Jingle Bell Heist

I'm leaving this review mostly to say that the score is fun and very well done. I think Steve Hackman has a huge future ahead (with some currently awesome work) and his work boosted

I appreciated the different premise and plot for a Christmas movie, and the main characters have a little more to them than you first suspect.

Im honestly tired of same and same eat the rich narrative. Rich people are not evil and poor people are not glorious.

As a result the plot is predictable and you probably saw it hundreds of times before.

To sum up: Poor people are selfless heros, rich people are evil and it is good to steal from them because they deserved it.

The end.

This one had many pleasant twists and turns that were unexpected. It was a notch above the others. The acting was well done, and both my wife and I really enjoyed it.

The setting is in London with an American and a Brit ready to pull off a caper. They both needed money, but what was interesting wasn't about them.

The movie put a smile on my face and felt good after seeing it.

Sophia works two jobs to make ends meet, her mother is sick in hospital, and she gets by by pinching. Nick, a former employee at Sterlings department store, has access to the cameras, spots Sophia pinching, and makes her an offer.

It's very likeable - a definite mix of genres: part crime caper, part seasonal romance, part comedy, and there's just enough to tug at the heartstrings too.

It's a British Christmas film, so there's a faint whiff of cynicism. Sometimes you need a festive film that isn't quite Hallmark, and all its syrupy charm. Don't get me wrong, it's goofy, but even the outlandish Sterlings are grounded.

I love the idea of a chic UK department store, where all the glamorous assistants wore neckerchiefs. Sadly, those days ended with Thatcherism, although it is short-staffed, so that rings true. It's like an export version of Britain, with dry martinis and tuxedos - but it works.

Olivia Holt and Connor Swindells were a cracking duo, combining so well. Not your usual Christmas movie hires - two people who don't feel as if they're living inside a snow globe. Lucy Punch knows how to give us a spoilt princess, but this one has a twist.

Heart and humour - this one's a cut above the usual selection of festive flicks.

8/10.

I was expecting Hallmark level fluff but this movie actually had a decent plot and interesting characters. It won't knock your stockings off, but it's a nice way to pass an evening leading up to Christmas.

The story reveals itself gradually with a few plot twists that, in retrospect, were satisfyingly predictable, leaving you to feel that everything was tidily wrapped up with a big bow.