Christmas Time is another 2023 movie that I only caught because I was scrolling through FreeVee looking for movies. This means I don’t have a lot of information about the movie, of course.
Kevin Snowdon (Neil James) is a physics teacher that does not enjoy Christmas. Every year, he takes his family on a skiing vacation to escape the holiday. This year, however, there was a mix-up with the reservations and the family ended up in Lapland, a Christmas tourist destination.
The first part of the movie is quite dull. And it’s not because Kevin doesn’t like Christmas. It’s because he’s just bland about it all. Except for a few scenes where he seems angry that people are dressed in Christmas attire, he’s mostly walking around without any real personality. It isn’t until the family gets to Lapland that he starts to show who he is a bit more. And it really isn’t until The Santa Trip that he starts to come to life. To be honest, Santa’s workshop/house/village is the best part of the whole movie. I wish the writers devoted a little more time to the scenes there.
Sadly, that means that this isn’t a movie that I can recommend to everyone. This is for someone who is looking for a Christmas movie that has zero romance in it (except for a teenage crush) and wants to see a grumpy man find the Christmas spirit. Though there are better movies that this that accomplish that. It upsets me because Christmas Time could have been much better if they put a little more effort into it.
Rating: Can I be an elf?