A Toast to HallmarKent: Ghosts of Christmas Always - 2022, d. R.C. Newey - Hallmark Channel
The Draw: A couple things: one, the gang at Deck The Hallmark, yes, even Dan the grumpy one, loved this one. Two, this story might just be the same general premise as the new Will Ferrell/Ryan Reynolds movie Spirited. And if there's anything I like, it's a little project of watching and comparing a couple films.
HERstory: Katherine is a ghost, the ghost of Christmas Present, to be exact, part of a team with Arlene (ghost of Christmas Past) and Roy (ghost of Christmas Future), as the three spirits who haunt the...well, the people who need to be haunted. They're part of a whole afterlife organization that does said hauntings each year. We meet them in a cold open (yes a cold open) for The Haunting of Susan Kraine, a famous, selfish diva, which, smash cut, is a resounding success. After their case, Katherine has a bit of time left on Earth, and being in her home town of Hartford, she goes for a stroll around her old local haunt from back in the day, only to run into Peter, a handsome charmer who shouldn't be able to see her, but does. She's yanked back to HQ, where along with Roy and Arlene are given their next assignment, Peter Baron, the very man she just met.
A year later the trio invade Peter's residence and Peter immediately recognizes Katherine, and Peter gloms on immediately to the fact that he's being Scrooged. He's a fan. But he's also been completely unable to forget Katherine over the past year, so when Arlene takes him to the past, he asks if Katherine can come along, and for some reason Arlene concedes. They visit various events in Peter's past, but the key seems to be that Peter's dad was so much more focused on business than he was on the family, but Peter's grandfather practically gave away everything he had, constantly helping the community. Peter clearly admired his father when he was younger, but also his grandfather. The business savvy and the charitable mindsets seemed completely at odds. Katherine takes Peter on his Christmas Present trip, where there's much, much flirting...in fact Peter goes so far as to point out how enamoured he is with Katherine and how, were she not a ghost, he would ask her out. They find the moment where Peter is announced as the future of his father's successful company ("Foodstuff Corporation"), but Peter, in his heart, doesn't want it. Peter's clear to point out to Katherine that his father isn't a bad person, but he is much more focused on getting wealthy than helping people and that he would like to do things differently. This is a snap ending, Peter's path is clear, and he realizes he doesn't want to run the company, and the ghosts are blinked back to HQ, while Peter wakes up and immediately calls his dad and quits as well as says some pretty nasty things about his old man.
Back at HQ, Charlie who doles out the assignments, informs the gang that they Scrooged the wrong Peter Baron (though he goes by Robert, Peter's dad is actually Peter Robert Baron). The thing is this kind of screw-up is unprecedented, and the gang needs to fix it, immediately, or else the cosmic repercussions could be severe. The other thing is there's not enough magic mumbo jumbo for them to properly Scrooge Peter's old man... he won't be able to see them, and they won't be able to show him the Past, Present and Future... and they only have 9 hours. Katherine enlists Peter's help, who is very reluctant given his earlier harsh phone call... but they do have a connection and Katherine does persuade him. Peter has an idea to soften the blow of talking to his dad... an intermediary...in his dad's favourite singer...Susan Kraine (that cold open wasn't just random). As great an idea as it was, as good as a try as it is, it really does not work.
So Arlene steps in and takes Peter and Katherine on another trip to the past...Katherine's past. Back in the 50's turns out Katherin was Peter's grandmother's best friend. Katherine was a really kind sweetheart of a person who was always giving away her food to the homeless and spending everything she could to help people out. When Katherine and Peter's grandma meet Peter's grandpa, an upstart grocer, Katherine's sway influences him as well (and not just because he's sweet on Peter's grandma, but he's a kind person). But she's tragically killed on Christmas day, and it turns out that she inspired Peter's grandparents immense charitable nature.
Peter takes this inspiration to his dad and delivers the flat out truth, about how much he idolizes his grandpa, but he idolizes his dad more, and how what he wants more than anything is to spend time building something together that will make grandpa proud, will make his father proud, and also make him proud of himself. Robert explains that his grandpa gave away everything that they had when he was young, and he feels his dad even gave away his love, and he didn't want that for Peter, and yet sees he kind of failed by skewering too far to the other side. Peter gives his dad a letter he found where grandma talks about Katherine and the influence she had and their hopes for their son, and he's a changed man.
