Nov 15

Nov 15 Operation Christmas Drop

Erica spies a big promotion in her future, and all she needs to do is fall in line with her boss’s plan to close a military complex in Guam. But her mission gets FUBAR when she visits the base and falls for the Captain who runs the local Christmas delivery program. Can she find an exit strategy that saves her career… or will his charm campaign end in Lima Oscar Victor Echo?

Christmas clichés:

Cute, Precocious Child
Small-town Guy Who Works w/ Hands
Career-Driven Woman
Deceased Parent
Hate Becomes Love
Carolers
Christmas Festival
Charity Work
Ends w/ Kiss or Ring

Our Thoughts

Netflix didn’t really promote “Operation Christmas Drop” like they did “Holidate” or “Jingle Jangle.” That meant one of two things:

1) It’s crap, and they regretted funding two stars’ beach vacations with a side of filming.

2) It’s a sleeper favorite, like the equally un-promoted, warm-weathered 2019 jewel, “Holiday in the Wild.”

Well, both were right. It’s a charmer that has a few flaws…and a strangely animated gecko.

Career-Driven Erica (Kat Graham, much more sparkle than her “The Holiday Calendar” performance) thinks a pre-Christmas trek to Guam will please her boss, a congress woman who needs to close an air force base somewhere, anywhere, to save money. The base in question got recent press for their annual Christmas Drop, a Charity Work flight exercise that delivers food, goods, and toys to nearby remote islands. Erica’s boss thinks any base that has time for holiday frivolity is ripe for the closing.

Erica lands and is assigned a tour guide, Captain Andrew (Alexander Ludwig, Cato from Hunger Games!!). Handle CLAWS, which we later learn stands for “Can’t Leave Anyone Without Santa,” Andrew loves the season, believes in the mission, and wants nothing more than to protect his team. Their mutual stubbornness leads to a longer-than-usual Hate Becomes Love exchange that results in a stolen jeep and heavy binders of misdirection.

What teeters between heartwarming and uncomfortable is how the movie treats the residents of the neighboring islands. Sure, the Coconut Christmas Festival of awkward dancing and fiddle playing is a sweet take on a fundraising event. But when Erica’s overwhelmed by guilt and empties her purse of old makeup and used hairbrushes for the islanders hit by a storm, the desire to give back comes across as a self-pat-on-the-back.

Not great.

But back to great. Netflix knows how to write a Christmas script. The quippy dialogue and quotable quotes give us the spirit of the season you wouldn’t expect among the sunshine and waves:

“You never want to forget your traditions, but there’s always room to make new ones.”

“This is what Christmas is supposed to feel like.”

Take that dialogue and add in the palpable chemistry of CLAWS and GRINCH (Erica’s well-earned handle), and you have a fun addition to a modern Xmas collection.

Rob's Final Take: Merry
I was enormously bothered by the implausibility of closing a military base in Guam amidst a global strategic shift to the Pacific. But it was a lot more charming than I expected so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Jess's Final Take: Merry
Cuter than I expected and plenty of sunny, palm-tree Christmas vibes. Too bad it felt a bit pandering to the saviorism crowd. If you can get over that, it’s a charmer.