Hallmark Holidaze Watch: Santa Class (2024)

Watched:  12/14/2024

Format:  Hallmark

Viewing:  First

Director:  Lucie Guest

So, this was actually funny.  Not laugh-til-you-cry funny, but I guffawed, chortled, etc...  Some laughs came because I couldn't believe this was happening in a Hallmark movie, but mostly because the jokes landed.  It is possible that Hallmark made a pretty funny, okay movie movie utilizing their resources, financial and talent-wise, that wasn't Christmas wallpaper.

So... let's not go crazy overselling this, but I do think it's shocking to see a Hallmark movie with actual comedic timing, funny lines, goofy characters and an underdog storyline that feels like it was imported from a circa 2005 comedy, and made something generally entertaining.

And that's fine!  That is massive progress for Hallmark.  

Your basic set-up:  My personal favorite Hallmark star, Kimberley Sustad,* plays the daughter of a guy who owns a Santa school in Minnesota (if I'm judging by the license plates).  She has plans to get out and not spend her life working there, but doesn't escape and gets stuck in the job for 12 more years as her dad retires and leaves her with the school.  After the head-trainer from the glossy and corporate Santa school in town (this is that kind of movie, in a fun way) fires their head trainer so the shareholders get a bigger Christmas bonus, he comes to work for Sustad.

Sustad's school is failing, and she's stuck with, basically, the misfit Santas.  Therefore, we get the rival summer camp/ Dodgeball vibes going as the movie will end with a competition between the schools that, nonsensically, includes things like obstacle courses for Santas, but also talent competitions, etc...  

Oh, and by the way, the actual, real Santa appears the day the session is set to begin, with amnesia!, and Kimberley Sustad and Man have to remind him he's Santa before Christmas or else Christmas will not happen.  

Yeah, I guess this takes place in a world where Santa is real and people know it, which begs the question: why Mall Santas?  But, anyway.  I am not here to investigate the logistics and hypothetical philosophies of a world in which mystical sleigh drivers exist.

Plot-wise, there isn't anything you haven't seen in bits and pieces here and there.  Scorsese is not appearing to declare this cinema.  But it's a competent Christmas comedy.  Sustad is funny!  So is Benjamin Ayres, who plays Man!  It has funny Santas.  Jewish hippie Santa.  Ventriloquist Santa.  Intense competitor female Santa.  And, Hallmark actor Paul Campbell playing himself, Paul Campbell, researching the role of Santa.  It's just good stuff.  

Anyway, the jokes kind of write themselves.  But still work.

But, yeah, the usual languid pacing of a Hallmark movie only creeps in around the edges.  This is a rapid-fire comedy where there's set-up, joke, set-up, joke for a good portion of the film.  Even the one "date" sequence that is usually people wandering around reminiscing doesn't last super long and has a punch line.  And, this is the first Hallmark movie I think I've ever seen where, while treated for comedic effect, not only do the characters not wait for the last second to kiss, but they make out.  

Slowly but surely, the evolution of Hallmark as a factory for movies is experiencing a necessary and welcome evolution of their product.  They've dumped the rigid rules of a decade ago - except where they clearly do not - and now have some room to try things.  

It's worth noting, this movie was directed by a Hallmark actor, and written by the guy who wrote Hot Frosty and other genre-bending comedies for Hallmark and Netflix, so this oddball factory we all make fun of is producing some actual talent and genuine "rom-coms", which people claim they miss.  I credit director Lucie Guest with a lot on this one - she really did figure out best use of the Hallmark talent to get the right vibes.  And I'm not at all surprised Sustad and Co. could pull it off, given the chance.  You've seen indicators with her in several movies.  (late edit: writer Russell Hainline actually pinged me on Bluesky, and a quick glance on IMDB will tell you he's a big factor in a lot of the pivot to better material in the Christmas-movie-verse, so credit where it's due).  

Look, ten years ago, all the actresses were allowed to do was stare straight ahead, earnestly, and smile when Man talked, and Sustad never really did that - kind of creating actual characters even with Hallmark material.  And it IS weird to realize you don't see much opportunity for genuine comedic timing, pacing and wackiness in these films.  You see bits intended to generate a partial smile, and maybe one genuine joke that pops up, but this year - between this and The Finnish Line, I feel like they kind of let the comedy happen.

Sure, I think I oversold the movie, but I liked it better than most of this year's offerings.  Honestly, had Hallmark continued on its path, I was probably not going to keep checking in.  But it's nice to see them *trying*, and showing different kinds of people.  And I do not mean just swapping in different ethnicities of people but in the same old roles.  Once you have a guy who will only talk through a puppet on a Hallmark movie, I feel like we're in new territory.

Anyhoo...  I will be curious how some traditional Hallmark watchers feel about this.  I suspect they'll be confused.  And confusion causes anger.  But if Hallmark wasn't moving forward, I think they were probably in a very slow death spiral.  

*I don't need to explain myself to you people