There’s yet more syrupy TV movie fare with 2008’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, which is standard Hallmark stuff elevated several levels by the presence the Fonz, Henry Winkler who steals the show as an ex-NYC cop who invites a friendly, marooned stranger to come spend the holidays with him at his niece’s Chicago home. The stranger is well-travelled, laid-back mystery man Morgan (Warren Christie), who faces spending the holidays in the airport before Winkler’s amiable ‘Uncle Ralph’ asks him to tag along.
Ralph's gorgeous niece Jennifer (Brooke Burns) is another one of those uptight, caught-up-in-her-work single moms who also happens to be dating a rich idiot who doesn't deserve her. Wonder what'll happen there.
Director Michael Scott's breezy film doesn't do anything new - it's standard opposites attract romance, with the free-spirited loaner and career-minded mom learning from each other and finding love under the mistletoe. Of course Morgan, who embraces all things Christmassy, will emerge as the unlikely father figure that Jennifer's starting-to-question-the-whole-Santa-thing son totally needs in his life. And Jennifer, the type who whispers to herself in the night that she "can't wait for Christmas to be over,” will learn to love the holidays and discover how to "do Christmas properly".
The act of "doing Christmas properly" is very, very important in the world where these films take place. This is a place where eco-friendly Christmas trees must be thrown out in favour of the real thing and not having a gazillion fairy lights on your fancy Chicago home is not just embarrassing but positively sinful.
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year has noticeably a teensy bit more of an edge than some Hallmark tales, as it features a sneaky pinch of PG-level violence. I'm pleased to report that there’s a bit where Winkler's retired cop turns the tables on a would-be mugger and kicks the guy's ass. Go Fonz!
There's also a bit where Morgan challenges an unscrupulous toystore owner to a street fight, braining the dude with a metal trash can. Later, Morgan and Jennifer even plot to break into the toy shop, albeit to retrieve a must-have bicycle that they'd already paid for fair and square. Still, for Hallmark this feels positively risque! This must have been produced in a time before the network came up with their very strict list of guidelines for their films, rumoured to be along the lines of "No snow, no go. Clink clink, don’t drink. If I’m not crying, I’m not buying". This is maybe why so many of the more recent efforts all feel the damn same.
Winkler is the groovy glue holding this all together, with his blue-collar ex-cop proving the perfect conduit between blithe Morgan and conventional Jennifer. The outcome is never in doubt and its airport-set climax actually has me shouting "Oh, come on!" However, it's filmed with enough satisfyingly festive moments - like Morgan climbing on the roof to make the kid think Santa's coming - to make for a silly, throwaway warm hug of a movie. Come for the romance, staaaaaay for a winning Winkler performance.
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