After binging so many Hallmark and Lifetime Christmas movies, I took a break and switched over to Netflix. One of their first releases for 2020 is Operation Christmas Drop.

When Congresswoman Bradford (Virginia Madsen) sees an article about an Air Force base’s humanitarian mission called Operation Christmas Drop, along with a picture of a shirtless airman with a ukulele, she sends her aide, Erica (Kat Graham), to the Guam base for a budgetary analysis. Captain Andrew Jantz (Alexander Ludwig) is assigned to show Erica the ins and outs of the operation.

There is a lot to unpack with this movie. I know that there needs to be a heartless villain that wants to ruin The Good Thing but I’m pretty sure one of the purposes of US military bases is to provide support to locals. In this case, it would be local islands that don’t have access to necessities. So I don’t think that a congressperson would make a decision to close a base based solely on one annual supply drop. It is a good backdrop for a movie, however, and it does shine light on the good things the US military does.

In case you weren’t aware, Operation Christmas Drop is an actual Air Force tradition that began in 1952. (If you stay tuned after the movie, there are some real life facts about the mission.) And while Erica and Andrew are fictional characters, we do get to see Brother Bruce played by himself. I appreciated seeing someone who participates in the annual event in the movie.

Is Operation Christmas Drop worth watching? Well, it’s not as cheesy as the Hallmark/Lifetime fare. And there are some really pretty locations. But there isn’t a lot of substance. It’s OK, just not great.