It was eerily ironic that I watched the holiday movie “Family for Christmas” on December 13, 2015. I had earlier been conversing with a friend about the significance of the date – exactly 10 years prior was a first drink with a certain girl (we’ll leave it at that) but our conversation turned to the inevitable and always fun philosophical game of “what if?”
My jaw dropped slightly when the theme of “Family for Christmas” turned out to be a sliding doors like tale. Questions were tossed about from the beginning. What if you said yes instead of no? What if you had waited five more minutes before leaving. They can leave you going crazy with thought and make for enjoyable fodder in a movie.
It’s the nightmare scenario for all single city dwellers – you wake up one morning in a cookie cutter house with the wafting scent of instant grocery store coffee billowing from the kitchen and the sounds of raucous kids echoing in the hallway.
Hannah Dunbar (Lacey Chabert) was TV reporter with a borderline cutthroat disposition willing to do anything for the advancement of her career.
Hannah operates with the business minded motto that the only thing you can really love is your job, until a chance encounter with a mysterious Santa Claus.
The next morning, Hannah wakes up with a different life, the recipient of the aforementioned nightmare. A life of wife, mother, and homemaker. A life she would never have imagined. The choice she didn’t make she will now get to experience firsthand.
“Family for Christmas” mimics a common holiday theme that begs the question of what if a character had selected a different path. The concept was made famous by the legendary “It’s a Wonderful Life” and has been revisted many times since over the years.
Lacey Chabert has starred in many movies and TV shows, and has recently become something of a Hallmark Channel movie Captain. Always beautiful, Chabert fits perfectly in the role of Hannah Dunbar. Though not quite George Bailey, Hannah does experience a myriad of life altering choices in her magical ordeal. “I’m a stay at home mommy and family is my job?” Lacey asks a soccer mom neighbor as she attempts to discern what has happened.
Playing opposite Chabert is Tyron Leitso in the role of Ben, Hannah’s boyfriend of many years in the past, and the one who got away – though due to Christmas magic, Hannah is now Ben’s wife and the mother of their two children.
“Family for Christmas” is an enjoyable movie with an appropriate amount of laughs and tender family moments that fit perfectly with the holiday season.
by – Matt Christopher
