Hallmark Channel
It just wouldn’t be Christmas without some kind of variation/retelling/re-imaginging of the Charles Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol, and this year Hallmark Channel has gone full out to bring the story to life once again, giving us some gender-swapped characters, a little of the holiday comedy classic Scrooged, and a love story for good measure.
Christmas Above the Clouds stars Erin Krakow as Ella Neezer, owner of an advertising agency who has no time for any holiday cheer and expects her employees to follow suit. They can celebrate Christmas on their own time, but they don’t have any time to celebrate as it is Christmas Eve and an ad campaign they have been working on is rejected by Ella and she wants something new by the next day — Christmas Day. Except she is avoiding the day altogether as she and her assistance Bobbi Cratchit are flying to Australia in a few hours, and leaving New York on December 24 puts them in Australia on December 26, so for her that is the next day. Besides working her employees to death, she also keeps the offices at a brisk 55 degrees because it costs too much to heat the place. They can layer with those Christmas sweaters they love to wear. As Ella heads to the airport, she asks Bobbi to fetch her ruby scarf (which becomes an important piece of Ella’s story), which keeps Bobbi from saying goodbye to her family, namely her young son Tim, who has some medical issues. And she can’t find the scarf so she buys three more in various shades of red, none of which meet Ella’s approval. At the airport, Ella is also upset that her gold member status still keeps her waiting in line but while they are waiting she bumps into Jake Phelps … her ex-boyfriend, actually ex-fiance — a little fact Bobbi never knew (and she wastes no time in spilling the tea to her co-workers via text). It’s an awkward but cordial meeting, and Bobbi may see a completely different side to Ella, however briefly that moment lasted.
Hallmark Channel
Once Ella is situated in her First Class seat (poor Bobbi is crammed in coach), who should take the seat across from her but Jake. Ella thinks it would be best if he asked someone to change seats with him, but his seat was upgraded so maybe if there is a problem she should change … which is a big no since she always sits in 2B (she has issues with flying). She and Jake make some small talk but as she settles in to relax, a figure appears on the video screen in the seat in front of her — her former boss, Marlene Jacobson (a nice twist on the Jacob Marley character), who warns her that if she doesn’t change her ways she’ll be stuck doing something she hates for all eternity, like wearing polyester or maybe even working customer service. (Instead of actual chains, Marlene is forced to drag around seatbelts, and the way Ella is going hers are bound to be much longer and heavier than Marlene’s.) Ella is told that when the ‘Fasten Seatbelts’ bell chimes one, she will receive her first of three visitors (Ella asks if they can just get it over all at once, as does Scrooge in the original story). Ella falls asleep but it isn’t long before that bell chimes and she is greeted by a very chipper flight attendant, the Ghost of Christmas Past. She takes Ella though her past as a child with her sister Frances, her meet-cute and growing relationship with Jake, her love for Christmas, and how working with Marlene totally changed her personality to one focused on a career instead of a life, which led to Ella breaking off her engagement on Christmas Eve. Before things get too emotional, the Ghost deposits Ella back on the plane … in the rest room in coach, of all places. Jake finds her there and is a little concerned about her odd behavior. Ella is hungry and looks for some food and is greeted by the pilot … who is the Ghost of Christmas Present (that ghost traditionally comes with a feast and he does have a spread for her in the cockpit). He, of course, shows her events happening in real time like her employees actually having a Christmas get-together (where she learns her nickname is Krampus), her sister’s family Christmas (where she again is referred to as Krampus), and Jake and his friends’ ‘Dive Bar Christmas’, where it is clear that he still has a thing for her. The ghost even takes her to Jake’s apartment just before he leaves for the flight, and she is surprised to see that he still decorated even though he was going to be out of town. The worst moment for Ella comes when she is taken to Bobbi’s family and hears them talking badly about her for taking Bobbi away from her son for Christmas. She sees that young Tim is ill and the ghost tells her that if things don’t change, his chair will be empty come next Christmas. Devastated by this news, Ella is again returned to the rest room, shaken by what she’s seen thus far. When she returns to her seat and wants to make small talk with Jake while everyone else is asleep, he decides he needs to catch a few winks as well. Then Ella is confronted by an air marshal … who is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, a strong, silent type who shows Ella her future, or lack of one as employees and others pick over the belongings in her office, and her sister — and Jake — mourn Ella, and that Tiny Tim did, in fact, die leaving a hole in the Cratchit family. Ella pleads with the ghost that she will change just to prevent these things from coming to pass — but can she? Can she make amends to Bobbi and her employees for being such a terrible boss (even though she never realized how much they all dislike her), and most importantly, can she mend fences with her family and rebuild her relationship with Jake before it’s too late? It’s a Hallmark version of A Christmas Carol, so you pretty much know how it’s going to end.
