** Dear Secret Santa

Hybrid, HFD Productions,

Tatyana Ali, Jordin Sparks, Bill Cobbs, Della Reese, Ernie Hudson, Larmorne Morris


Jennifer (Tatiana Ali) is a busy banker who lives in Los Angeles, but she gets a call that her father Ted (Bill Cobbs) has suffered a serious fall while putting up decorations. When she is unable to reach him, she takes off an drives to the small town up north where she grew up. She finds her Dad fine, but she decides to stay. While there she sees lots of old friends who reconnect. But when a series of mysterious letters start to appear in her mailbox, she becomes obsessed with finding out which of the people she knows could be her Secret Santa. When she finally learns who it is, it is a very unusual mystery of how she can be with the one writing the letters. In the process she learns a lot about who she really is.

“A Lake House Christmas” could be the title of this film, as it’s uses the same plot devices that Lake House used. Letters from the past appear and disappear from inside this mailbox as she tries to connect with someone from the past. This is an interesting take on the story, and though it’s not nearly technically explained as it was in Lake House (People here seem to accept the letters from the past pretty easily, perhaps because it’s the second time we’ve seen this trick), it’s still a pretty interesting story. The acting is good, with a good cast, and it’s a rather clever story, even if it’s directly taken from another work. With a mostly African-American cast, this film is very well done and takes itself very seriously. Although humorous at times, it’s a really good film. Though she and her Father do not see eye to eye, mostly since her Mother’s passing, these are really good people with good intentions, and Jennifer is lucky to be surrounded by really good friends who help her find her center. This is a nice little Christmas story.


[Click here for the Lifetime home page for this film]

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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