When it comes to family centric, cheesy and cheery feel good holiday movies, no one tops the Hallmark Channel; but ABC Family comes in a close second. As part of their annual 25 Days of Christmas campaign, said network released the lackluster “Christmas Cupid” in December of 2010, and while somewhat charming, the movie fails to warm the heart like many of its predecessors are able to do.
The first aspect of “Christmas Cupid” that fails is its setting. Thousands of miles from the typical hustle and bustle of New York sits is coastal counterpart; Los Angeles. And while I applaud the originality of taking the setting out of the Big Apple, the hazy heat and smog filled skies do nothing in terms of rendering a festive mood. So many other Christmas stories take place in New York, and with good reason – it can’t be beat when it comes to the holiday season.
“Christmas Cupid” takes the often used plot of ghosts sent to deliver a message and attempts to put a unique spin on it with its characters. Sloane Spencer (Christina Milian) is a Hollywood based publicist who spends her days pampering spoilt celebrities while doing whatever it takes to climb the corporate ladder. Her latest charge is handling the gorgeous yet trouble-seeking actress Caitlin Quinn (Ashley Benson). Quinn, a doppelganger of Lindsay Lohan in terms of lifestyle, vices, and time served in the slammer, is the star of a soon to be released family Christmas movie and as such, Sloane must keep her out of the spotlight of negative publicity.
“Cupid” manages to fail a second time when it attempts to explain its plot. Sloane has been so busy with work, she hasn’t taken the time to find true love – though at 29, it hardly seems like a successful and attractive looker like she is would be running out of time with such a task.
Nevertheless, Sloane is “haunted” by her own personal Ghost of Exes past, present, and future. Though the concept seems a rewarding one, the actual ghosts make little sense past their identifiers, and offer less in terms of the story.
“Christmas Cupid” does do a good job of brining some contemporary themes and music (courtesy of Milian among others) to the tale, but once again, the entire mood of Christmas and the holidays is completely lost amidst the backdrop of palm trees and bikinis.
The final failure of the movie comes from the characters themselves. Benson, known for her starring role in the TV series “Pretty Little Liars” does a great job in an unusual take on Jacob Marley. Benson is funny and quirky, and all together plays the role of Caitlin quite well.
Christina Milian is okay as Sloane – but through no fault of her own, the character seems just too nice to require a lesson learned from a haunting. While the ghosts are nothing short of comical and goofy, the Sloane character doesn’t seem to be one in dire need of a lifestyle change.
And while I suppose finding true love is something anyone would want, the object of Cupid’s arrow in this case is flat out ridiculous. Sloan’s former college boyfriend Patrick (Chad Michael Murray) looks like he just crawled forth from an Ambercombie and Fitch advertisement. If his flawless boy band singer looks weren’t enough, Patrick is also a doctor and has somehow manager to stay single in the decade plus since he and Sloane parted ways. While well intentioned, it comes across as completely preposterous that this guy is even a doctor at all, let alone one that needs help finding a woman. Apparently male models get lonely around the holiday season too.
I’ve seen better, I’ve seen worse. “Christmas Cupid” isn’t an all time holiday great, but unfortunately it misses its mark of being a quaint seasonal story as well.
by – Matt Christopher
