Another film that may have been largely overlooked by audiences is 2020’s high concept TV movie A New York Christmas Wedding. The blandly generic title of this romantic fantasy gives very little idea of what the film is actually about or of the wild, other-worldly plot twists that lie in wait. Director Otoja Abit (Jitters)’s film may, on the surface, appear to be a forgettable romantic drama but turns out to be a fierce cry for the catholic church to legitimise same-sex unions.
The plot of this one has echoes of Nicholas Cage’s 2000 romantic fantasy The Family Man as, on the eve of her wedding to the perfectly lovely David (director Abit), Jennifer (Nia Fairweather) meets her guardian angel who shows her what life could have been like had she taken a different path. In this case, Jennifer gets a glimpse of a universe where she took the plunge and admitted her lesbian feelings to her best friend Gabrielle (Adrian DeMeo). Notably and somewhat irritatingly, her guardian angel is a very camp man named Azrael (Cooper Koch) who calls her “Gurrl” all the time.
It’s a bold tale and far more political and gritty than the plot synopsis might suggest. This one is truly memorable, leaving me amazed it even got made. It’s a bit weird for me, as the whole plot seems to hinge on Jennifer ‘choosing’ whether she wants to be a lesbian or not, which will likely piss a few people off. Still, I get it - sexuality can be a really fluid thing for some people, not necessarily seen in terms of black or white, gay or straight. I read it that Jennifer has always been bisexual, digging both men and women though perhaps only ever truly loved Gabrielle but was too frightened to ever admit it.
It all goes down during the holidays, with everything hinging on a spat over a missed Christmas tree decorating get-together when the girls were blossoming teens. After their falling out, Jennifer seems to have sworn off girls altogether and her life takes a path that’s not been entirely fulfilling. Azrael’s It’s a Wonderful Life-style heavenly vision allows Jennifer to see how much happier she could have been had she ‘came out’ to her bestie all those years ago.
The story is so-so but becomes incredibly noteworthy when we get to a truly bonkers crescendo featuring Sex and the City’s ‘Mr Big’ Chris Noth as Father Kelly, an LGBTQ+ sympathetic catholic priest. He’s known the girls since they were young, watched them grow up and for most of the film has wrestled with his feelings about the church’s stance on homosexuality and same-sex unions. So, in his big Christmas sermon Father Kelly decides on a whim to say “fuck it!” and basically outs all the LGBTQ+ members of his congregation, talks about how the Vatican has got it wrong and then marries Jen and Gabi right there and then in front of everyone. It’s preposterous but also oddly powerful and moving. I acknowledge that this whole scene is absurd and would likely never, ever happen yet I also well up a little as I realise that, yes, this is how it really should be. Love is love and there really should not be an issue with that.
If that’s not enough (SPOILER!), Azrael then turns out to be the ghost of the dead baby of Gabi and her douchebag boyfriend Vinnie (Avery Whitted), who effectively took Jennifer’s place. It’s an audacious turn from a mad, time-bending film that poses too many maddening questions if you think about it too much, but as a rallying cry for equal rights for same-sex couples it sure does a sterling job. It also features one of the most erotic and sensual same-sex love scenes I’ve seen in any of these ‘gay’ Christmas films so far - apparently if it’s two females together in the sack, Hollywood doesn’t have quite so many hang-ups about showing them getting it on. Go figure.
Kudos to the filmmakers for making all the couples in this one mixed-race as well, which is always nice to see. However, the film does lose a lot of smart points for having everyone Jennifer meet in her ‘fantasy’ life just readily accept that she knows so little about what’s going on in her own life or even where she lives. The more I think about this film, I realise that it is total nonsensical trash but I will forever hold on to the image of Father Big sticking it to the Man. Right on!
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