Alicia Witt is back for our next film, 2016’s deliciously silly Christmas Bucket List. Here, Witt puts those comedy chops to top use as Isobel, a ditzy fashion designer who’s determined to tick off a carefully selected ‘bucket list’ of Christmas traditions in her attempt to have the perfect holiday. The hook here is that Isobel has opened up a time capsule she made when she was little, discovering the titular list inside. Having a mental meltdown following a breakup, she figures she can salvage the holidays by giving herself the idealistic Mega Christmas that her younger self wished for. She approaches this with the slightly unhinged mantra of “Nothing that a little Christmas can’t fix!” This, of course, leads to Isobel making a hilarious mess of things but not without finding romance with Gabriel Hogan's chiselled fireman.
Witt is right at home in this goofy role, putting her expressive features and big eyes to great use in various awkward situations, including moonlighting as one of Santa’s elves to help make a little kid’s day. A standout moment sees Isobel cumbersomely joining a children’s ballerina dance pageant, dressed in tutu, pink leotard and all. Elsewhere, there are some humorous meltdowns as her quest for the perfect holiday starts to go awry.
There’s an important message in there about not taking Christmas – or life – too seriously, and just taking time to relax and enjoy the season. Director Paul A. Kaufman seems determined to squeeze in as much Christmas eye candy as possible, while pointing out that we don’t really need all that stuff – what matters is family and giving and personal reflection.
It turns out that I really need this film in my life right now, as Katie is unwell with some sort of horrible winter illness and I feel like I’m juggling a lot, with work, fathering and the small matter of watching (and writing about) Christmas movies every day. Alicia Witt reminds me it’s ok to slow down, take a deep breath and not stress out if your kid won’t eat their vegetables while mummy coughs up a lung upstairs.
The following day Katie and I find out that Amelia, who has been one of only four children allowed back to nursery during the current lockdown, is apparently flourishing. We’ve been worried about how things would be so this lifts our spirits greatly. It’s a silver lining on the big dark Covid cloud and we resolve to focus more on the positive things in our lives from now on. I realise this lockdown has created its own set of problems, but has also brought us closer as a family. Very Hallmark indeed!
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