#finding santa

i came across this after watching the pilot for the rookie and looking through eric winter's imdb, who's definitely a babe now that he's no longer playing some asshole doctor on tgd. but jodie sweetin as the female lead? hell yes.

i don't have high standards or expectations for these kinds of films, but i really liked this one a lot. at least compared to netflix's hallmark knockoff films, it's good. a silly, overdramatic plot, but the writing itself isn't bad and the acting is good. it all feels natural and believable. (whereas christmas inheritance on netflix had a very weak script which made the acting seem pretty bad as a result.)

my one issue with the film is that i honestly wish there were a twist and tom was actually santa, making ben his heir, destined to take on the role of santa claus for real. i mean, there's nothing wrong with just a story about christmas, but i love magical christmas stories and there are never enough about the real santa claus legacy. also, it kinda just seemed like it would be that way??? like ben knew another language and then it was said that santa has to be able to speak with all the children of the world, so he knows multiple languages. there's a whole old book about "how to be santa", and his parents' home is decorated for the holiday year-round. like, what kind of fake santa would be that dedicated to christmas? (and the "santa school" thing could totally just be to train people to accurately impersonate him, lbr.)

buuuuut it's not a magical christmas film. still really enjoyable and sweet. i love ben coming to accept his role as the town's santa claus and i especially love the end where both he and grace agree to have some balance between their true aspirations and their christmas obligations.

oh, and that very end. ben's dedication is too cute and i'm a sucker for proposals in romance films.

8/10