Stream It Or Skip It?

The whole premise of a person convincingly wearing prosthetics to dupe people they know and love into thinking they’re someone else requires some suspension of disbelief. I think as an audience, we were forgiving toward Mrs. Doubtfire because of Robin Williams’ talent and comedic brilliance, but the same premise is used in Netflix’s new holiday rom-com My Secret Santa and it’s a little less believable. Virgin River‘s Alexandra Breckenridge stars as a single mom who dresses in Santa drag because she’s desperate for a job, and while she seems to have fun with the role, everyone around her is the problem – they not only don’t question what’s up with this strange Santa with the womanly voice, they eat it up… a little too much.

The Gist: It’s weeks before Christmas and Taylor Jacobson (Breckenridge) has been let go from her job. Taylor is a single mom to daughter Zoey, a competitive snowboarder who was accepted into a prestigious academy at the Sun Peaks ski resort. Taylor can’t afford to send Zoey, but she knows that Sun Peaks employees get a hefty discount on the snowboarding school. Trouble is, Taylor’s not an employee at Sun Peaks, and the only job opening they have is for a seasonal Santa Claus.

Luckily for Taylor, her brother and his partner are professional costumers, so they outfit her with prosthetics and the perfect Santa suit. Taylor’s brother is no Harvey Fierstein, but we do get a whole makeover montage as they create the ideal Santa. Because the resort desperately needs Santa ASAP, Taylor is hired on the spot by the marketing manager Natasha (Tia Mowry) and the resort’s general manager Matthew Lane (Ryan Eggold), whose father owns the place.Matthew has no interest in being the resort’s general manager, he’s been happy to live his life as a bon vivant living off daddy’s money. (Natasha hates this — she wanted the general manager job and hates that unskilled, unprofessional Matthew got it. This leads her to try an sabotage Matthew and eventually try to humiliate Santa/Taylor when she gets a chance.)

Matthew and Taylor first meet when she’s not dressed as Santa – he hits on her in a record shop after he recognizes her as the former lead singer of a punk band he liked, the Screaming Kittens. Taylor’s impressed he’s heard of her old band, but she’s not interested in romance, despite Matthew’s advances. When Taylor realizes Matthew will be her boss, she not only has to dress as Santa and keep up that charade, but when they actually start to date, she has to juggle both versions of herself and keep them separate and secret. When it turns out that Taylor-as-Santa is a really good listener, pretty soon, Matthew, Zoey, and all the kids who come visit start confiding some deep stuff to Santa, and it gets awkward and complicated fast.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of? Have I mentioned Mrs. Doubtfire yet? I suppose there’s a splash of Tootsie in here, too.

Performance Worth Watching: Diana Maria Riva plays Doralee, Taylor’s grumpy landlady who gets turned on when Taylor is dressed in Santa drag. It’s one of the funnier, completely bonkers subplots of the movie.

Memorable Dialogue: When Matthew invites Taylor to the Sun Peaks Christmas party, he tells her that Santa is also going to be there – not knowing that she is Santa. “You’ll be there. He’ll be there. He’s awesome, you’re gonna love him,” Matthew says. Let the “Taylor and Santa can never be seen in the same room together” hijinks begin!

A Holiday Tradition: The whole reason Taylor is hired as Santa is because Sun Peaks is locally famous for it’s Santa’s Village, where kids come to meet the jolly old elf, a grand tradition of the season. In fact, it’s such a big deal that there’s even a review of Santa in the paper.

Does The Title Make Any Sense? Indeed, this Santa is a secret in so many ways.

Our Take: The trouble with Netflix promoting this film as a “reverse Mrs. Doubtfire” is that… well, you can’t help but constantly compare it to Mrs. Doubtfire. There are so many deliberate similarities that it’s hard not to, and I think that distracts from the fact that this movie has a lot of fun things going for it, number one being Breckenridge’s performance. She’s not going for big Robin Williams comedy with her drag performance, but the comedy that does result as a product of her awkwardness is fun to watch. When she’s at a loss for words, she usually just blurts out a nonsensically festive, “Jingle bells!” and that random silliness is what makes it funny. After watching her play more serious on Virgin River, this is a fun break from that show’s melodrama and is a credit to her range.

Having said that, it’s the relationship aspect of the story I struggled with. And specifically I mean the relationship between Matthew (and the entire Sun Peaks community) and Santa. Matthew is bizarrely smitten with Santa, so much so that he is desperate for Taylor to meet Santa because he thinks Santa is so wonderful. Has any adult been this fixated on a seasonal employee? Similarly, it seems like everyone in town follows the popularity and presence of Santa like its their job. (When Taylor reveals the she is Santa in dramatic mask-pulled-over-the-head Scooby Doo-fashion, the moment goes viral, with headlines like “A WOMAN Santa?”) It’s all just a little off. A few small tweaks and some of these moments could have been more subtle, more realistic, but as it is, I struggled to connect with or understand just about all of the characters and choices in the film.

Our Call: I don’t think My Secret Santa is a bad film, but it’s a worse version of a classic film so iconic that it pales in comparison. SKIP IT!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! (At least, that’s what Andy Williams promised.) The holidays are a time to celebrate with family, friends, food, and, let’s not forget, fun things to watch. Whether you’re huddled up with the whole family in your living room or cozying up under the covers with your tablet, let Decider be your guide to all things festive this holiday season.

Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.