The Christmas Edition (2020 Lifetime)
Cast: Carly Hughes, Rob Mayes, Marie Osmond
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Synopsis (via Lifetime)
It’s Christmas time and Jackie, an up-and-coming journalist, finds that her life is at a crossroads. She’s just broken up with her longtime boyfriend, and the newspaper she writes for has stopped printing. Then, she finds an unexpected opportunity: a small-town newspaper in Alaska is being given away for free to anyone who agrees to keep it running. Jackie decides to give it a try and relocates to the picture-perfect small town. Using a series of Christmas articles, she quickly returns the newspaper to profitability and soon falls in love… both with her new home and the handsome son of the paper’s former owner. However, when her old boss announces plans to take over the paper for herself, Jackie will need a Christmas miracle to save it.
Thoughts
Jackie works at a newspaper, remember those? Her dream is to be the editor of the newspaper and focuses on getting the BIG story! The CEO of a media conglomerate, Melanie, stops by the newspaper and offers to expand the paper digitally. (So she is making a website?) The writing is on the wall, and Jackie learns of an opportunity to run a newspaper in Juneau, Alaska, from a Barista who may or may not be Santa. When she is offered a lame staff writer position, Jackie quits and moves to Alaska.
Once she lands in Alaska, Jackie is picked up by Finn, whose parents own the monthly paper called Lantern Grove. He is a goofball, like he should be a character in Fargo. Jackie has two staff writers: office manager Edna and Photographer Dolores. They are working on computers from the ’90s, and the paper has no budget for improvements. That doesn’t stop Jackie from publishing a daily paper; she even includes a story about herself at Edna’s request.
The people of the town aren’t interested, but Jackie realizes that if she writes about Christmas, she can move papers. It works. Edna even hawks papers on the street, shouting, “Extra, Extra.” Edna is the only redeemable portion of this movie, to be honest.
Finn and Jackie “flirt,” but it is super forced and not romantic at all. There are some attempts at humor, but they are too broad and unearned. They do Christmas things for charity, like glass-blowing ornaments and ice sculpting. Jackie randomly sings, “Hark the Harold Angels Sing.” AND SHE IS AMAZING!!!! Finn takes Jackie to a planetarium and shows her the Northern Lights. Okay, now I’m buying this love affair.
The successful paper montage is set to “Anything Can Happen at Christmas.” The newspaper is actually turning a profit and hits its subscriber goal. Jackie is a VIP in town. Buzz News shows up, interviews Jackie on camera, and asks hard-hitting questions… like, what are they going to cover after Christmas?
Jackie decides to feature local businesses and wants to cover Finn’s glass-blowing business. He takes her and teaches her how to blow glass. The movie treats this as romantic, as if they were playing putt-putt. For me, it just causes anxiety that someone is going to get injured. (It is cool to see the glass blowing in action.) They almost kiss but get interrupted by a call from Melanie to buy the paper.
Melanie offers Jackie, the Editor-in-Chief of her old newspaper, a deal if she can convince Finn to sell the paper. Edna and Dolores give Jackie their full support. It is nice of them, considering if she accepts, they will lose their jobs. When she brings up the change to Finn, he, too, is accommodating and supportive. No matter what she decides.
Finn and Jackie get dressed up and go to a fancy party. Melanie pressures Jackie to make a decision, and she is more torn than ever. Jackie delivers an impassioned speech to the townspeople and her co-workers. Afterward, Finn tells Jackie to take the job because he wants her to be happy.
Jackie writes her farewell article and reads it in her head like Carrie Bradshaw. The movie shows flashbacks throughout. Jackie talks herself out of leaving and turns down the job to a bewildered Melanie. She surprises Finn at Christmas dinner, and everyone rushes out of the room to give Jackie and Finn some alone time. They peek through the door and see the couple share a Christmas kiss.
Side Note
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Overall rating: Put a Cork in It
🎄🎄 (2 Christmas Trees)
🍷🍷🍷 (3 glasses of wine required.)
*Photo Credit: © 2020 Lifetime
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