordered on what I would call the colleague/friend line. When it was good though...it was good. Both McGarry and Cahill emit such emotion with their eyes when they are on screen. The way they show expression and interest through their gazes is amazing. I think the ability to do this is unique and really adds to the believability of the pair as a couple on screen. I wouldn't classify their pairing as a favourite of mine but it was believable. The misunderstanding was of course ridiculous, as usual, and I found the reconciliation to be sweet but a little too rushed.
Supporting Cast:
First we have Patrick Duffy who plays Howard, the assistant to Cole/Colin. I LOVE Patrick Duffy. I have always loved watching him right back to the days I was addicted to Dallas. In this he doesn't disappoint either. The silver fox acts more like a mentor/father figure to Colin then he does an assistant. He is loyal, gives good advice, has some humour to him, and is just overall lovable. He is one of the reasons I enjoyed this movie.
Jaclyn Smith plays the mother of Sydney. I don't know what she does, but man does she look beautiful. She was beautiful in her Charlie's Angels days and just as beautiful now. She doesn't have an overly large role in the movie but she is believable as the mother of Sydney. She is supportive, caring, and do I detect a romance in her future with Howard?
Oliver (Jaden Oehr)? Yikes. I am usually a big fan of most of the child actors cast in these movies but I did not enjoy this character at all. I thought he was just too much. The kid was excited about absolutely everything. I mean I have boys around the same age and it just wasn't believable at times. I understand the excitement for Christmas but some of the other things were a bit much. Not to mention that at 7, I find it highly unlikely that he would get that much excitement out of finding a missing stuffed animal every night. My 5 year old might get a kick out of it for a couple of weeks but then...nah.
Hamza Fouad is probably my least favourite character in this movie. I understand that there needs to be some sort of competition for Sydney to see who gets the promotion but I just found his acting to be too much...especially when he storms off saying he is going to go to a different newspaper because he isn't allowed to report the way he wants to. I just find that very childish. And then the 180 degree turn around as his heart begins to melt because people are acting so nice to him at the end? Please. Honestly I would have preferred that this character not have been part of this story line at all. I think it just took away from the movie instead of enhancing it. There was no need for her to be vying for a job. This movie could have been better if it was simply just her investigating the story of Secret Santa on her own.
Favourite Moments: There are two things that I need to mention that made this movie for me. First the scene when Cole/Colin opens up about when he was a child he made homemade ornaments with his mom. He says his mom would write words on the ornaments and she always wrote "Bliss" because it meant perfect happiness and that's what Christmas felt like to her. Ugh...honestly I wanted to cry. The fact that his whole line of decorations he was releasing this year for his business were those one word ornaments. SOB! Oh the relationship he must have had with his mother.
Also, is it me or does Kevin McGarry know how to rock the "hands in pockets" look? I don't know what it is about this but I notice it all the time and I love it. I think it makes him look casual and confident and just plain sexy every time he does it. Now I'm no Kevin McGarry expert yet so I will leave this to the #mcgarries to chime in, but in the 3 films I've watched him in, he does this alot! Honestly I love it. I know it seems weird but there's just something about it and I had to mention it.
Seriously? Moments: OK so I have a number of these, some I've already mentioned, but here are two larger ones that I just can't wrap my head around.
Firstly some of the Secret Santa surprises were a bit funny to me. How about the smallest sledding hill in the world. LOL. That was so funny. When they all get on the sled together and go down the "hill" and then exclaim that was so fun let's do it again. 😆 😆 😆 😆
How about the Bluetooth speakers. I cracked up when the whole town hears carols while they were shopping and then all gather instantly to sing carols. That would never happen. It's just some background music people. No different then the music you hear while shopping in malls. The same music you always block out while shopping. Now if there were carolers or some other bigger form of Christmas music happening in the town square...then I'd buy it. 😆😆
Honourable mention to all of the background extras who so exuberantly joined in to every Santa gift as if they were the best thing in the world. It honestly took away alot from the movie because it was a bit too far fetched for me.
A side thought:
I think this is where the big issur of the movie lay for me. The potential was there to show how spreading cheer can rub off on people however I just felt that it was a bit too much cheer if that make sense. It was distracting and I think a big miss. I personally have been a recipient of this "contagious cheer" plot point in my own life numerous times. It happens alot here in Canada where you go to a Tim Horton's drive-thru for your coffee, pull up to pay only to find out that the person before you has paid for your order. When you have those moments yes it is heartwarming and of course I then pay for the person's order behind me and hopefully they do the same. But to run out onto the streets, and borderline dance in the streets...no. Didn't buy it and that's what ruined things for me.
And I think another factor in me being a little harder on my critique is that this was watched after Iwatched The Wedding Veil for the second time. Am I being influenced
Summary: OK so I like what this movie is trying to achieve and it's overall message, however I'm not 100% sold that this was the best way to sell it. I am on the fence with this one. Overall I enjoyed it, it just wouldn't make my top 10 movies of all time.