SANTA'S BOOTS
Holly becomes Santa's elf at her family store. There she meets and falls in love with Nick.
Santa's Boots is the story of Holly Montell (Megan Hilty), an executive at a Seattle-based active-wear company. She's buried herself in her career for the past several years and has experienced a meteoric rise in the company's hierarchy as a result, but she also hasn't taken any kind of vacation in all that time, so her boss orders her overly enthusiastic star employee to take all forty-five of her paid vacation days off for the holiday season to avoid professional burnout. Now with a whole lot of free time on her hands for the fist time in who knows how long, Holly goes home to spend Christmas with her family in Noblesville, a small town... somewhere...
Holly's family has owned and operated Noblesville's only department store, a beloved institution called Montell's, for over seventy years, and her father has always wanted Holly to take over the family business, an offer she has turned down more times than she can count. But since she's stuck in town with nothing better to do, Holly decides to help her old man out at the department store for a few weeks. After the store's resident elf comes down with a case of the sniffles, Holly is drafted by her best friend and longtime employee Elle (Patricia Isaac) to pull on the striped tights and be the brand-new Santa's assistant down at Montell's Christmas corner.
The aforementioned new Santa Claus is a conflicted Christmas Tree farmer named Nick (Noah Mills), an affable guy who wants to do the right thing by his late father and take over the family business- the festively named "Oh Christmas Tree Farm"- from his stubborn Uncle Ralph (Garry Chalk), who is getting up there in years and ready to retire to warmer climes. But Nick's not sure if running a Christmas Tree farm is really what he wants out of life, since his real passion lies in building custom furniture, a passion he's only been able to indulge in his spare time thus far. But he can't help but dream of following that passion wherever it might lead, even though it may mean turning his back on his family legacy.
But he also loves Christmas and entertaining the kiddies, so after his best pal Rob lets it slip that he's having trouble finding somebody for the seasonal Santa Claus position down at Montell's, Nick jumps at the chance to slip on an itchy red suit and fake beard for the delight of a gaggle of strange children. Rob understandably acts like his dear friend's lost his marbles when he sees how enthusiastic Nick has become at the mere thought of playing a department store Santa Claus for the holidays, but Nick wears the beleaguered talent agent down after a few beers and finally gets his way. I've never seen anybody this jazzed to play a mall Santa, but to each their own.
Of course as soon as Nick stops showing up at the tree farm, his girlfriend and fellow employee Jenny (Andrea Brooks) feels like she's been abandoned to do both their jobs during the business's busiest season, but she surprisingly finds that she's actually doing better professionally and personally in his absence, with Ralph considering and implementing more of her cost-efficient ideas around the lot now that she's not second-guessing herself after every work-related conversation with Nick. Realizing that they've both been drifting apart for some time now, Nick and Jenny break it off and promise to remain friends in a very low-key and realistic scene that I found myself enjoying very much.
The actors portray their characters as two people who have known each other since they were children and just know that they're done as a couple, ending the relationship so that they can both find love elsewhere. They're not all smiles after they break-up, but there's no yelling and no histrionics. Nick and Jenny just stop pretending that they can sustain a relationship that was never going to last. There's actual nuance in the performances featured in this scene, something I've almost forgotten movies, even made-for-TV movies, can provide.
And speaking of nuance, the surprising relationship that develops between Nick and Holly's grandmother Adeline (played by the fantastic June Squibb, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in 2013's Nebraska) might be my favorite thing in this entire movie. They meet when Holly's family comes to the department store to visit while she and Nick are doing the Santa gig. During a break, Nick finds himself alone with Adeline and they just have a quiet conversation. Nick learns that Adeline knew his late mother once upon a time, and that Adeline even picked up his mother's habit of inverting aphoristic phrases in a Yoda-esque fashion. Stuff like "do or do not, there is no try".
Wait, I don't think that's an aphorism. I think that might be more of an adage. Or maybe it's an apothegm. Yeah, I think that's what it is. It's been a long time since high school English class.
My point is these two characters develop such an easy rapport in only a few short scenes that's very easy to watch and this little relationship helps flesh out both Nick and Adeline in an efficient and charming manner, never lingering too long to feel at all like padding since they have no real reason to just sit and talk for hours at a time, despite enjoying each other's company. While they talk, Nick learns more about his mother from this older woman who knew her quite well, and Adeline learns a thing or two about this young man who is clearly very interested in her granddaughter, and their dialogue feels refreshingly organic. Their scenes are cute, and they help make both Nick and Adeline feel a little more well-rounded as characters. This is the kind of small thing that so many of these movies either bungle or simply ignore outright, and as such it's always such a pleasure to see it done correctly.
And the relationship between Nick and Holly develops slowly and organically throughout the movie, avoiding most of the tropes that I've come to despise just a little bit over the past few weeks. There isn't a cookie baking scene for our lovers-to-be, which is a fucking blessing. Nick and Holly just get along from the beginning, and over their time spent together playing Santa Claus and his elf, things just begin to click into place as they realize they're falling for each other. They even kiss during a visit to Noblesville's seasonal Santas-only tavern, and nobody treats this event like a mistake or acts like they're moving too fast. There's no awkwardness after this kiss for either character because they're adults who enjoy each other's company and they both know it's perfectly okay for consenting adults to do things like that without freaking out.
