Starring Mallory Jansen and Dan Jeannotte
***SPOILER ALERT***
Maggie (Jansen) is a musician whose career has hit the skids. Her manager, Lewis (Kurt Long), says that her upcoming gigs have been canceled, and to inspire her, he gives her a phone with a music app. Unimpressed, she heads home for the holidays to visit her parents. Meanwhile, after his wealthy father’s death, Archer (Jeannotte) and his sister, Piper (Emily Tennant), meet with an executor and learn she’s favored in the will. They bicker, and Archer thinks their broken relationship is beyond repair. Seeing an old photo of their one happy childhood Christmas, Archer flees to the log cabin where it occurred. He then meets Maggie at the tree farm her parents own. When she learns he owns a company that makes music apps, Maggie turns sour. Gradually, however, she recognizes that Archer’s technology could save her career. But when she’s caught between Lewis’s demands and Archer’s disappointment in her, her relationship with the app developer is at risk.
PROS
There was big talent behind All I Need for Christmas. It was directed by David Strasser, who’s credited with Christmas at the Golden Dragon (2022), a gem of a movie. And it was co-written by Betsy Morris, who crafted My Norwegian Holiday, a 2023 favorite. It was heavier on the drama than most of this year’s holiday offerings but ultimately uplifting, and the cast was brilliant.
Sibling rivalry. The fractious brother-sister relationship was as vital as the romance and made this film meaty. Archer and Piper’s parents had set them up for a lifetime of conflict by tracking how much money each sibling had earned and denying Christmas presents to the one who’d earned the least. Their father’s toxic influence over them continued from the grave. The will stated that because Piper had children, she’d inherit his money, but whoever had the highest net worth by Christmas would receive a seat on the board of his company.
Piper and Archer always snapped at one another, and he barely knew his niece and nephew. Archer longed to recapture the warmth of that long-ago family Christmas by returning to the log cabin and getting a tree, but the saddest part was that he intended to do it alone. However, at Maggie’s urging, he texted Piper with a photo of his Christmas tree. That one beautiful Christmas was the siblings’ only positive point of connection, and Piper arrived unexpectedly at the cabin with her kids. Archer’s surprise led her to think they weren’t welcome and should leave, but no one truly wanted that. Still, Piper couldn’t let go of her competitive streak, even while playing a board game. When she said Archer couldn’t stand to see her win, he fled the cabin in frustration. Both actors gave their performances depth, conveying the deep heartbreak underlying the arguing.
Piper’s turnaround. An affecting scene showed Piper confessing her sadness at being unable to fix her relationship with Archer. He’d been the popular one, she told him, so she’d focused on beating him. Now she didn’t know what to do about the two of them. Archer emphasized that she’d raised great kids, so she did know what to do. She begged him not to give up on her, and he reassured her he wouldn’t. Their hostility ebbed away before Maggie’s concert and they agreed to share the board position. It was lovely to see the warmth between them.
Emily Tennant, who displayed her comedic chops in Holiday Hotline (2023), was superb. The versatile actress had range, projecting Piper’s smugness and resentment, but also her vulnerability.
The musician and the app developer. Maggie and Archer met in her family’s barn. While she was singing to two cute little pigs, he tripped over a rake, frightening them. Though Archer was charming and amiable, Maggie shut down when she learned about his app. Their differing approaches to the music business created tension between them, but you could also feel their attraction. She considered his app a cheat for people who aspired to being musicians but lacked talent. Because AI has invaded creative fields, threatening many artists’ livelihoods, I understood her attitude. Maggie apologized for her rudeness by helping Archer with his Christmas tree, which earlier he’d put in a bathtub full of water that had turned to ice (it was only the second tree he’d ever had). But she shut down again when he described how his app could help the abysmal-sounding children’s choir she was leading.
A crisis and joyful resolution. Lewis dropped Maggie, which devastated her, but Archer persuaded her to headline a Christmas concert. They’d record it using his app, which would allow people to download the concert. But when Lewis heard about the concert via social media (Maggie’s dad had promoted it) and heard the new Christmas song she’d written, he insisted she not play it at the concert. Thrown into turmoil, she withdrew from the performance. Archer emphasized that while Lewis had dropped her, he’d made her a headliner. She needed to take this chance and perform, he said, or she’d never know if she could succeed. Maggie knew he was right and smiled as she arrived for the concert. When the power went out, Archer organized the townspeople to gather generators and candles so she could delight the crowd with her new song. I loved how he always had her back!
CONS
None.
My grade for All I Need for Christmas: A (just beautiful!)
Caroline Kaiser is a professional book editor who specializes in fiction and memoirs, and she’s been guiding writers toward publication since 2007. Caroline is also the author of two ghostly mystery novels, Virginia’s Ghost and The Spirits of South Drive. Before she embarked on an editing and writing career, she spent many years working in a Toronto auction house as an antiques appraiser. Apart from curling up on the couch and drinking tea as she watches Hallmark movies, Caroline enjoys baking and exploring London, Ontario, the picturesque city she now calls home. Her website is www.carolinekaisereditor.com.
