NAUGHTY OR NICE

 

Streaming-surfing can be fun. I often stumble on movies and other entertainments I’d never have specifically sought out. Recently, I came across Naughty or Nice, a 2011 Hallmark movie. Not my typical movie choice. But I was intrigued by its premise:

A down-on-her-luck advertising executive becomes the custodian of Santa's famous 'Naughty or Nice' list.

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Krissy Kringle [played by Hilarie Burton] is having a monumentally bad day, even beyond that her parents [Michael Gross and Meredith Baxter] named her Krissy. After Krissy bought her own house, her neighbors petitioned the city to rename the street to Candy Cane Lane. Which means she gets mountains of mail meant for the “real” Kris Kringle.

Her parents keep pressuring her and her boyfriend Lance Leigh [Matt Dallas] to get married. Which he’s not ready to do on account of he’s a lawyer working long hours in a quest to make partner at his firm. That all pales when compared to this particular bad day.

Krissy goes into the advertising agency where she works, expecting to receive a promotion. Office pal Debbie [Jessica Tuck] seems to share her expectation, given Krissy has been landing new accounts for the agency. Instead Krissy is unceremoniously fired by her boss [Michelle Hurd] without explanation. It’s a harsh scene that leaves Krissy shattered.

Krissy goes home to Candy Cane Lane to be harassed by neighbors for having the only house that’s not decorated to the heavens for the street’s annual holiday decorations contest. Krissy has to push her way into her house because the “Kris Kringle” mail behind her door is a mountain. Depressed and frustrated, she goes through the mail, tossing anything that’s not actually for her. Until she comes to a weird package.

Inside the package is an antique book titled Naughty or Nice. Its pages are blank until she speaks her own name. The pages flip and now show her several pages of naughty things she has done. Which flips her out. Most of these naughty things involve her being self-centered or judgmental.

Dinner with Lance and her folks is challenging. When her mom learns Krissy is unemployed, she does two things. She insists Krissy take a check to cover expenses while she looks for a new job...and she gets her a seasonal job in the wrapping department of a big store. Krissy’s duties include dressing as an elf and assisting the store Santa. Her boss Justin [Tony Cavalero] is a jerk who affects this bad Australian accent even though he’s not Australian. He’s also the grandson of the store owner.

Krissy looks cute in her elf costume, but is pretty terrible at the wrapping part of the job. The only saving grace of the situation is that she quickly bonds with coworker Marco [Gabriel Tigerman], who fills her in on how unpleasant Justin can be.

On a break, Krissy shows the book to Marco. Speaking Justin’s name, they learn that, in addition to minor offenses like playing video games in his office, their boss has been dipping into a petty cash meant to buy snacks for workers in his department. He’s told them the petty cash was discontinued.

Krissy boldly blackmails Justin into buying his workers lunch and bringing back the snacks. She also gets him to take the voluminous unused Christmas decorations stored in his office and set them up at her house on Candy Cane Lane.

Feeling the power, Krissy delves into the book again and again. She uses the naughty things people have done to punish them for their bad actions. This goes especially out of control when she discovers her boyfriend had a brief affair with Debbie, her friend from her former job. Krissy gets more than a little crazy, does some pretty terrible things herself and makes herself even more miserable than she had been.

Cue the important lesson about life. Krissy turns over the antique book to find that the title on the other side is Nice or Naughty. She’s only been seeing the bad in people and not the good they do. She’s determined to use the book to fix things, but it gets damaged when she spills tea on it. She has to fix things without the magic of that ancient volume.

No more spoilers here, save the ending satisfies all but one of the movie’s characters...and that person didn’t remotely deserve to get a happy ending. It definitely satisfied this viewer.

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The Internet Movie Database gave Naughty or Nice a 6.4 rating while Rotten Tomatoes showed a low audience score of 33%. I don’t agree with either of those. I’d put at 5.0.

Naughty or Nice is an easy 83 minutes of non-challenging fun, which is just fine for a relaxing evening’s entertainment. The acting was never less than suitable with several good moments. I particularly liked Gabriel Tigerman’s work.

The story develops in a logical manner as long as you accept that Christmas magic is real. That people have more than one side is a good holiday message. Thanks to Trump and the Republicans, it’s not a message I can embrace fully, but, as an aspirational way of life, it’s worth working towards.

I don’t ask as much from movies and TV shows as I do from comics. I know how to make great comic books so I’m much tougher on them. For me, I’m usually just looking for that hour or two that makes me smile or excites me.

Naughty or Nice gave me that. I recommend it to those of you don’t expect Citizen Kane every time out.

I’ll be back tomorrow with some ho-ho-horror.

© 2022 Tony Isabella