Why can't more movies get this? I keep getting kicked in the balls time and time again by screenwriters who seemingly don't understand how to write characters that feel more like real people and less like human-shaped tokens on a holiday romance game board. They can't kiss before the climax because that's against the rules, so instead let's have our leads almost kiss but get interrupted by a spontaneous snowball fight or the smoke alarm going off in the kitchen because the gingerbread cookies are burning in the oven. That's cute every now and then, but after seeing it happen maybe ten times in a row, it starts to wear me down. If your characters want to kiss before the third act, let them kiss before the third act. And if they do kiss before the third act, you don't have to write them awkwardly stammering about how they can't act on their feelings because they're going back to the big city after Christmas, or they just don't know if they're ready for another relationship so soon after Ian broke off their engagement on Valentine's Day or whatever.
It's fine to just let two grown-ass adults enjoy a kiss. That's not a fucking crime.
Of course, Nick has to leave in a hurry immediately after his kiss with Holly after he gets a call from Jenny informing him that Uncle Ralph has had a heart attack at the Christmas Tree lot, quickly paying their tab and apologizing profusely as he gathers his coat and makes for the exit. The next morning, Holly is shocked to see another dude playing Santa at Montell's, and realizes she can't even track Nick down since she doesn't even know his last name. This leads to perhaps my only real issue with the plot, and it just so happens to be the reason the movie is called Santa's Boots.
After clocking out the previous night, Nick left his favorite pair of boots -a little worse for the wear after a few years of regular use- with a friend at the store's shoe department who promised to have them mended before he came back in the morning. Since Nick didn't show up for work the next morning, Holly's friend Elle gets the bright idea to organize a Cinderella-ish contest at the store for the men of Noblesville, letting any guy who walks into Montell's try on the shoes and win a $2500 shopping spree if they fit.
Elle ostensibly comes up with this plan to draw Nick back to the department store so Holly can talk with the guy and find out where they stand after that electric kiss, but the idea doesn't make any sense at all. What good does letting a bunch of strangers try on Nick's boots serve? Maybe it attracts a few more potential customers to Montell's, but the store is promising a $2500 shopping spree to anybody who fits the boots, which means this contest can theoretically be won by more than one person. And I'm sure Nick isn't the only guy in Noblesville who wears a size 12 boot.
The Prince's plan in Cinderella makes some sort of sense, since at least in most versions of the tale Cinderella meets the Prince at a masquerade ball so he doesn't see her face, and Cinderella's glass slippers were made specifically for her feet by her fairy godmother, so it's not unreasonable to assume they won't correctly fit anybody else. But Nick's boots were not custom-made for him, and Holly has memorized every detail of his face by now considering how often she's stared longingly into his beautiful brown eyes over the past several weeks, so Elle's scheme is absolutely nonsensical in the context of this film.
Not only is the conceit of attracting Nick to return to the store with a contest that is never advertised outside of a cheap banner hung in the shoe department ludicrous on its face, but you know at least several random dudes walked away with that $2500 shopping spree prize since it's inconceivable to imagine that nobody aside from Nick himself could comfortably wear those fucking boots. It's like the screenwriter thought their movie needed some sort of cutesy little twist to differentiate their script from all the other assembly-line holiday tales out there, but they were too afraid to just let the clever characters and well-crafted story speak for themselves. This little plot comes out of nowhere in the movie's third act and serves absolutely no purpose, since Nick never shows up at the store to try on his fucking boots.
Nick spends most of the last few days before Christmas at the hospital with his Uncle Ralph, and on Christmas Eve he gathers the courage to tell Ralph that he isn't going to take over the family tree farm because he wants to take a shot at building custom furniture for a living. Nick knows that Jenny is capable of taking over for Ralph, and he tells her as much, wishing her luck as he leaves the hospital. Outside, Nick runs into Adeline, who was visiting a friend inside and is waiting for her ride home. The pair have another sweet conversation that ends with her inviting Nick to the department store's annual Christmas Eve gala that night. Nick demurs, but Adeline insists he make an appearance, and to wear a nice suit, since it's a black-tie affair.
Not wanting to disappoint Adeline, Nick shows up at the gala and finds his boots sitting next to a cushioned chair in a corner of the ballroom underneath a banner advertising Elle's ridiculous contest. Slipping his boots on, Nick finds Holly in the crowd after her father announces to the gathered employees that he's finally talked his wayward daughter into taking over the family business in the new year. The pair share a dance and kiss once more, and that would have happened with or without the entirely pointless Cinderella subplot, which was the only real misstep throughout the entire movie, so I can't really be that mad about it.
I was just so happy to watch a movie today that didn't feel like a pile of tired tropes with a crooked bow slapped on top. I'm so glad that I can call Santa's Boots a delight without any qualifiers. It's not "better than Movie A" or "good enough for what it is", much to my surprise. It's just a solid story brought to life by a very game cast of actors who are engaged with the material they've been given. I gave a damn about these characters because they weren't just two-dimensional placeholders taking up space in a bunch of invitingly decorated locations; even the supporting characters in this story have a few lines or actions that make them feel more complete and substantial than those I've seen in so many other similar movies.
Although I have to question any Christmas-themed movie starring Megan Hilty that doesn't give her at least one opportunity to sing a few holiday standards. Why would you cast such an accomplished musical actor to star in your Lifetime original movie and not let her sing? Hallmark Channel wouldn't have fucked that up. They would have probably fucked everything else up, but at least Megan Hilty would have belted out "Hark The Herald Angels Sing" at the movie's climax.
Of course, I'd never see a commercial for K*Y Jelly while watching a Hallmark Channel original movie, so it's all a wash.
Small Town Salvation - Returning to Noblesville for the holidays gives Holly a newfound appreciation for her hometown and her family's business, so she turns her back on her life and career in Seattle to stay in town and become the new CEO of Montell's Department Store because it all just feels right.
Mommy's Dead - Nick's parents have both been dead for many years and he's still pretty bummed about it.
VERDICT:
No comments:
Post a Comment