The Santa Stakeout

The premise sounded really fun and have always liked the mix of Christmas and mystery (and mystery of any kind, not just murder) in film and television. Hallmark has always varied with their festive output, and 2021, in both the Countdown to Christmas and Miracles of Christmas/Hallmark Movies and Mysteries blocks, was very hit and miss. When they hit, the results were surprisingly very well done. When they missed, they missed big time.

For me, 'The Santa Stakeout' is neither one of the hits or one of the misses overall, though it is closer to the hits category. It is far from perfect and it isn't my definition of great, with a few big things that stopped it from being potentially one of the best of the festive season. But 'The Santa Stakeout' was clearly having a lot of fun with the premise, how could anybody not have fun with it, and doesn't waste it at all. Also think that it is not as cheesy as it sounds from reading the title.

A lot is good. Paul Campbell carries the film incredibly well, he has great comic timing (have not seen him show that before to the extent that he does here), he looks very relaxed and like he was enjoying himself and he doesn't overdo the egotistical aspect of the character, by the end of the film the character managed to be likeable. A lot of the playful banter between him and Tamara Mowry-Housley is very funny.

Personally found much of the story very engaging and that the mystery intrigued, don't agree that it dragged. It doesn't come over as too complicated but it isn't too overly simple either. The supporting cast are solid and deliver with gusto, with Joe Pantoliano really brightening things up in a performance on Campbell's level. It is pleasing visually and the audio doesn't overbear. The script is on the most part smart and very amusing.

Mowry-Housley is less consistent. She does have sparkling moments where she is funny and she certainly doesn't look bored, but she has a number of instances where she overplays and it comes over as forced. It also made me find it difficult to get behind her character when she was abrasive and over-bearing. She and Campbell do have chemistry and at its best it's playful and sparkling, but in their more antagonistic moments the writers go overboard and it was like they were straining too hard for laughs or something.

While the supporting characters are a colourful lot, there perhaps could have been less of them so that we could have gotten to know them more. While the story always engages and the clues are neat, the final solution was not really a surprise with it being considered strongly quite some way before the end.

Concluding, good fun and while my recommendation is not of the ecstatic kind it is not the dithering kind either. 6/10.

The Santa Stakeout is a refreshing addition to this year's Hallmark Countdown to Christmas series. This entertaining buddy cop comedy, with a touch of romance, strays a bit from your standard Hallmark Christmas romance/romantic comedy. Indeed, the comedy overshadows the romance for much of the movie. The story revolves around two Denver police detectives Tanya (played by Tamera Mowry-Housley) and Ryan (played by Paul Campbell). Tanya, a rookie who recently arrived from Wisconsin, is an ambitious and well-organized detective who is looking to prove herself, while Ryan, who is a bit of a slob, is a seasoned detective that works from his gut. These unlikely pair are teamed up together to solve a string of holiday art heists that have swept the city. They go undercover as newlyweds and stake out their primary suspect Francis (played by Joe Pantoliano), who is known as Mr. Christmas in the community. As they investigate and go deeper undercover, they soon realize that the magic of the holiday season in the company of Mr. Christmas and the neighborhood is more enjoyable than they anticipated, so too is each other's company. The script is well-written with some good banter and dialogue between Tanya and Ryan. The detective work and mystery are what one would expect from this genre of movie (and Hallmark): light and uncomplicated. The writers too try to develop a bit of neighborly Christmas spirit via Francis, a rehabilitated ex-convict. Indeed, there were some touching scenes and dialogue sprinkled here and there throughout the movie. Though entertaining, I never found myself having an actual laughing-out-loud moment, as the humor was a bit light for my taste. The acting was strong, overall. Campbell, one of Hallmark's regulars, performs well in such roles. In 2020, he had an impressive performance in Hallmark's Christmas by Starlight. Though not as strong of a performance as last year, he was entertaining and engaging nonetheless here. Mowry-Housley also had a very good performance, I thought, injecting a bit of mystery and joy into the story. But it was the banter between the two that made this one work, I felt. That said, I was not completely convinced by their chemistry (i.e., the romance between the two), I'm afraid, as this never fully developed on screen. As such, it seemed forced at the end. This, of course, is partly due to the dominance of the comedic element of the script, as noted above. The supporting cast was great. Pantoliano is particularly good as the Santa suspect. The movie has a lot of the classic Hallmark Christmas spirit with several Christmas celebration scenes. The music in this one was well done, adding to the comedy and the Christmas vibe of the movie. All in all, this is a light-hearted, fun, yet warm, Christmas movie. If you are looking for something different this holiday season, then The Santa Stakeout might be what you are looking for.

Or Keystone cops meet Christmas. Actually, the slapstick is kind of mild, but the comedic bumbling is front and center. All this dominates over the romance between the leads but it is funny if you like this style.

There was some chemistry between Campbell and Tamera Mowry-Housley but the antagonism between them goes on fairly deep into the story. Yet it doesn't melt away as quickly as in some movies in this genre - the transition to friendliness develops more naturally than usual. The Captain is mostly a cliché of the political boss.

As to whodunnit, I made a guess fairly early and it turned out to be correct, but it was based about evenly on clues and on knowledge about how these movies develop.

We loved all the actors, just not together. Paul is always funny but I didn't find him hit the mark in this movie as much. I can't believe Joe Pantiliano was in this! Movie was very slow. There were very few funny parts. If you know anything about HM murder mystery movies that you know the killer isn't always who it seems. The leads acted well but didn't seem to really connect like usual HM xmas movies do. We did like how it wasn't a typical xmas movie though.

This is a particularly good Hallmark. The male lead, Bill Campbell, is a natural comedian, and he really make this zany caper movie. The female lead, Tamera Mowry-Housley, was good too, and she had good chemistry with Campbell. There's a decent little mystery in the script as well as neighborly Christmas spirit that had genuine heart, and a rehabilitated con to tug the heartstrings. The best Hallmark holiday movie so far in 2021.