Say what you will about Netflix’s latest yuletide offering, you can’t file a truth-in-advertising complaint. Christmas With You could hardly be a more generic title, and the 90-minute bundle of anodyne cheer lives up to its vanilla promise.
As is often the case with low-budget, high-tinsel end-of-year films, it’s more vibe than narrative, more sweatpants than sequin frock. While some holiday specials thrive on the preposterous setups (who isn’t looking forward to Lifetime’s foreign adventure Merry Swissmas, or the Hallmark Channel’s upcoming film about an MI5 agent who goes undercover as the royal nanny over the winter hols?), Christmas With You keeps it simple and sticks with being more or less an excuse to bop around with the jolly trio who anchor the production. There’s Cristina (Deja Monique Cruz), a high school girl about to have her quiñcenera, her widowed father (Freddie Prinze Jr, who’s come into the cold from the voice work that has kept him employed of late), and a Latina pop star named Angelina Costa (Aimee Garcia, of Dexter and Lucifer) who is struggling to compose a new hit or master the internet, and fading into obsolescence. In this version of the B-list celebrity world, musical artists who use Twitter are considered “very innovative”.
Hapless single dad plus pop star with heart of gold is the combination that fueled Marry Me, which came out earlier this year and showed a math teacher plebe (Owen Wilson) somehow get to be a plus one to Jennifer Lopez playing a version of herself. In the more humble Christmas With You, the star is less stratospherically famous. She’s on the verge of losing her record deal and declaring defeat to Cheri, the Eve Harrington-like whippersnapper who’s been nipping at her heels. According to her cabinet of advisers, Angelina’s best bet is “get in touch with your inner Holly Jolly” and write a Christmas hit just like Mariah Carey did. It’s all too overwhelming, so she decides on a whim to pay a visit to the 14-year-old fangirl who posted a barely watched but nevertheless heartwarming tribute video to her favorite singer on social media.
Cristina lives in a cozy pocket of New York state (upstate? downstate? who knows!) that is a world away from the rough and tumble enclave of Rockefeller Center and its environs. When Angelina sets off from Manhattan, the streets are sunny enough for crop tops, but by the time her car rolls up to her fangirl’s home town, the roads are piled with snow. It’s amazing how Christmas can come to those who need it! Her hospitable fan’s household is a Christmas lover’s paradise, and a perfect environment for an impromptu “collab” with the widower of the house (he’s a sensitive music teacher, as it happens). Co-writing is generally a gnarly business, but there’s something about the mistletoe hanging overhead. The pair write a smooshy Christmas song that might just save the day.
The composition isn’t what we’d call a “banger”, but no worries. The tune is in keeping with the ugly sweaters, sparkly dresses and mugs of hot chocolate that turn up the cozy factor. There are contemporary touches, too: a Saturday Night Live subplot, Latin beats and a sassy tequila-swilling abuela. Thankfully, she shares her tipple with the ever perplexed-looking Prinze Jr. It’s Christmas, and he has co-written a No 1 hit, snagged a lonely celebrity and found himself at a table with a big, juicy ham. Dude could stand to relax into this winter wonderland.
Christmas With You is now available on Netflix
