The Borrowed Christmas

I love Christmas movies, even the shamelessly insipid ones. I can forgive the over-emoted, always-good-hearted, low-stakes movies because they are fun, guilty pleasures.

This movie is none f those things. It's a church play that didn't get beyond the rehearsal stage. Obviously flubbed lines, or awkward pauses while the actors try to remember their lines, and completely unbelievable emotions. Truly, it felt like a run thru the got accidentally recorded.

There is nothing redeeming here. It's not even worth a "so good it's bad" watch.

I am in a sappy mood these days. I have been watching the lowest of the low budget films. Stumbling upon this film I decided to go ahead and watch because I like the name. Even though the actors seem to be young in the movie business I found them refreshing sounding like normal people in any normal given day.

Story goes how middle-aged man who has no family decides to go to a rental store and rent a Christmas, the works. He seems Enchanted by the store owner and she with him. So she agrees to supply him all the necessary items to make a Norman Rockwell type Christmas for him.

She can't rent the actors for the time needed so she and her employee along with some orphaned children decide to play the parts of the man's family. Voila! A Borrowed Christmas.

Even though this film seems a little sappy I really hope people enjoy it. I've actually watched it twice because I enjoyed it so much the first time

Maybe in the hands of a better producer/director, writer and better players A Borrowed Christmas might have gone as high as some of the more maudlin items from the Hallmark Channel. But this film didn't have the benefit of those talents.

The protagonist Jeff Rose a successful businessman gets a nostalgic yearning for an old fashioned family style Christmas. Only problem is that he's got no family anywhere in reasonable distance. What does he do but goes to a place where he has a mortgage and the local Cratchit like woman Sherry Morriss creates a family Christmas from central casting. Everything but Marley's spirit.

A maudlin idea not helped by a bunch of amateurish players who wouldn't make the cut in my favorite high school theatrical troupe, The Hanover Footlighters. Even church audiences are going to strain with this one.

Let me count the ways. No, there are too many. Let me sum up. Interesting premise, but awful script, acting, character development, production quality, scenery (I think the entire movie is shot on a two-room set), camera work--did I leave out anything? Oh yeah, bonus of religious drivel on top.

So for those who do not know, this film is an adaptation of a play called The Rented Christmas. Why in the world they felt the need to change the title is beyond me, but that's by far the least offensive change that was made when creating this movie.

So the director is a Christian, and appears to make Christian films, which I want to make clear is not a problem, you can make religious movies if you want. But the original play isn't about Christianity, it's just not, it doesn't come up at any points. Some small changes in this movie such as having holiday decorations that feature Christ would be absolutely fine, but the film changes dialogue and even the entire message of the movie.

In terms of objective quality, every single high school theater production that has put on a production of the original play is 100% better than this movie. The film is supposed to take place in a rich man's mansion, but instead is clearly just shot inside the director's living room and there is basically zero effort done to try and make the room look fancy. Thing is, if you are on a low budget, don't try to make a film where the setting is extravagant and requires expensive sets if you cannot afford them.

Overall, nothing works in this movie, I cannot even begin to describe how bad the directing is, to the point that every word that comes out of each actor's mouth sounds like it was AI generated, or is just a bastardization of the play's original script. Watching this movie is like if you went on an adult film video site and put in the tags "Christmas" and "Christian" and then scrolled to the bottom. I would give it a 0.5/10 if I could. The only thing keeping it from me wanting to give it a 0/10, is that some of the actors are kids, meaning some of the bad acting can be excused by that small fact.

0.5/10, just go watch A Christmas Story.