Same Time, Next Christmas Review: Warmer Temps and an Even More Heartwarming Love Story
There is generally a recipe for TV Christmas movies. Throw in a bucolic, snow filled small town, attractive leads with zero chemistry, some far fetched plot twists and a pun or two, and the melting of at least one cold heart, and you’ve just about got it.
They exist in a world entirely their own, meant to be enjoyed under a warm blanket with a cup of hot cocoa and extremely low expectations.
That’s why reviewing TV Christmas movies is so hard; they’re not generally the same quality level as other things we watch on TV, nor do we necessarily want or need them to be.
We want something comfortable and easy, and we’ll accept the cheesiness because that’s part of the fun. No one wants to think too hard while they’re munching on sugar cookies and wrapping presents.
Fortunately, because of that, when an original — dare I say good — one comes along, it stands out. With a winning cast and stunning backdrop, Same Time, Next Christmas is a visual and narrative delight.
Like almost any TV Christmas movie, it requires a few leaps in logic (Exhibit A: I look back at the people I crushed on as a preteen and teenager, and can confidently say I’d run in the other direction rather than consider one of them my soulmates or the love of my life. I shudder at that thought, but to each his own).
With that said, if you’re willing to swallow that and tolerate a few too many time jumps, it’s ultimately an endearing story.
My initial skepticism was rooted in the casting of Lea Michele as Olivia, the movie’s central protagonist. I like Lea and have followed her career since her Spring Awakening days, but in my experience, she generally does best when playing brassy, broad characters wound just a little too tight.
I mean this as a compliment, but the earnest ingenue she is not.
Imagine my pleasant surprise that in Same Time, Last Christmas, she plays her most grounded, laid back character yet, and it works.
While there’s no universe where I’ll fully buy that she’s an architect in Cincinnati designing warehouses and other buildings that excel in their “practicality and functionality,” she does lovely work as a young woman struggling to deal with her conflicted romantic feelings and worries about abandonment.
It helps that she’s flanked by a strong supporting cast. Charles Michael Davis is a charming romantic lead with a mega-watt smile. He can also brood and pine with the best of ’em.
While Bryan Greenberg has a thankless role (more on that in a moment!), even in the midst of that, he’s still at least somewhat likable (mostly because he’s Bryan Greenberg).
Nia Vardalos and George Newbern, romantic comedy royalty in their own right, are a fun addition as Olivia’s parents.
While part of the pleasure of seeing them is flashing back to the roles that made them iconic (My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Father of the Bride, respectively), their characters are an enjoyable pair. Married for years, they’re still crazy about each other, and sadly, that’s not something we see portrayed often.
Speaking of mature romances, Christina Souza and Phil Morris, as a hotel manager and widower finding love again, are also incredibly charming.
Simply put, from top to bottom, the cast is strong…and inclusive! Various ages, races, and ethnicities are represented, and the movie even includes a same-sex couple in its ranks (even better, the most notable thing about them isn’t that they’re gay, but that they’d rather do yoga than drink wine).
The Hawaiian setting is a welcome change of pace for a Christmas movie and honestly, cinematographer Christopher Baffa films everything so beautifully, it could basically double as a two hour long ad for Hawaiian tourism.
So where does Same Time, Next Christmas stumble?
It is cheesy, but it’s meant to be, so I won’t hold that against it. What I do find fault in is how Bryan Greenberg’s character, Gregg, is written.
A common issue in romantic comedies is that the romantic foil for the lead is often written as so unsavory that it’s easy to root against them.
Theoretically, it makes it easier for audiences to accept that their partner is longing for someone else. Of course they are! After all, they’re boring/mean/stupid/insensitive/too serious.
The movie falls into that trap with Gregg. It’s not particularly interesting to watch because we’ve seen that story before.
At no point, was there any doubt as to how this movie was going to end, and while there’s comfort in that, it would be far more interesting and compelling to watch if there was even a moment of suspense as to how Olivia was going to handle her relationships with the two men in her life.
Furthermore, Gregg is written as such a work obsessed wet blanket (what kind of monster declines a picnic in favor of an energy bar?) that it calls into question what Olivia is even doing with him.
She consistently seems more lighthearted and adventurous than him, so how did this twosome even make it past a few weeks of dating?
The last quibble is less a criticism and moreso a wish. The Hawaiian Islands are deeply diverse and rich in culture and tradition. While the movie features a diverse cast, it would have been nice to see more attention paid to the Hawaiian people and their traditions beyond a standard hula scene.
Overall though, Same Time Next Christmas is still an enjoyable watch, and easily one of the best original Christmas movies in years. Its core is indelibly sweet wrapped in a beautiful, sunset-drenched package.
Stray observations:
- Why are Olivia and Jeff’s siblings in literally none of the flashbacks?
- It’s not clear to me why the dog is part of the story at all, other than the fact that dogs are an easy way to win points with an audience, but I’m a sucker for a wagging tail, so I guess it worked.
- Is there anything more adorable than scoring the final scene with a Christmas duet between Lea Michele and real life best friend Jonathan Groff? The answer is no; there is nothing more adorable than that.
What did you think of Same Time, Next Christmas? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Cristina Iskander
Cristina is a Broadway enthusiast, book lover, and pop-culture fanatic living in New York City. She once won a Fantasy Bachelor contest (yes, like Fantasy Football, but for The Bachelor), and can banter about old school WB (Pacey + Joey FTW) just as well as Stranger Things and Pen15. She's still upset Benson and Stabler never got together and is worried Rollins and Carisi are headed down the same road, wants justice for Shangela, and hopes to one day walk-and-talk down a hallway with Aaron Sorkin.
6 comments
Lea literally was the earnest ingenue in Spring Awakening.
That’s a fair assessment! However, I think Wendla was one of her weaker performances (though vocally powerful). I think the performances where she’s really popped, or that have worked better, have all had some similar ingredients (Glee, The Mayor, Scream Queens).
So cute! I really enjoyed it.
i had trouble believing she spent a year planning a wedding to a man, that she didn’t love; and then another year planning a wedding to a man that she did
So many weird time jumps and timelines and if we think about them too much, we might break our brains!
I got really pissed when Olivia left Gregg because he seems to be a bit boring than a childhood vacation friend (Jeff).
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