"Rather than being set in Snowflakeville or some other absurdly named small town in Middle America (while being clearly filmed in Canada), it's shot on location in London during Christmas 2023 (directed by Mike Flanagan's long-time cinematographer Michael Fimognari). The city does a great deal of heavy-lifting with every pub, caff and high street helping to conjure up a real sense of place usually absent in such territory (it also means no need for increasingly distracting fake CG snow)."
"There are roles for British comedy stars like Peter Serafinowicz and Amandaland's wonderful Lucy Punch and the soundtrack opts for alternative holiday songs from Low and Run-DMC over yet another easily affordable cover of All I Want for Christmas is You. There's also a plot that isn't quite as rote as we're used to with no career-minded woman waiting to be tamed by a family-craving hunk."
"Rather than the city meets small town setup, our lovebirds are, wait for this, both living in London and both struggling in similar ways. American Sophie (Disney Channel alum Olivia Holt) is caring for her sick mother while toiling away at two jobs, one of which is at a department store gearing up for the holidays (or rather a random building rather unconvincingly made into one)."
Netflix's recent batch of Christmas films has largely delivered low-effort, uninspired romcoms with lethargic pacing and cheap production values. Jingle Bell Heist stands out modestly by being filmed on location in London during Christmas 2023, shot by Michael Fimognari, which provides tangible atmosphere through real pubs, cafes and high streets and avoids fake snow. The film features British comic talent including Peter Serafinowicz and Lucy Punch, and uses alternative holiday songs from Low and Run-DMC. The plot subverts routine romcom tropes by pairing two struggling Londoners rather than following the career-woman-tamed-by-family-craving-hunk formula.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]