Holiday in Santa Fe (2021)
I’d been putting this one off because I generally think Mario Lopez is corny, but I half watched Holiday in Santa Fe while wrapping gifts. I grew up watching Saved by the Bell, and, while I got my first colonoscopy this past week, Mario here has not aged one bit since his days as AC Slater.
Synopsis: Guy and family own a Christmas shop in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Girl comes from corporation in Chicago that wants to buy out the family name and slap it on Temu type holiday junk. Girl meets guy and instantly sparks fly. She wants to help the family save their struggling business. Together they do, and everyone lives happily ever after.
Who’s dead in this one? Slater’s mom. I don’t think we learn how she died, we just know that she was a key part of the family business, and their Christmas celebrations. Slater’s sister is feeling the pressure to fill her shoes.
How Santa Fe was this movie? Very! The whole movie Was filmed on location in Santa Fe, and the internet tells me they hired a lot of locals for the film. The characters talk a lot about how great Santa Fe is, and how many events there are to do during the holidays. (Vogue just named it as one of the best Christmas towns in the USA) There’s even a mention about the financial benefits of manufacturing in Santa Fe, and I’m not 100% sure I didn’t just watch a 90 minute commercial by the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce.
Did the characters have good chemistry? Guy and girl appeared to like each other right off the bat, but I wouldn’t say their relationship got super deep. I appreciated that everyone treats everyone kindly throughout the film, even the boss is nice! Perhaps I shouldn’t have watched A Christmas in Vermont first, because now I’m judging the rest of these movies based on that one. That main character was so rude in the beginning, it was impossible to believe the guy saw anything in her.
Speaking of Vermont, you can’t make a Hallmark or Lifetime holiday movie without at least one mention of the Green Mountain State. Holiday in Santa Fe introduces us to a couple who travels from Vermont to Santa Fe every year for Christmas. This movie may have been co-sponsored by the Santa Fe tourism bureau.
Did they fill any gaps in dialogue with a montage? I was only half watching as I wrapped gifts, but I didn’t notice any.
Would you buy the product they’re making? I possibly would. I like to pick up an ornament whenever I travel.
How realistic was this film? Well, it was made back in 2021, which, while not a great time, was certainly better than right now. We see this family speaking Spanish with each other and celebrating their rich Mexican culture, because there’s not a fear of ICE lurking around waiting to harass, detain, and possibly deport any brown person they come across.
Speaking of ICE and Vermont, I picked up this booklet at Tunnel Books during my trip to St. Johnsbury. It‘s a collection of questions like, “Who are the friends of ICE agents?” “Who are their family members that know what they do and say nothing?” ”How do we make this the most embarassing job in the world to have?”
My takeaways: At the risk of sounding overly naive, what would the world be like if we all treated each other like the characters in this film, if we were kind, and assumed the best of each other? What if we wanted better for each other instead of this “I got mine, so f*ck you attitude“ that’s so prevalent? Did we learn nothing from the Saved by the Bell Christmas episode in which Zach falls in love with a homeless girl and the gang rallies to help?
I only have two days of work left for the rest of the year, and then I’m off until January 5. I plan to watch a lot of Christmas movies during the break.
By the way, this iconic Saved by the Bell moment happened 35 years ago last month, so if you were 10 or older at the time it aired, you should schedule a colonoscopy.