But it turns out, all the Scrooging wasn't just about Peter, or Robert, but Katherine as well. She had to learn her own fate, her own future, her own wants. And she learned what she wanted, more than anything, was more time on Earth to do good, and to fulfill the life that she lost. The film set up, very early, that there's a door, to the beyond, where "for a Ghost to pass through, they must know where they really want to go." And Katherine does, which is back to Peter, and helping him and his father (now with Susan Crane) with charitable endeavours in the community.
The Formulae: There's not a single hot chocolate, or baking montage, or snowball fight, or Christmas tree shop, or decorating montage, or any of that shit in this movie. If there's a formulae, it's that Katherine is doing very well in her job as ghost, but she goes back home and meets a boy, and leaves the gig behind. It's a very loose interpretation of meeting the formulae... because, shockingly, it doesn't really meet the formulae.
Unformulae: All of it. Jesus Christ, all of it. I mean, it's riffing big time obviously on A Christmas Carol and turning it into a sort of institution. This could be a regular series following crews of this org Scrooging people. Even in the romance, it builds pretty naturally. The connection is immediate, especially in hindsight. Katherine is a kind, charitable person, and she sees that in Peter, and vice versa. Not only that, but Peter grew up with a picture of Katherine around his grandparents' place, so she's kind of deeply rooted into his subconscious in a big way. I
True Calling? Meh. Not really. How about just "Ghosts of Christmas"? How about "Scrooged, Inc."? "A Christmas Carol Corp."?
The Rewind: I was going to say the song that Susan Kraine sings at Robert's Christmas party, because she sings about 2 bars and then just stops, clearly not at the end of the song, and it's the only ridiculous moment in this film, which is...odd, for a Hallmark. The big climactic emotional scene isn't a romantic one, it's the father son moment where the two men come to understand each other's perspective. It's really sincere and well sold, and made me a little weepy. The letter from Peter's grandma was maybe not even necessary. It wasn't as powerful as the moment they just shared, for sure.
The Regulars: I don't know if any of the main cast have much Hallmark history. Kim Matula, a bright, fresh-faced, fantastic lead, hasn't been in one before. Co-lead Ian Harding also makes his Hallmark debut, and it shows...he still has full energy and is acting his ass off. He's really great. Lori Tan Chin as Arlene is this film's secret weapon, and Reginald Vel Johnson as Roy isn't really in the film much, but he's the "name brand" anchor that Hallmark films like to have, and he nails every little scene he's in.
How does it Hallmark? As a Hallmark, as in, what I go to Hallmark movies for, it's kind of a failure. I spent no time at all making fun of it. I laughed regularly, not unintentionally. I was invested in the characters and the story and the world, and charmed by the performers, and there's almost no way to play the drinking game with it. So as a Hallmark, it's a bit of a fail.
How does it movie? But as a movie, you guys, with the exception of the last 5 minutes, it's a real movie, that's well plotted and planned out. If it weren't on Hallmark, and had some more budget and a full 2 hour runtime, I would have loved to have seen the Scrooged Inc. organization fleshed out, really getting into the weeds on the way the organization operates and some behind-the-scense characters (more Charlie would be great). The chemistry between all players was incredible, even bit players like Peter's mom or Susan Kraine were really outstanding. Even more special effect, just to raise the magic (I love the audio effect of the ghosts appearing and disappearing. Those last 5 minutes...either they needed to just not be there (have Katherine walk through the door and let us assume that she goes back to Peter) or flesh out her return by explaining in a sort of montage what happens...how she has a life, after dying 70 years earlier. It feels rushed fitting into the Hallmark 90 minute runtime.
But, seriously, this was really, really great. Is it my favourite ever Hallmark? No, but it certainly hits top 5 all-time.
How Does It Snow? There's a really lovely moment (one of many) where Katherine talks Peter through just being in the moment by closing his eyes and just letting the snow hit his face. All it takes is 3 seconds to feel present.
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