dankolbet

I really enjoyed seeing Viola Davis in an action movie. An actress of her caliber brings something to an action movie that we rarely see. Sure, the action is silly, but what action movie isn't silly? I appreciated that the plot was unique, although boiled down to similar elements to die hard, it was ultimately a heist movie which sets us up for good action, showdowns between the good guys and the bad guys and of course ridiculous things that could never actually happen in real life. I didn't watch this movie thinking it was a documentary on military action. This was a solid movie and I would recommend watching it.

Hallmark does a good job of coding religious-focused movies with the Dayspring label, so you can stay away if you want to. Despite knowing this, I was taken out of the story with the awkward monologue prayers and discussions of God guiding the lead characters' love choices. It seemed like it was painted on after or the additions were simply pandering to an audience that may have rather watched such films on Great American Family where one man and one woman still leaves room for the Holy Ghost routinely.

Abby (the great Brooke D'Orsay) is a famous actor, who goes to Vermont to flee a scandal brewing in LA. I'll pause here to say this movie is a rather similar plot line to my 2023 novel, Big Sky Lake, where a similar inciting incident brings a famous actress back home to Montana, where she too finds love and helps direct a children's play in a small town. I'm not saying it's similar, but you could make that argument.

Anyhoo . . . Abby meets handsome inn owner Tom (John Brotherton) with a young daughter. Yep, this happens in Big Sky Lake, too. They speak to God . . . No, that doesn't happen in my novel, so I guess that's where we differ the most.

This small Vermont town is jammed packed with extras in every scene. As our actors walk down main street in one scene, you would be forgiven thinking they were navigating the Miracle Mile in Chicago with the amount of people packed around them. Regardless, the town looks beautiful and not the standard stand-in Canadian town. I'm not sure where they filmed it, but it looks unique.

The movie may have the season's record for the most interrupted kiss attempts in one scene.

Our leads attempt their first smooch, but are interrupted by a nosy inn guest, a phone call and a child, all in about 25 seconds. We never see if they give it a go after we cut away. I imagine they would have, but maybe that kiss would be one too many for Dayspring.

Cast Kudos: Isla Verot as Lucy, the young daughter. She's just about perfect in this role and actually carries a lot of the movie on her shoulders.

Measuring Christmas Magic: Despite being a Christmas play on Christmas vacation and constant mentions of Christ, I just didn't feel the magic. It was all a bit too sincere. Where's the fun of the season?

Alternative Movie Titles: A star comes to Vermont; Abby, Tom and the Holy Ghost find love.

The Santa Class is a movie that doesn't take itself too seriously, which opens up the possibility for laughs in unexpected places. It's a fun watch with the family and one I'd recommend you take.

Kate (Kimberly Sustad) runs a Santa school, training the future santa's of the mall world how to handle the demanding job of being the big guy and keeping the dream alive for young people. Kate's school is an old campground. Dan (Benjamin Ayres) is the lead santa trainer at a rival santa school (why not), until he gets the boot and finds his way to Kate.

All of this is background to the real magic of the movie - when the real Santa shows up wandering the backroads near Kate's school. He has no idea who he is, but they certainly do. They enroll him in the school in the hopes that it might help him recover his lost memories and, you guessed it, save Christmas.

The Santa Class goes heavy on the laughs, and save for a few scenes (party crashing), it hits the mark. In a world where the real Santa is in your class, anything is possible. The movie focuses on acceptance, too. The perfect Christmas and the perfect Santa don't exist. All are welcome.

Sustand and Ayres complement each other well and their enemies-to-lovers romance is a welcome change of pace.

One weird note. We have no idea what the Christmas Cup is until the third act of the movie. So we really want to win it . . . But the audience doesn't know what that made-up competition entails. A bit of a miss in the editing room I think.

It's fun. I recommend you enroll in The Santa Class.

Cast Kudos: Paul Campbell as himself. The Hallmark actor really puts himself out there as himself, researching a role. He references his past rolls in many Christmas movies and is just plain funny.

Measuring Christmas Magic: Santa is real and he's in your class.

Alternative Movie titles: Santa Bootcamp; Santa School is in Session; The forgetful Santa.