Letters to Santa

When I started to watch this I thought, "this must be a fan-favorite series, since this was number 5". I hadn't seen or heard about it's predecessors, but I would like to assume they continued the saga due to popular choice. It is daring to tackle the subject of marital-strife, and especially, its damaging effects on the security of children, especially centered around a Christmastime theme. This is definitely a more serious tone than a vast majority of Hallmark's holiday movies, and it may have been heartwarming (with better execution) if it didn't devote almost three-fourths of its time to the bickering, misunderstanding, and pettiness between the parents, Rebecca and Enrique. The redemptive moral is the wonderful mother-in-law, Camilla, who Rebecca, somehow, mostly fails to recognize . Of the three of them, Camilla is the only selfless one, who truly exemplifies the spirit of giving. Only when the children (pure of heart) contribute to Rebecca's book, does Rebecca affirm the extra-efforts that Camilla had undergone to lighten the heavy hearts of the children attributable to her and Enrique's separation. Camilla also illuminates Rebecca of Enrique's selfless investment, and personal sacrifice to save their family restaurant business. This is, unfortunately, a fact in many marital disputes - that the spouses are blinded by resentment, and only a bystander can illuminate the problem. Unfortunately, by the time Rebecca and Enrique resolve their differences, it's so late in the movie, that you're deprived of any deep emotion or gratification.

6.7 stars.

I have mixed feelings about 'Letters to Santa'. It's a nice story about two kids who want their parents back together. Mom and dad are separated due to some unknown circumstances that we are not aware of until much later. She gives us her reasons why she told him to go live with his mother, but those aren't the actual problems. What also happened is he misspent some precious money and she felt somewhat betrayed. He didn't cheat or anything. The whole premise is very weak. If a marriage can break on something as flimsy as this, we are all doomed. But the rest of the film is not too bad. Yes, the parents bicker. Yes, there are slow parts. The children are endearing and the fitness woman is actually likable too, as is the "elf". The mother is a regular Latina seen in many films and she does fine. The lead female grows on you after a while, but she is an acquired taste, and my theory is that she is the reason for many negative reviews. The lead male is charismatic, but his personality is absent. For some reason he's not present and it's disconcerting, because beside his apparent lack of focus, he just doesn't show up for the part. I wonder if that's not the final straw for this movie. Cast two different lead actors and you probably have a winner here. What are the odds that both of them fail to entertain? Oh well, it happens.

Letters To Santa (2023) -

If you're going to make a film about separated parents at Christmas I believe that it really should be a full on comedy and not a blend of emotional distress and humour, because the subject matter is never a pleasant topic.

Perhaps it shouldn't even be a trope that's used for seasonal films at all.

It did need to be heartfelt, but not this hodge podge mix of sad and farcical, which from the beginning put me off quite a lot.

Add to that the shoddy camera work and the incredibly obvious outcome and it really wasn't the best.

The only reason it had made it to my final cut of the Christmas films I chose to watch this year (Because there were so many and just not enough time) was due to Rafael de la Fuente as Enrique looking so good and peaking my interest and my trousers.

He really was hot, but not the best actor and quite gay seeming (Turned out he's a gayer in real life). And there was no way anyone could be as bad at throwing as his character either, which didn't help his cause, but he was the one I felt for the most.

Rebecca (Katie Leclerc) was definitely the one causing the majority of the problems in their relationship and certainly the least flexible. I didn't really want Enrique to get back together with her, except for the sake of the kids, who really weren't that bad for a change. Perhaps a good story would be to show how families can separate and still be happy in two homes, as is quite often the case today? Present a situation where the biological parents realise that they are better as friends and can work things out amicably whilst showing the grieving children the benefits of having four parents. Make one of the couples gay and give one of the kids a wheelchair to make sure to cover the bases and you've got a winning formula. It probably sounds like I'm joking, but I would watch that.

One of the things that I can't get to grips with in these situations is how families can struggle to find time for each other. If I had kids they would be my whole world, heck if I had a cat the same would be true. My parents made a point to give my sister and I time as a child and I never wanted for a Grandparent, Aunty or Uncle, although the sister and cousins were frequently annoying. It's such a shame that families have become so fractured.

And another thing. How are the restaurants depicted always sooo busy that the characters do lose touch with their families and spend too much time at work? I also can't work out how writing a children's book is sooo stressful. I've written three, although none are yet published, but there really shouldn't be any of the pressure that this film made out there was.

Ultimately the plot was as you'd expect - The magic of Christmas helped two struggling separated parents find their way back to each other via the various tick list items of cookies, trees, decorations and so on. It's been done before and better and as I've said I really don't think that it's the right topic to deliver seasonal messages, but this interpretation wasn't so bad that I turned it off. I will state once again that Rafael de la Fuente may have had something to do with that and I wouldn't mind seeing him in the gay parent role described above either, because I think he could deliver that better.

As for the other bits and bobs that I observed in the film, I felt that the Counsellor, Dr Eaton (Liliane Klein) was highly unprofessional and way too much. Liam, played by Harry Aspinwall, was over the top British in his performance too, while Vanessa (Mariela Hill) was just a lousy actor. Laura Cerón as Enrique's Mother Camilla was good, but the other supporting cast members weren't brilliant.

The dog was adorable however, but for some reason became surplus to requirements far too quickly and was hardly ever shown afterwards.

As has happened before, it felt like the story had been rushed to fit the 1.5 hour time frame and not to really do it justice, which is why the kids looking after the puppy and the positive effect it would have had on the household were probably edited down and the overall feel of warmth at Christmas time might have seemed lacking.

The last note I had was that the drawings for the "Oh so stressful" book were awful and really old fashioned and the storyline for it a real cop out, especially as there wasn't any real magic involved in the films actual narrative, which could have potentially made this film more enjoyable to tone down the upset in their relationship.

The kids "Magic" pen told their parents what they really wanted, but I honestly didn't see the marriage lasting more than another year at most. Perhaps Enrique's coming out and their amicable separation could be the sequel?

Not the worst film I've ever seen, but it needed more newness and a bit of extra polish.

5.35/10.

The only thing great about this film was Laura Cerón, who plays Camilla, Enrique'a mom.

I loved the Latin family...but felt it was pretty racist to think that Rebecca (Katie Leclerc) couldn't understand family because she was white and an only child.

I didn't really understand the separation at all. Couples fight about money all the time, this was a single thing and to go to separation because of it?!?!? If it wasn't for coincidences these two would be getting divorced. I saw no actual work on their relationship. And why aren't they talking together...I understand the mom not wanting people to know about her financial situation, but if you borrow money from a couple both of those parties should know the reason and if you can't tell them, then you shouldn't be borrowing from them.

I did like the kids book and I loved that the grandmother was really trying to make the magic pen letters come true...it's a sweet idea, but the movie overall I wanted to like more than I really did. I also really liked that the Brit could speak Spanish.

For me this was too melancholy for a Christmas film and I just got tired of seeing Rebecca's sad face.

This is a movie that can be skipped this season. There is so much anger from Rebecca Letters to Santa. At first I thought the premise of the movie was cute. Until very early on in the movie the secret is revealed. Rebecca and Enrique are separated and going to counseling. There is so much anger with Rebecca that she needs to deal with. She goes from being so angry to having fun like a light switch. I didn't like the anger and then the happiness. There was no chemistry with the leads. The acting isn't very good in this movie. I hadn't heard of any of the actors except Rebecca. I knew her only from the Big Bang. This one can easily be skipped.