Consider this a public service announcement (PSA): since Disney owns Hulu, you can find the latter’s film library on the Mouse’s streaming service.  This may be obvious to some, but I wonder why Disney does not make it more obvious. Most of the time, I expect their material to be of a quality that a Catholic like me can enjoy guilt-free.  As such, though I should know better by now, I find their inclusion of Hulu’s stuff misleading.  For example, unless you are looking closely for the “included with your Hulu subscription” caveat, you might not know Christmas with the Campbells (2022) comes from another provider.  There is also no rating given for the material.  It starts off innocently enough, and it had me thinking that perhaps I was watching something along the lines of a Hallmark movie.  Then the discussions drug use, other foul language, and sexual innuendo started coming and did not stop.  Mercifully, the only thing missing was nudity.  Coupled with a few other oddities and you have a motion picture that I frankly did not expect.  This is not a good thing.

Like I said, the first scene is standard enough, featuring Jesse (Brittany Snow) and her boyfriend, Shawn Campbell (Alex Moffat), making plans for Christmas with the Campbells.  This means the holidays with Shawn’s parents, Liz (Julia Duffy) and Robert Campbell (George Wendt), in their idyllic Utah town.  Because Jesse comes from a broken home, she has come to love these winter gatherings.  Yet, on the heels of talking to Liz and Robert and making their promises to see them soon, Shawn informs Jesse that he has gotten a job interview in New York City and he will not be able to go west.  When she suggests she go with him, he tells her that they are breaking up, but disgustingly adds they can still hook-up if the desire arises.  And people wonder why the Church teaches that sex before marriage is a sin.  Next, a heart broken Jesse is wiping tears and decorating her tree when she gets a call from Liz.  Because of the love the Campbell elders have for Jesse, and because their son is bailing on them in the coming weeks, they insist that she stick to her planned trip. Against all seeming logic, she accepts.  Liz and Robert are great hosts, but they are clearly as loony as their son.  As Jesse is at the house by herself one day, she is surprised to find a dog in the kitchen licking up the remains of a stew Liz had been cooking.  Its owner, David (Justin Long), has come to also perform the title action.  His visit is not as random as hers, Liz and Robert being his aunt and uncle.  David and Liz begin to bond, he having a folksy kind of way to him that I am not sure Long pulls off, but that is enough editorialization for now.  Any real closeness, though, is temporarily thwarted by Becky (JoAnna Garcia Swisher), who has, to put it mildly, an obviously steamy past with David.  He maintains that there is nothing going on between them currently despite her advances.  Confusingly, he also appears to like the attention while also clearly favoring Jesse.  I guess he is just being nice, but I suspect it was more to pad the length of the film.  As complicated as that situation is, things get even more complex when Shawn surprises them all by showing up at the house.  He is equally shocked to find Jesse there with his parents.  Unsurprisingly, once he recovers, he is back to hinting at his desire to have sex with her with the subtly of a kick to the teeth.  To that end, he begins helping his accountant father catch up on his books.  Doing so changes his plans of living in New York and filling a high paying job, instead telling Jesse that he is going to inherit dad’s business.  This way she can live out her dream of residing in the area and he can be as uninhibited sexually as he thinks she wants.  At the same time, it is painfully evident that Becky is a woman more to his liking, and he flirts with her in a perverse manner.  If you are wondering by now about all the Christmas stuff, just picture everything I have so far discussed, along with an unhealthy dose of Liz and Robert’s odd bedroom behavior, while the usual season specific activities are happening.  The main one is the big party hosted by the Campbells, which features the unveiling of their massive Christmas light display.  By this point, David has finally decided that Jesse is the woman for him.  As so often happens in these soap operatic flicks, he walks past them as Shawn is essentially forcing a kiss onto her.  Shawn believes he has accomplished his goal, but the next morning she tells him that their break-up had been the right move for her despite it not feeling that way initially.  She then goes to find David, but discovers a note on his stocking saying that he has left.  Instead, she decides to go into the woods to takes some photographs, a pastime about which she is passionate and wishes to turn into a career.  As she comes to the fabled wishing tree, a landmark they previously found together, David’s dog runs up to her.  She is finally able to explain everything and they kiss.  The movie closes with Becky, David, Jesse, and Shawn back with the latter’s parents to share a Christmas meal.

I did not mention early in my synopsis of Christmas with the Campbells that Jesse’s true passion is photography, mostly because I did not think it too relevant, at least to the plot.  Yet, it brings up something into which this Catholic reviewer can sink his teeth.  There is a philosophical divide between Jesse and Shawn in regards to how one should live their life.  To Shawn, the idea of pursuing a dream is illogical, especially if it cannot make one any money.  For Jesse, her photography brings her happiness, if not much in the way of financial success.  You might think the Church says that you should do whatever makes you happiest, but that is only partially correct.  Faith and hard work go together, economically and spiritually.  Ask any member of the clergy, cloistered or otherwise, how much of their day is spent attending to their duties, and you might be surprised by the answer.  However, using members of religious orders is probably not the best example.  After all, it is the motto of many religious orders, at least those that follow the rule of St. Benedict that “Orare est laborare . . .” or to pray is to work, and vice versa.  Most of us do not live that way, though I suspect the world would be a better place if we did.  Jesse’s approach to what she wants to do with her life is more akin to this theory.  As the old saying goes, when you are doing what you love, it does not feel like labor.  At the same time, we should not be completely dismissive of Shawn’s way of doing things.  Many families are not blessed with the luxury to pursue just what interests them.  There is a financial reality that needs to be serviced, and there is a noble sacrifice that takes place, not out of compulsion, but because a parent seeks the good of those they love.  The problem with Shawn is that he makes an idol of money and success, seeing them as the end all of existence.  I guess this is why he is the villain?  With God, though, such pursuits can be elevated.

Then again, with God, Christmas with the Campbells would be a different movie.  I, for one, would not find that to be a bad thing.  In other words, skip it.