It's almost Christmas, and like most people, I've been spending my free evenings watching some of the classic festive films that are enjoyed year after year.
Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually - there are plenty of cheesy-but-great Christmas films that (mostly) stand the test of time and will likely be enjoyed for generations to come.
At the same time, there are hundreds that don't rise to quite the same levels of fame. In a deep-dive of the internet one evening, I decided to take a look at some of the less popular festive flicks out there.
One stood out, with a score of zero percent on Rotten Tomatoes and topping the IMDB list of the 'Worst Christmas Movies of All Time". That film was Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas, and I decided to give it a watch so you don't have to.
The film was released in 2014 and stars American actor and evangelist Kirk Cameron. Directed by Darren Doane, who is also the co-star, the description of the film reads: "Kirk's sister's annual Christmas party is about to be ruined by Christian, his brother-in-law, and Kirk realizes he has to show Christian how important Christ is to the holiday season."
Sounds fair enough, I thought. Who doesn't love a cheesy film about the "true meaning" of Christmas?
But I was about to be in for one of the most befuddling hour and a half of my life, because truly nothing about this film made any sense.
Opening with a classic Christmas scene - blazing log fire, stockings, and a Christmas tree - our titular character Kirk sits in an armchair. He begins a dull monologue about that all-important "true meaning" of Christmas, but immediately it was difficult to know his stance. He seemed to be obsessed with the "commercial" aspect, but critical of those who aren't.
The final line of "Maybe... just maybe... Santa is on the team" didn't make things any clearer. What team? I had no idea where this was going.
This monologue unfortunately continued throughout the whole film as we were launched into the main part. Kirk is attending his sister's annual Christmas party, and it seems a jolly scene - the hot chocolate is flowing, there are presents under the tree and even Santa is there.
But there's a big problem - Kirk's brother in law Christian hates everything about Christmas commercialism, as we discover when his sulking face appears on our screens. He sits in the living room awhile, then goes out to his car in the driveway to escape the madness.
The pair sit in the car for much of the film, and Christian explains how he believes that people have become so obsessed with trees and presents that they've lost sight of Christmas's true meaning - that being Jesus Christ. His argument seems a fair one, but I fear this was the final moment of clarity in the film.
Kirk, on the other hand, loves all the classic Christmas celebrations and believes that they all relate back to Jesus in one way or another. He makes it his mission to explain each one to his grumpy brother-in-law to try and change his mind.
Delving into the history of the Christmas tree, Santa Claus and the Nativity, it's clear that they do relate back to religion. But what's hardest to grasp is his continuing preaching that anyone who celebrates Christmas "wrong" in his eyes is nothing more than an annoyance.
He accuses Christian of "spoiling" Christmas, because "everything you see is all about Jesus". Even the hot chocolate and the Christmas ham, apparently.
Finally, addressing the materialism surrounding Christmas, Kirk says it's fine - because "this is a celebration of the eternal God taking on a material body. So it’s right that our holiday is marked with material things."
Christian's mind has miraculously been changed, so of course he re-enters the party, crashes into the tree and starts breakdancing. This goes on for a while, and with that the film was over.
I wasn't quite sure what the message behind this movie was. But I do understand why it didn't blow up as much as Home Alone - the reviews were right, and I would not recommend.
