A Christmas to Treasure

Over the last few years, it has been very cheering to see LGBTQ people represented in Christmas movies on TV and elsewhere. While one can cynically say that producers are now seeing another 10% of the market to whom they can advertise, it signals a general acceptance in loving, familial circumstances (well, if you're Christian). The number of these films is getting pretty substantial, and originality is not an expected commodity; some are good, some less so. This one is on the lower end of that scale. While not as saccharine or cloying as it could be, the plot is very contrived and artificial. The gay romance is sweet but the situation that surrounds it is hardly believable and a bit silly. That the lovers are actually a married couple in life certainly adds to the chemistry between them, but the rest of the plot is forgettable.

There's a common misconception that the barrage of gay Christmas movies in recent years is an attempt to cater to - or rather cash in on - a gay audience. It's not. In fact, the gay audience isn't even a consideration. These movies are targeted exclusively at a very specific female audience: women who get off on gay romance. Google "M/M romance" and you'll see that this is a booming area of written "gay" fiction too. This of course explains why the gay characters in these movies are barely even recognisable as gay, even if they're often played by out gay actors. The romance is strictly anodyne. It never goes beyond cute looks, a little hand-holding and one or two extremely chaste kisses. There's never any allusion to actual sex. The relationships are always 100% heteronormative, with aspirations of marriage and a suburban life together as responsible consumers. In other words, nothing to challenge anyone, least of all the *nice* women who consume this stuff. Some might say that gay romance as a commodity for straights counts as progress of sorts. But that kind of ignores how cynical, exploitative and borderline offensive this outwardly saccharine, but inwardly nasty little genre actually is.

So, in the spirit of holidays, let's say the pros first. The movie looks cute, the set is good enough, and all the main male characters are handsome to look at (at least 4 of them). The story (some sort of scavenger hunt) sounds good on paper, and I can see why they went for that. There are a few solid characters, those being Everett, Ricky, Tipper (all main characters) and Rochelle (the real-estate seller). They were either well-written or just funny.

However, almost everything else I can think of was bad. The story, despite being cute, was just dull and boring. We didn't care for this dead old lady, which would be different had they started the movie with that "15 years ago" gig. There was almost no humor, and it felt like the movie lasted 3 hours. As others pointed out, there was not a lot of chemistry between the two male leads, which is a pity as they are a couple in the real life, so it was just either bad acting or script. I cannot figure out why in 2022 when literally thousands of movies exist, they still have annoying characters that act like children, such as Austin. The way he acted towards Everret was just plain lame. Like, get over it. Also, I was 3 "influensers" away from turning off the movie after like 2 minutes - they said those buzz words so many times I wanted this to become some sort of slasher movie. My god, it started so pretentios it hurt.

The movie is obviously inspired by the much better "The Christmas Setup", also made by a real-life gay couple. I suggest that you watch that before this one, and if you have some free time left, yeah, give this one a chance.

When I read reviews for this type of movies, or see the ratings, I always wonder what expectations do people have when they start watching it.

You know, it is trying to be a Christmas rom-com, and that's what it is.

Is it kinda dumb? Yes. But I do believe that it is enjoyable nonetheless, or maybe even because of that. I think this is one of the better holiday gay movies, and if that is what you're in the mood for, I am sure you'll enjoy this movie. It is nice, sweet, and it is not aiming for an Oscar :) While I understand that is not for everybody, if you're looking for christmas-themed fluff with a happy ending, you should give this movie a chance, even though it has less then stellar ratings.

I seldom write movie reviews but I feel compelled because I think this movie gets a bad rap.

Is is a silly lightweight rom com Christmas movie with ridiculously over decorated set ala Hallmark channel Christmas movies? Yes, but that's OK, it's a real feel good Christmas movie. Even the Christmas greats like Miracle on 34th St. And White Christmas had unbelievable storylines you could see coming from a mile away. This not even close to being a classic like those movies but if you want a warm fuzzy Christmas movie where everything and everyone is cute and everything works out great in the end and has a bit of intrigue along the way then, enjoy this for what it is. I think it's significantly better that ninety percent of modern Christmas movies.