SANTA SWITCH: Another Dad Figuring Out The True Meaning of Christmas

The newest holiday movie from The Hallmark Channel is the fairly generic Santa Switch, premiering tonight at 8/7c.

Ethan Erickson stars as Dan Ryebeck, recently unemployed, estrange from his wife, and desperate to buy gifts to impress his two children. Always chasing a new business idea, Dan hasn’t had time for family, including his wife Linda (Anne Dudek), who is finally fed up and filing divorce papers. Threatened by Linda’s boss, Trevor (Steve Valentine), Dan decides to win her back by giving his family the best Christmas ever. Swallowing his pride, Dan auditions to be a mall Santa and gets the job, but shows up unprepared and short-tempered. He quickly finds himself fired and broke, blaming the holidays for his troubles, citing his childhood when his parents gave him handmade gifts instead of the fancy store-bought toys his friends showed off.

The real Kris Kringle (Donovan Scott) gets tired of Dan complaining about how he would make Christmas better, and pays him a visit. Old Kris wants to take a vacation and leaves Dan in charge, since he thinks he can do such a good job. Kris sends his hard-working elf assistant Eddie (Sean Astin) to guide Dan as the new Santa Claus, hoping he’ll learn a lesson in Christmas spirit. With the sudden power to impress Linda and the kids by making every wild Christmas wish come true, Dan soon gets carried away. Meanwhile, plans for the rest of the world’s Christmas are in disarray. Will Dan figure out the true meaning of Christmas in time to save the day?

Reading the synopsis above, you can probably predict exactly how this story plays out, from beginning to end. Predictability isn’t necessarily a bad thing; in fact, for holiday movies, it’s often welcome because it adds familiarity and comfort to know everything will turn out alright in the end.

Unfortunately, in the case, “predictability” translates to “bland”. None of the characters are particularly interesting; the performances are all adequate but not inspiring; the sets and costumes are unremarkable; and our hero’s journey isn’t all that inspiring. There’s a dud every year, and this year, it’s Santa Switch.

Santa Switch premieres Saturday, December 7 at 8/7c on The Hallmark Channel.