REVIEW: Freddie Prinze Jr. Will Charm Your Socks Off in Netflix’s Christmas with You
Netflix is already full swing into its Holiday season and its newest addition, Christmas with You may be a hit for some and a miss for others. The movie finds veteran pop singer Angelina (Aimee Garcia), trying to stay relevant in what some consider a younger singer’s game. With no top 10 singles on the horizon, the singer has begun to use sexy music videos and a tumultuous relationship with a Telenovela heartthrob, to try and earn back the #1 client position at her recording label. However, even with all of these antics, her recording label feels differently. Threatening to end her recording contract, Angelina convinces her label that she is in the midst of writing a Holiday hit. Only problem, she hasn’t even started the song. Lost in what to do, Angelina decides to head to a small suburb of New York City to grant a wish to one of her fans. It is here where Angelina meets the dreamy music teacher, Miguel (Freddie Prinze Jr.) and her life begins to change for good.
Unlike other Holiday movies, this one doesn’t quite feel like a Holiday movie. Yes, it is set during the Holiday season, filled with Holiday décor, and features a little Holiday music, but all of that feels a little dampened. The movie is centered around a Latino family during the holiday season, and instead of focusing on their culture/traditions during the holiday season, the writers opted to only skim the surface to instead focus solely on Angelina’s development. Miquel and his family take a backseat for a majority of the film, which takes away from the holiday feel of the film and the Latino traditions that could have been introduced. These additions could have created wonderful connections between Angelina and Miquel throughout the film, but instead the writers chose to focus on Angelina and her need to write this Holiday song.
The other downside to this film was that there were way too many unnecessary characters who interfered in the actual story progression. By having so many secondary characters in the story, there were very few scenes focused on just Angelina and Miguel. Especially scenes where the writers could have showcased the growing feelings between the pair. However, because these scenes were far and few between, it led to the relationship between the two feeling very forced and a little unbelievable. It really was a shame because Garcia and Prinze Jr. had everything they needed to win over the audience.
Garcia does well as the pop singer Angelina, but it is Prinze Jr. that steals the movie. For those who know him from the little 90s movie, She’s All That, you know he has everything it takes to lead a romcom. From his smile to his charming performance, audience will be wooed by Prinze Jr’s Miguel from the very first moment he appears on screen. He is everything you would want in a Holiday romantic lead and more.
If you like Holiday movies, maybe save this one for a time where you can have it on in the background while you are baking, wrapping presents, or whatever your Holiday traditions may be. It doesn’t require a lot of attention so I do not recommend cozying up on couch and just purely watching. If I can leave this film off on a positive note, the movie was really good at was continuing to push my need to see Freddie Prinze Jr. in more romcoms in the future.
Grade: C