Coins for Christmas

Coins for Christmas (2018) is a movie I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline for this picture is around a single mother whose employer is going out of business causing her to lose her job just before Christmas. She wants to make sure her current situation doesn't impact Christmas for her son and daughter. Her baby daddy can't help her out, and even if he could, she wouldn't want it. While working for Uber she meets a former professional athlete down on his luck too and is looking for a fresh start but is often held back by his bad attitude. They might be exactly what each other need to save each other's Christmas.

This movie is directed by Jamal Hill (A Holiday Chance) and stars Essence Atkins (How High), Tyla Harris (For Life), Stephen Bishop (Moneyball) and Karon Riley (Ambitions).

The movie has a great opening with the Santa pictures. The dialogue and comedic content was hilarious in that sequence. The storyline and characters are interesting and it was fun watching the film unfold. The dynamics between characters was very good. There was a holiday party scene towards the end that was awkward and felt unnatural; but other than that one poorly written scene, the movie is a worthwhile, feel good holiday picture.

Overall this is a fairly average holiday movie that is worth watching once. I would score this a 5.5-6/10.

The first part of the story was pretty good. The idea of it was nice as well. However, the ending was disappointing, as they didn't really conclude things.

'Coins for Christmas' sounded great on paper, one of the better concepts on paper of all the 2018-2019 festive films seen recently as part of a quest. Reading the synopsis, it sounded like a film where anybody would relate to the situations that happen in the film, with many having gone through at least one of the situations in real life too. The characters sounded like ones that would be easy to warm to or at least identify with them and what they go through.

As much as people may ridicule me for rating 'Coins for Christmas' highly and reviewing it positively, it was genuinely enjoyable for me and just clicked with me in a way that most of the recently seen festive films didn't do as much. This festive film quest has seen some surprisingly good ones, some watchable if unexceptional (at times average or just above) and some bad things, of which 'Coins for Christmas' has been one of the best.

Despite it being predictable and not all the dialogue is great, with some corn and not everything flows, 'Coins for Christmas' fared better than most of the recently seen Christmas films for two primary reasons. It was more realistic than most of them, seeing as realism was something that eluded many of them, far less contrivance and the situations were far easier to buy and more plausible. It was also more relatable than most, the characters facing situations that people in real life have gone through and in a way that hits home.

The characters are ones worth caring about, even those that are purposefully not likeable to begin with, and it is easy to root for their problems to be sorted out and find happiness. They are ones that go on journeys, rather than being perfect straightaway or not changing throughout the film, and ones that don't feel hurried. The children are not cutesy or bratty, but instead resourceful and there is genuine warm chemistry between the two leads, both amiably played (particularly Essence Atkins, with the more relatable character from the start).

It is a nicely filmed film as well and the soundtrack adds to the atmosphere. The story never feels dreary or emotionally cold and it is charming and heart-warming throughout without falling into schmaltz. Very easy to be uplifted by the film's end.

Summing up, surprisingly good. 8/10

Loved it! Funny and Christmassy. This is our new go-to Christmas flick.

I usually do not write reviews, but this movie brought me tears of joy and sent such a great message. I loved everything about it including the cast. Thanks for reminding us what Love and Christmas is all about.