Harlie’s Very Merry Movie List — Jingle bells, reindeer smell, Santa lost his sleigh…
I’m on a bit of a time crunch for this one, which is a downright shame as I wanted to bring as much quality to this review as Get Santa brings to the Christmas genre. However, desperate times call for desperate measures and I will be damned if I let the rules of my list break me in only five days. If you are new to the program, here is the code I have inexplicably pledged myself to:
- I can only watch Christmas movies.
- I can only watch Christmas movies that have come out on the same day of viewing.
- Only in the case when no films have been released on the day of viewing may I watch a Christmas movie filmed in years past. However, it must be a Christmas movie which I have previously not seen.
- On Christmas Eve, I will watch Die Hard.
Since the only Christmas movies released today were behind a paywall, we had to travel back in time to find a flick that was released on December 5 and one that I haven’t seen before. And so, we arrived at Get Santa.
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(WARNING: THIS IS A SHORT REVIEW AND PROBABLY NOT VERY GOOD. SPOILERS? MAYBE? THIS MOVIE CAME OUT IN 2014, I DON’T KNOW THE EXPIRATION DATE OF SPOILERS OR IF THE THINGS I WRITE ARE VERY SPOILERY.)
Title of Film: Get Santa
Rating: PG
Release Date: December 5, 2014
Where to Watch: Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon Prime
Synopsis: After Santa is put behind bars, it’s up to an ex-con and his son to save Christmas.
There are two things you should know about this movie. 1) It is so choice and you should be watching it this Christmas season (if you haven’t already) and 2) Santa gets cornrows. I won’t give you any extra context about the second point, but I will say it had me in tears for about five minutes. Christmas movie lover or not, I think we all can appreciate a good gag.
My viewing experience for the movie was on the unusual side as I had to often stop and start as other things in my life took precedence. However, I enjoyed it so thoroughly this first time around that I would be happy to give it another (uninterrupted) watch. This sentiment is shared by my mom and dad, both of whom watched it last night and absolutely adored it. There were a couple surprising things about their watch, actually. Apparently, my mother, who I have touted as a Christmas Movie Expert, has never seen this film. So it was a welcome gift to her and a happy new watch indeed. The other surprise is that my father, who is a known Christmas Movie Disparager, watched this one from start to finish without turning it off and even sent me a few texts to highlight his favorite parts. While I think my mom and I do our best to give these movies a fair shake, knowing that someone who hates Christmas movies actually enjoyed this one should tell you all you need to know about Get Santa.
Again, I am so unbelievably crunched for time, so here are the fastest Holly Berries I could muster in collaboration with my mom. Joint Holly Berries. Shared Holly Berries. I’m not sure, everything I am doing with this project is everchanging.
Harlie’s Holly Berries feat. Kris Ford
- Plot: 3.5/5
- Ending: 3.5/5
- Set Design: 4.5/5
- Characters/Acting: 5/5
- Christmas: 5/5
I am doing this evaluation in real-time and I have come to the startling realization that Get Santa has earned 21.5 out of 25 Holly Berries, which ties the official score I gave Godmothered yesterday. It is a different 21.5 in context, but numerically syncs right up. And I honestly think it is fair. While Get Santa might not have the most satisfying ending or the most original plot (it is very reminiscent of Elf, which they get away with primarily because they are British), it slam dunks on design, character building, and acting. And when it comes to the Christmas category, Get Santa did something no other film on this list has done yet. It made me feel the spirit of the holiday.
This film doesn’t work without Christmas. It is engrained in every single part, even when Santa is doing time in the slammer. So, if there needs to be a tiebreaker at the end of all this, I think I might give the lead to this flick. This is a Christmas Movie List after all, isn’t it? It seems only right to uplift the films that follow through on the holiday spirit, instead of those who use it as a prop.
I’m going to sit on it for now, though. Really mull it over. Because man did I love Godmothered.
Thank you for joining me in this quick, slapdash review. Watch Get Santa if you haven’t and feel free to offer some harsh words about my very bad writing on Twitter @HarlieFord. To all a good night!
