Nov 21

Nov 21 I'm Not Ready for Christmas

Holly has a thriving career, a loving family - and a deceitful disposition. But the fibs fizzle when her niece asks Santa to intervene with some Christmas magic. Will Holly’s newfound candor land her in trouble… or will this moment of truth shift her shifty ways?

Im+Not+Ready+For+Christmas.jpg — Christmas clichés:

Opens w/ City Scene
Alicia Witt
Christmas-Named Lead
Cute, Precocious Child
Career-Driven Woman
…Santa?
Tree Buy & Trim
Deceased Parent
Ice Skating Scene
Carolers
Charity Work

Our Thoughts

What do you get when you mix a lying ad exec, a “Wonder Years” …Santa?, and a Malaysian manufacturing scandal?

A pretty mediocre Hallmark attempt, 2015’s “I’m Not Ready for Christmas.”

Career-Driven, Christmas-Named Holly (Alicia Witt, keep reading for our acting notes) has a problem with the truth. She manipulates circumstances to get the best parking space and get the best advertising accounts, but she can’t quite get it together to support her Cute, Precocious Niece. When said niece asks Santa to stop her aunt from telling “too many fibs,” a flicker of twinkle lights transforms Holly into a bonafide truthteller.

Of course, honesty hurts her at first. But her openness about feelings helps her snag her niece’s music teacher (George Stults, a little stiff), and her openness at work bags her a fashion designer account. All is well, right? Well, yeah…but somehow, Holly stirs up her own drama and ruins it all before the climactic fashion show of khakis.

As you can tell from our description, this movie is essentially a rip-off of “Liar, Liar.” You know we adore Mz. Witt, but when the wish/spell takes effect, our lead channels Jim Carrey in her manic, expressive verbal explosions. (She couldn’t pull it off.) Witt finally balances the truth and her verbal volume but still doesn’t manage to bring her usual charm.

Another major problem with the movie? The title! It’s almost impossible to correlate the sentence “I’m Not Ready for Christmas” with a no-more-lying Christmas wish. A few better titles we came up with:

Fa La La Liar
Holiday Honesty
Jingle Tells the Truth

Fun Fact: We learned on Alicia Witt’s Instagram that the title was supposed to be “Honesty Trip” (also not great), but the crew decided to change the name to match Witt’s newest Christmas tune. The song’s fantastic; too bad the movie doesn’t match.

Skip this one. The only flavor of the season comes through one phone call about classic Christmas flicks, which is ironic given that this isn’t one. Might we recommend “A Very Merry Mix-Up” or even “Last Holiday” instead? Those show our favorite redhead at her finest.

Rob's Final Take: Not Very Merry
A disjointed plot, leads without chemistry, and no Christmas. I cannot tell a lie: this movie isn’t worth your time.

Jess's Final Take: Not Very Merry
Ugh, that was tough to write. But not every Alicia Witt flick can be a winner, especially one with zero Christmas. Good thing there are plenty to choose from.