While Christmas Above the Clouds is just another retelling of the Dickens classic, this production pulls out all the stops to make even the most familiar tropes of the story feel fresh (although a few of the direct lines of dialog like ‘I don’t make merry myself’ feel a bit outdated). Right off the bat, not naming Ella ‘Scrooge’ was a nice touch. I don’t believe Bobbi’s last name was ever mentioned but she is credited as Cratchit. Scrooge’s nephew Fred in the novel becomes Ella’s sister Frances (who also may be a reference to Scrooge’s sister Fan, but she dies in the book giving birth to Fred), and the character of Fezziwig is present, but with the shortened (and ethnic to relate to his portrayer) name Fez. Marlene Jacobson is a fun reinterpretation of Jacob Marley, and there is even a nod to Dickens’ Great Expectations with a flight attendant Pip (who may or may not be a magical being as he seems to disappear after the ghosts start showing up). While the story does go to great lengths to change the character names while keeping them familiar, the introduction of the Jake character seems to be a new addition to the story, but Scrooge did have a fiancee named Belle who broke up with him because of his love of money being greater than his love for her. They could have given Jake the last name of Bell, but instead his name is Phelps (perhaps a nod to Claire Phillips in Scrooged), and he is the one dumped instead of doing the dumping, so this puts a slightly new spin on their relationship. But either way you slice it, all of the familiar characters are present, making the story familiar but still with a sense of newness thanks to a wonderful, and wonderfully funny script by Christine Garver and Stephanie Jackson. Director Peter Benson has a lot of creative tricks up his sleeve to depict the ghostly transitions from scene to scene, and he knows when to play up the comedy and tug on the heartstrings. And whoever did the decorations for Frances’ home with the red ribbons winding their way from one room to the next — please come decorate my house! From beginning to end, everyone’s work behind-the-scenes makes this a very special production of the familiar story. If there’s one minor quibble — the passage of time is seen in Krakow’s hair length, longer in the past, short in the present, while Hynes … never changes. He’s ageless! (I wonder if anyone ever suggested he perhaps shave off the beard to film the scenes in the past?)
Hallmark Channel
In front of the camera, Hallmark fans are sure to be excited about the reunion of Erin Krakow and Tyler Hynes, last seen together four years ago in It Was Always You. Krakow usually plays warm characters, so to see her as the cold, hard-nosed Ella, having little regard for those around her, is a change of pace that she handles very well. It’s also nice in the subtle way she lets her guard down just for a moment the first time she sees Jake, and how she begins to slowly thaw as the flight progresses. She handles the comedic moments with ease, and truly gives some real emotion when she realizes Tim may die … and that she does die with the knowledge that no one — except her sister — liked or tolerated her. It’s a performance that runs a gamut of emotions and Krakow is excellent all around. Hynes is also terrific because his Jake has been carrying around the sadness of the break-up for ten years, trying to go through life with a positive attitude to hide his pain, having to tolerate his friends’ attempts at fixing him up with someone else. It’s nice to see his great joy at helping children through his charity, and he clearly has his walls up when he’s stuck on the plane with Ella, obviously wanting to talk to her but hurt deeply enough to keep his distance. They both clearly have chemistry, and the actors do a wonderful job of conveying that while also keeping their performances measured enough to build up to the conclusion.
Emily Tennant is just wonderful as Bobbi, the harried assistant to Ella. She is clearly at her wits end, she is distraught that she couldn’t say goodbye to her son before getting on the flight, and she really brings a lot of emotion to the character when Ella is forced to rewatch a moment in which Bobbi was late for work because of her son’s illness (Ella didn’t bother to even listen to why Bobbi was late), as well as in the future scene at Christmas dinner when she can’t deal with her son’s death. Tennant just breaks your heart with her performance. Gabrielle Rose is a hoot as the ghost of Marlene, and in the past scenes she makes it abundantly clear how it was she who shaped Ella’s persona in the present. Erik Gow is also very funny as Pip, so it would be nice if he hadn’t simply disappeared. As for the ghosts — Faith Wright is the stand-out as Christmas Past. She is fun and energetic but where she truly succeeds is in how she really serves face. Her expressions, the way she looks at Ella with a sly side eye, the way she beams when she watches young Ella and Jake fall in love … you really can’t take your eyes off of her. Typically, that character is a little more sombre and low-key but Wright just brings such energy and joy to the roll that it’s sad when her time is over. Matthew Clarke is also great fun as Christmas Present, really pouring on a heavy Australian accent, and seeming to make clear at one point that it is a put on when someone else uses the accent and he says ‘that’s my accent.’ (Clarke is Canadian, by the way.) His purpose is just to have fun while guiding Ella through the present, but he does get to have that one dramatic moment when he reveals what may happen to Tim. Garfield Wilson is Christmas Future, and per usual for the character, he has no dialog so it’s on him to use expressions (difficult as he always wears sunglasses so his eyes are never shown), gestures and body language to guide Ella through her potential future. He makes for an imposing figure.
Hallmark Channel
Christine Chatelain does some good work as Frances, really the one defender Ella has, and although she is disappointed her sister is missing yet another Christmas with the family, she truly understands why it is such a hard time for Ella and tries to get her own husband and other guests to cut her some slack. I have to give Daniel Shevchuk a special shout-out for his performance as Tim. He really gives you all the feels when, during the Christmas Present scene he insists the family toast Ella because she has given his mommy a job that allows her to pay for his medicine (Ella learns that all of Bobbi’s pay goes to Tim’s medical bills which is why she has to live with her mother), and really shows the boy’s joy when his mom comes home for Christmas — his wish to Santa — and speaks Tiny Tim’s traditional line, ‘God bless us, everyone,’ that may bring some tears of joy to the viewer. The rest of the supporting cast, from Ella’s employees to the building doorman to Bobbi’s and Ella’s family members, and Jake’s friends, all do great work in making the viewer feel like these are real people with real relationships.
Everyone has seem some version of A Christmas Carol by this point in their lives, but that should not put you off from watching Christmas Above the Clouds. The familiarity of the story makes it an easy watch, and the modern spin on the characters and situations, plus the wonderful performances, make this one a holiday movie that could become a yearly tradition.
Christmas Above the Clouds has a run time of 1 hour 23 minutes, and is rated TV-G. The film is streaming on Hallmark+.
Preview – Christmas Above the Clouds
Hallmark Channel
Listen to I’d Like You for Christmas by Julie London featured in Christmas Above the Clouds