Operation Nutcracker

Four stars: Not good. Sad face.

When a movie has the word "operation" in the title, it's usually a sure bet that it will have some sort of detailed, military-style plan at the center of its plot. Not this movie. The operation is "let's go look for a guy named Dave and keep missing him, because he has our nutcracker."

In order for a charity ball to make enough money to build a new hospital wing, the nice rich folks are auctioning off an antique nutcracker. Yes, whatever someone will bid on this nutcracker will build an entire hospital in Boston. It's so fancy in fact that it's brought to Boston in a plain-Jane carry-on bag on a commercial flight. Oh, yeah, and it's just wrapped in a towel-not locked case for protection. Oh, and our dopey leading man allows the bag to be checked and loses it. Yeah, this movie plot is not great.

A few things to watch for if you want to give it a go.

-The fake beard on our leading man in the first act of the movie -The random men (I counted three) who are dancing/swaying alone in the final dance scene -On the nose mentions of meet-cute and rom-coms -Why is Ashley Newbrough always single? She seems so nice.

Cast Kudos: Nobody really stands out, but it's interesting that Patrice Goodman and Darryl Hinds (Dave) both were secondary players in 'Twas the Date Before Christmas. Which aired on Hallmark the weekend before this nutty movie.

Alternative Titles: What happens when you don't use luggage tags; Hospital wings don't cost a thing; Where's Dave?; How to lose a Nutcracker in 7 days.

7.7 stars.

I think the casting is spot on. I'm surprised I didn't see this when it came out in July, so here we are three months later. I've been recording every new movie on Hallmark for the last three years but somehow I missed it. No matter. I'm glad to have the opportunity to finally watch it.

'Operation Nutcracker' fits right in with all of the great Christmas films of the past several years. It's not spectacular, but it is certainly far above average.

There were many great moments I felt a real warm feeling in my soul. With the number of wonderful feelings, I had, this would normally be 8.0-worthy. However, there were also a few awkward, or may be better described as, clumsy scenes where some of the chemistry was derailed. This could simply be a product of unknown factors in moviemaking. In the end, this is a great addition to anyone's Christmas collection.

Perhaps the extra three supporting cast members with more substantial than usual roles, served to knock it a little off balance, but it was a necessary facet for the story.

Operation Nutcracker (2024) -

Right from the start I liked the two leads together. Christopher Russell has always been a winner for me anyway and his character of Tristan was another one of his really nice guys. I don't need him to be a hard nose who needs to realise the error of his ways or something similar, I've got 'A Christmas Carol' for that, so this charmer with a heart worked perfectly for me.

I would have to say that the wardrobe department made some odd choices with his shirts though.

Ashley Newbrough was nice as Lottie too. She's definitely one of the better leading ladies in these films, although Lottie was a bit negative about things at times which clashed with her otherwise cheerful personality. And who doesn't know what "Pass The Parcel" is?

She took on the job of event planning for Tristan's families fundraiser with hopes to auction a rare and valuable "Nutcracker" (If that thing was an antique, so is the crumpet I ate this morning) to raise money for a children's hospital ward.

Along the way luggage got mixed up and whilst trying to find the case with the nutcracker in it another subplot unfolded which actually tied in to took Lottie on a journey to find all the right things to make the party the best. Although I was actually quite disappointed with how lacklustre it was when they did finally get there. I've created better events than that. However, the path they took was very Christmassy and with the side story following Dave (Darryl Hinds) and his family's time as well it was at least a tad different to so many others of this film genre.

I must admit that I would like to see more stories revolving around everyday people that don't live in big houses and have lots of money, but I do like these ones that have fancy people in mansions too, they're aspirational in some ways. I may not have much, but I can strive to live a richer life and wanting to do well financially is not something to be ashamed of as long as I can still be happy when my paycheque comes in each week in the mean time. I'd hope to leave a legacy and have benefits all year around too.

I did find it hard to believe that Dave's Daughter Joey (Mia SwamiNathan) was going to be Clara in the stage performance of The Nutcracker that they went to see and I felt that she recovered a overly quickly from her hospital trip too.

And I didn't think that they would be taste testing the day before the event, because the caterer would have been prepping it all by then.

And the Mother, Erica (Jennifer Dale) totally overreacted, even for one of these stories.

I felt that the suggestion of the two leads parents also getting together was a weird way to go too.

And it wouldn't have hurt to use more of Tchaikovsky's nutcracker music.

Based on the huge number of these films that I've seen the rights are probably in the public domain, because I'm always hearing it in one film or another. This one was the perfect opportunity to utilise those wonderful pieces as the two leads searched for the lost "Valuable antique".

Overall though I did like this one. It wasn't the best of any of those involved, but I would like to see Chris and Ashley reunited for other films as their chemistry was enjoyable to watch. It had charm and appeal and other than the few criticisms listed above it did really work. A bit of finesse on the part of the screenwriters to maybe shift the timeline around a bit and a properties manager determined to find only the best items to really wow and it could have been very good.

It won't be at the top of my rewatch list, but it certainly won't be one that I will avoid like the plague as so many of them have been lately.

6.68/10.

I found this movie delightful even though it followed similar lines to other movies where the protagonists are trying to find something throughout the story only to have many near misses. The viewer sees these misses but since it's Hallmark, we know the pieces will all fall in place eventually. I don't think it is a spoiler to say that almost too many things fall into place in happy ways.

Against the backdrop of the search we also have the very common trope of the two romantic leads thrown together to plan a big Christmas event. There is also the secret that the viewer knows will come out a bit too soon and hurt the protagonists. In many ways, this movie might have been a rehash of all the same old stuff, but it wasn't. Or maybe I should say it was so much more. It is fun to watch the near misses and start to imagine how the writers will bring it all together. I think that most viewers will start to come close to figuring it out even if only slightly before it happens.

Ashley Newbrough and Christopher Russell have chemistry and watching them together is part of the fun. The acting is all good and the dialogue has some good moments.

This is one to watch again.

I very much enjoyed this movie's premise, and it included virtually none of the common tropes in these films. No one claimed to be someone they weren't. No one tried to redevelop a small town. No one had to choose between a job in the city or love in a small town. I mean, these writers actually found something different to do, and that "something" was interesting.

Here, a valuable heirloom "nutcracker" get lost in a luggage swap mishap at the airport when one luggage tag comes off by accident. That leads our male and female main characters to begin a search to find the lost bag. In the meantime, they have the bag of a father who was bringing home an impossible to find (sold out everywhere) doll to his daughter.

The search makes sense, and interesting and funny things happen on the way.

I'd have given this 9 stars, but a smaltzy and ridiculous deal added to the ending broke all sense of belief. It wasn't needed and just turned into an eyeroller piece of business.

However, despite that, this is a recommended watch.