Finally, a Hallmark movie.  Based on what I had heard from friends, I thought the channel known for its family friendly films dominated what is commonly referred to as the Christmas season.  I use that clunky phrase because earlier today, Spirit FM reminded me of a salient fact that I had forgotten: Christmas does not begin until December 25^th.  We are currently in Advent, which is a time of preparation and waiting.  Yet, as with so many of the things that go on in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we have forgotten the connection to the birth of Jesus that gives meaning to our gift giving frenzy.  And yet, here I am, reviewing Christmas movies during Advent instead of during the time which the Church says is Christmas.  Let no one accuse Catholicism of being countercultural.  Anyway, when it came time for me to choose a film to look at to keep this trend going, I was triggered by seeing a Hallmark feature called Naughty or Nice (2012).  With my typing fingers sharpened, I readied myself to do battle with this supposedly light holiday fare.

In the description of Naughty or Nice on Amazon Prime, it describes Krissy Kringle (Hilarie Burton) as a “holiday humbug.”  You can see the irony in her name, which makes her not a fan of this time of the year.  She is grumpy, and this particularly morning is exacerbated by an inoperable water heater and the barista giving her a hard time about her name. It gets worse.  Upon getting to the advertising agency where she works, her and her co-worker and friend, Jill Rhodes (Daneel Ackles), expect that the meeting with her boss, Helen Purcell (Michelle Hurd), is going to lead to a raise. Instead, Krissy is “released,” as Helen so delicately puts it.  Upon getting home, Krissy has to struggle to push upon her front door open because of the mountain of letters from children who believe they are sending them to Santa Claus (Googy Gress).  They arrive at her address not only because of her last name, but due to the fact that she lives on Candy Cane Lane, the street being renamed as such because of the renowned seasonal decoration contest in which everyone on her block participates.  Everyone, that is, except for Krissy.  Amongst the missives is a larger package.  Seeing that the packaging is already torn, she decides to complete the destruction to reveal a large book with the eponymous words embossed in fancy words across the cover.  For the moment, she thinks little of it, and goes with her boyfriend, Lance Leigh (Matt Dallas), to dinner with her parents.  They are Carol (Meredith Baxter) and Walter Kringle (Michael Gross).  By the way, in case those two actors’ names (or their faces if you see this film) seem familiar, it is because they were the parents on the television show Family Ties (1982-1989).  I guess they just enjoy working together.  At any rate, Carol’s intuitiveness leads her to guess correctly that Krissy has recently lost her job.  One of the solutions immediately suggested is that Krissy and Lance get married, but he is not ready to make a proposal despite the six years of being together.  Krissy also seems to not want any of their charity.  What the Kringles are able to do is convince their daughter to take a job at the mall working as one of Santa’s helpers, wrapping gifts and helping to get kids through the line to have their picture taken with Santa.  Before heading to this ignoble source of employment, she has an incident with the book from the previous night.  Saying her name in front of it, the tome comes to life and reveals to her acts that it deems naughty, such as being mean to her neighbor.  She soon realizes its potential, and uses it to get the plumber to stop being lazy and come over to fix her hot water heater.  She then takes it with her to her new job and uses it on her deadbeat supervisor, Justin Reid (Tony Cavalero), who refuses to give Santa’s helpers a break.  Krissy’s fellow elf, Marco Webb (Gabriel Tigerman), is the only person to whom she reveals her secret, and together they learn some things about her former employer.  Namely, they see that Jill stole Krissy’s promotion and is planning to take the company from Helen.  More immediately, Krissy uses the book to learn about the nefarious activities of Debbie O’Brien (Jessica Tuck), Krissy’s uppity neighbor across the street who has won the decoration context for a number of years in a row.  Saying Debbie’s name to the book shows Krissy that Debbie is sneaking into other people’s yards and stealing their decorations.  With this information, Krissy exposes Debbie and takes home the award, thanks to Justin decorating her house.  Though Krissy witnesses the negative effect of these actions, Marco has one more suggestion: say Lance’s name and see what he has been doing during his late nights working as a lawyer.  Krissy is shown Lance with Jill.  Krissy angrily bursts in on a business lunch he is having, making accusations and flinging a bowl of pasta at him.  Yet, her parents tell their daughter that this does not sound like her boyfriend.  Thus, she decides to look at the nice side, and sees all the charitable work Lance does.  Besides, the interlude with Jill had been brief, and in a period during which they were not a couple.  Looking more into the positive side of the ledger, she realizes that she had been quick to negatively judge a number of people.  However, before she can utilize the book to make amends, she accidentally spills coffee on it which apparently renders it useless.  Instead, she goes around apologizing to everyone, particularly Lance.  With his help, and some from Debbie, she is able to present evidence of Jill’s wrongdoing to Helen, which earns Krissy the promotion Jill had taken.  After assisting her once and future boss with some charitable work, Krissy returns home to Lance proposing to her.

There was a brief moment during Naughty or Nice at which my Catholic heart was cheered.  As Krissy attempts to inform Marco about her possession of Santa’s actual naughty or nice list, he responds by talking about how he was raised Catholic and therefore believes there is Somebody out there watching over us.  While this is not very specific, it nonetheless speaks to how it is God that sees us, and not some legendary dude with a red coat and white beard breaking and entering into every house around the world.  Any hope I had that these ideas would be nurtured are dashed, if nothing else, by seeing the so-called real Jolly Ol’ St. Nick appearing to Krissy to collect the book.  The exchange is meant to be as lighthearted as the rest of the film, but it downplays how dangerous such an item can be.  There is a reason such knowledge is best left to God alone, and I suppose it could be said we are not meant to have this power is one of the few lessons in the film.  Nonetheless, I felt literally triggered by the title, and hearing how a mother in the coffee shop uses the eponymous concept in order to get her child to behave.  Of course, we have all heard this from our parents before, right?  That, if we do not behave, Santa Claus will not bring us any presents?  It sets up a transactional relationship between child and parents that is meant to be one of unconditional love.  To be fair, the rest of the film does better regarding the kind of behavior more suited for actual Christmas.  Krissy doing right by those she wronged speaks to one of the key aspects of this season of hope, and that is that people deserve a second chance.  What form that takes is up to the other person, and this is something for which she is prepared with Lance.

One of the reasons we have a movie like Naughty or Nice is because of songs like “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.”  In talking about Kris Kringle, it relates to how he is going to find out who is on what side of the title divide.  I prefer a lyric later on in the tune that urges us to “. . . be good for goodness’ sake.”  This is the disposition God would wish for us all year, not just the weeks around December 25^th.  Thus, call this a half recommendation.