The Santa Squad (2020 Lifetime)
Cast: Aaron Ashmore, Rebecca Dalton, Michael Therriault, Chris Sandiford
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Synopsis (via Lifetime)
An unemployed art teacher accepts a job with the Santa Squad to help lift the spirits of a wealthy widower Gordon (Aaron Ashmore), and his two adorable daughters. As she helps the broken family rediscover the magic of Christmas, she finds something she didn’t expect: True love.
Thoughts
Allie and Tony work for an old folks’ home — oh wait, it is a community center. Allie used to be an art school teacher, but she was fired due to budget cuts. Allie meets Connie and Bill, who may live in the community center. They are supposed to be on a Bahamian cruise and are totally adorable. Since Allie needs more money, he gives her a flyer for something called “Santa Squad,” where people are hired to decorate and spread Christmas cheer.
Allie is assigned to work in a large mansion. She is greeted by a rude lady friend of Mr. Church named Kimmee. The personal assistant, Daniel, shows Allie around and tells her the house rules. Then she is introduced to the kids in the house and, more importantly, Gordon, the hunk of the house. Allie doesn’t impress anyone. Kimmee reminds Allie to park in the servants’ parking area.
Allie and Tony eat a healthy lunch and plan how to win over the Church family. Christmas fun, of course. The girls Rose and Iris are hesitant at first, but a decorating montage fixes that. Kimmee hates the decorations and is disgusted by them. No one cares, and Allie continues to win the girls over with crafts and decorations. She invites Gordon to join him, and he surprisingly agrees to help make ornaments with his daughters.
They next go to the community center. The girls are thrilled to have a creative outlet because they draw and paint in secret at home. YIKES! Allie talks with Daniel about Gordon’s lack of parenting. Gordon overhears and realizes that he needs to change. He breaks up with Kimmee when she suggests boarding school. The kids are THRILLED about the breakup.
The family picks out a real tree and decorates it with homemade decorations and strands of popcorn. They have a lot of fun, and Gordon starts to let loose.
The girls go shopping for a gift for their dad, and Allie helps them. They end up just taking photos in a photo booth.
Next, some snowman building happens, and then snow angels. They are churning through the Christmas tropes.
Allie has car trouble, and the girls trick Gordon into taking Allie home and having dinner with her. They drink wine, and Gordon opens up about his wife, who passed away when the girls were young. He thanks Allie for bringing joy back into the girls’ lives.
Baking happens next, and the girls get creative, making a cookie pyramid. It looks terrible. Rose accidentally puts an oven mitt in the oven and starts a fire in the kitchen. This is the incident that tears Gordon and Allie apart? He fires her on the spot?!?! The girls feel bad for not fessing up and tell Gordon after the fact that Rose left the oven mitt.
Allie stops by the house to pick up her last check. The girls beg her to come back, but Allie has to rush off because Bill is in the emergency room. The family goes with her. They all wait in the waiting room. Bill gets better, and Gordon invites everyone over for Christmas dinner.
At Christmas dinner, Gordon dresses up as the worst Santa I’ve ever seen. No beard. No belly. He does hand out gifts that are meaningful to everyone in some way, so he might actually be Santa??? He takes a leave of absence from work to spend time with his daughters, which might be the best gift of all. Gordon and Allie kiss under the mistletoe. He invites her to move in. The guy moves fast.
Side Note
Chris Sandiford is the star of this film. He is so funny.
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Overall rating
🎄 (1 Christmas Tree)
🍷🍷🍷 (3 glasses of wine required.)
*Photo Credit: © 2020 Lifetime
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