Decently cute animated movie that features, not only Jodie Whittaker, but Bill Nighy, two Our Flag Means Death cast members, and the excellent Fiona Shaw! Not too shabby. A bit overstuffed but sweet.
None other than Santa Claus himself narrates the story of an eventful Christmas in the small English village of Wellington-on-Sea. Danny is new in town and lonely—his mom is an overworked nurse forced to parent through post-it notes due to her long hours, and his dad doesn’t come around often enough. Sam is fretting over her twin sister Charlie’s naughtiness, worried that causing inventive havoc this close to Christmas will mean Charlie ends up with an empty stocking. Bernadette is sick of the same staid Christmas traditions every year and longs to shake things up. Everything comes to a head during a Christmas blizzard.
It’s a cute movie, and it has its share of fun moments, clever bits, and heartwarming scenes. While I wouldn’t rank it with the best animated family films I’ve seen, I enjoyed myself. A few highlights:
- Bernadette, director of the school Christmas play, introduces the show to the audience by insisting that Jesus was “basically a hipster” and wouldn’t want a repeat of the same old boring nativity story – “That’s right! He’d want a strictly vegetarian multicultural funfest with lots of pop songs and stuff about climate change! Written by our resident genius, Sam.”
- Danny has a crush on Sam, and when his mom encourages him, he laments, “I’m shy, she’s anxious. It’s hopeless!”
- When a group of parents get run off the road trying to get home in the blizzard, Mrs. McNutt is unimpressed when her husband drops a bit of lore about his rickety van – “You secretly named this ridiculous old van after Beyoncé?” she asks. He assures her, “No, no, no. Not that Beyoncé!”
As I said, tons of familiar folks in the voice cast. Brian Cox plays Santa, with Guz Khan (Ivan from Our Flag Means Death) as Dasher, his lone reindeer on Christmas Eve night—all the others are off sick. For the parents, Rhys Darby is a delight as the relentlessly cheerful Mr. McNutt, and he’s joined by Lolly Adefope (who I liked a lot on Shrill,) Alex Macqueen (who was hilarious on The Thick of It,) and Deborah Findlay (who I still remember best from State of Play.) Other townsfolk include Bill Nighy as Lighthouse Bill—apparently an old friend of Santa’s?—and Fiona Shaw as Mrs. Trapper, the prickly headmistress with a secret soft side.
Jodie Whittaker plays Mrs. Williams, Danny’s mom. She works long shifts and has to leave Danny on his own a lot, so she plasters the house with post-it notes to communicate with him. In the morning, different numbers on the clock are marked, “Time to go!”, “Really time to go!”, and, “LATE!”, while a note on Danny’s dinner reads, “Love you, little slug, and one day [Sam] will too.” Since some of the kids watching the movie are too young to be readers, all the notes are read aloud by Whittaker in voiceover, allowing Mrs. Williams to converse with and look after Danny when she’s not around. They also FaceTime while she’s walking to work.
It’s a nice portrait of a hardworking single mom who’s doing her best. Mrs. Williams is kooky and loving while also stressed and imperfect. Whittaker’s performance is very warm, alternately funny and sweet.
Accent Watch
Northern—her own Yorkshire accent, I believe.
Recommend?
In General – To watch with the kids in your life over the holidays, sure! As an adult, a soft maybe.
Jodie Whittaker – I think so. It’s not a huge role, but Whittaker gives a lovely performance here.
Warnings
Plenty of “don’t try this at home,” thematic elements, scary moments for kids (including a lost child,) mild language, and some gross-out humor.
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