"Switchmas" is the title of this film that I bought on DVD to watch this past Christmas season. "All I Want Is Christmas" also works as a title that describes the plot. Two boys from two different families - one Christian and one Jewish, are sent off by their families for the holidays (Christmas and Hanukkah) to visit and be with relatives. The relatives haven't seen them since they were toddlers and they resemble each other in appearance. Neither one is looking forward to his trip.
Ira Finkelstein lives in Los Angeles where his father is a B-movie director. Ira has never seen snow, and has never celebrated Christmas like other kids. But he wants both. Mikey Amato lives in Chicago with his mother, and he has seen plenty of snow. He would rather they spend Christmas in a beachfront somewhere. Any place would be better than a snowy Christmas in Washington state with relatives he doesn't even know. Well, the boys meet in Chicago's O'Hare Airport where Ira had to change planes for Florida and Mikey had been dropped off by his mom who had to hurry to work. And they decide to switch places and identities. So, it's off to sunny Florida for Mikey, and to Seattle and Christmastown, Washington for Ira.
The plot has some nice twists as each boy is welcomed by the unsuspecting relatives. While it's a different Christmas season film, the idea of two people switching places has been done and used a number of times - first in novels and then in films. Still, these two boys pull it off for quite awhile until near the end. Both of these young actors, Elijah Nelson and Justin Howell, give very good performances. They are the heart of the film and story.
Elliott Gould and David DeLuise are fairly good, but also goofy much of the time. They provide much of the comedy as the Jewish grandfather and father. While there is some good humor in places. I can see where this film might seem offensive to some. The portrayal of the Jewish grandparents and friends in Florida may seem far too exaggerated to some members of that faith.
The name "Christmastown" was invented for this movie. But there's no mistaking that Leavenworth Washington is a Christmas town each December. It's decorated and all lit up for Christmas. In the evenings, a quartet of carolers walk the streets, singing familiar yuletide tunes. They're dressed in Victorian costume so it looks like something right out of Charles Dickens.
I quickly pegged Leavenworth as the main filming location for this movie. I've been to Germany and Switzerland, having seen much of Europe when stationed there in the U. S. Army. I've also traveled in all 50 states and I don't think there's another place in the U. S. that looks so Bavarian as Leavenworth. It's not only in the town's architecture - which is a very interesting story all its own. But its setting on the East side of the Cascade Mountains so closely resembles Bavaria with its mountainous backdrop. The Christmas parade down Front Street with Icicle Ridge looming in the distance could be a duplicate scene in any number of Bavarian and Swiss towns, including some that I have seen. I visited Leavenworth several times when I lived in the Pacific Northwest from 1987 to 2007. That included one Christmas holiday season which begins the weekend after Thanksgiving.
