Carlton America, Galloping Girl Productions, Jaffe/Braunstein Films
Jami Gertz, Shawn Christian, Tyne Daly, Winston Rekert, Anne Hawthorne, Alexandra Harvey, Cameron Bancroft, Diana Chaplin, Joe Norman Shaw
Jake Cunningham(Shawn Christian) is a dedicated FBI agent who comes from a wealthy family. Jake is assigned to protect Brandi O’Neill (Jami Gertz), girlfriend of a billionaire who is not very nice. He’s up for tax fraud and she has the goods on him, if she’ll testify. Jake is called home for Christmas for a phony reason, and decides the only thing he can do is bring Brandi with him under the pretense that she’s his new girlfriend. Well, nobody in the family approves, especially his Dad with whom he’s had a strained relationship since childhood. Things get much worse when Dad accidentally finds out his son has been lying about who this new girlfriend actually is. Plus Scott (Cameron Bancroft) is doing his best to make sure Brandi won’t testify.
This is a typical story of the generation gap. No matter what Jake does, it’s not good enough for Dad, and neither one is man enough to make the first move. This is a story of family dynamics, and choices of right and wrong. Brandi’s situation where she’s definitely in an abusive relationship, but she thinks that’s all she deserves and nothing better will come along. The movie takes place over the Christmas holiday so it’s definitely a Christmas story, but it’s the kind of story that could be told in any backdrop. Very thought provoking and it pulls you into the story very effectively.
** Undercover Christmas (2003),
