Hallmark Channel
People who probably don’t watch Hallmark movies like to joke that Hallmark movies have one or two formulas that all the movies follow. There is a popular meme that even suggests scientists are close to finding a second formula for Hallmark movies. We will admit that when we first started viewing and reviewing Hallmark movies, there did seem to be a definite template which the first few movies followed, but as the holidays went along there were many different variations of the romantic stories the company is known for, the stories the fans want which makes the network and its films so wildly successful. One of the most enjoyable films this year was Santa Tell Me, which injected a whole lot of whimsy into the standard romantic formula with a bit of a supernatural twist. A Christmas Charade was also enjoyable for its caper story and the acknowledgement that Hallmark’ films exist in their own universe. The latest holiday offering, Sugarplummed, takes the best ideas from those films and creates one of the year’s most enjoyable and satisfying Christmas movies!
Maggie Lawson stars as Emily, a lawyer and harried mother who has to deal with uncooperative clients (featuring a cameo by ‘Tis the Season to Be Irish star Fiona Gubelmann), an annoying neighbor (Shiraine Haas) and even more uncooperative teenagers and an over-worked husband, with everything seeming to conspire against her to make this a less-than-perfect Christmas. To help give her the Christmas she wants, Emily has created a checklist of things that need to be accomplished to make Christmas perfect (we later learn this list came from her mother after a disastrous Christmas when Emily was eight-years-old). Emily’s assistant seems to spend more time watching holiday movies on her computer, particularly enchanted by the beloved series of films featuring a character named Sugarplum (Janel Parrish), a somewhat magical being who creates the perfect Christmas every year in her fictional world of Perfection. While picking up a box of family Christmas ornaments at the office, Emily is feeling influenced by her assistant and the movies, using a vintage star tree-topper to wish for the perfect Christmas. Before she knows it, Sugarplum is there in the office, and Emily begins to believe she has lost her mind, seeing this person who obviously is not there.
But there she is, confused herself as to where she is because there’s no snow and one of the rules of her book state that there is always snow at Christmas (Emily lives in Seattle so it’s mostly rain). Feeling that Emily does not want her there, Sugarplum follows another of her book’s rules and sits herself down on a bench, knowing that a complete stranger will come by to show her some kindness. That ain’t happening so Emily relents and brings her home, introducing Sugarplum to her family as Sue Garplum, an old college friend from France (to help explain her unfamiliarity with things like sarcasm). ‘Sue’ makes it her mission to fulfill Emily’s checklist for the perfect Christmas, while Emily has to deal with feuding clients, her husband’s overbearing boss, a teen son who feels he’s an outcast at school, and a rebellious teen daughter who wants to forge her own path in life, from her choice of college to a career in music, none of which fits into Emily’s plan for her daughter. But Sugarplum’s influence begins to bear fruit as Emily’s checklist is rapidly being fulfilled … until a few surprising setbacks that aren’t covered in Sue’s rule book begin to have the opposite effect on Emily’s perfect Christmas, revealing to Sugarplum that maybe she isn’t cut out for the real world. But can they right all the things going wrong and actually make Christmas perfect, bringing the family together to share one last magical holiday together?
Hallmark Channel
Sugarplum is a truly delightful, funny, entertaining and heart-warming Christmas movie. Hallmark went all in on the self-deprecation with the faux Hallmark-like TV network, The Harmony Home Network, and its ads which included similar graphic elements seen in Hallmark ads and even going so far as to use the same voice-over artist. It’s really nice to see that the network is willing to have some fun at its own expense. The film’s production design is also top notch, but if you look real close you can spot the same alley and street background (including a movie theatre) that is redressed from The 5-Year Christmas Party. It is amusing that the theater marquee shows the movie playing there is Santa Tell Me.
The casting of the leads is perfection. Lawson is terrific as a woman who is driven to make Christmas perfect, even though she admits she has way too much on her plate. Her skepticism about Sugarplum is also realistic, because who among of would believe a character in a movie would suddenly come to life right in front of us? Lawson manages to not make Emily’s quest to be too overbearing (for the audience, that is), while allowing us to sympathize with her when she reveals why she is so driven to make Christmas perfect. She also bounces off of Janel Parrish with great skill. For her part, Parrish is outstanding, infusing Sugarplum with such personality, using her voice, body language and gestures to make her feel just otherworldly enough to set her apart from everyone else in the real world, but not bizarre enough for people to treat her like an alien. Her behavior as the character as she exists in the real world and her reactions to situations that violate all of the rules she has come to faithfully follow are chef’s kiss. She is so good, so funny, so warm, so genuine in her beliefs that you actually want to see a series of real ‘Sugarplum’ movies. Can someone at Hallmark make this happen, please?
Brendon Zub is very good as Ben but of the family members he gets the least amount of screentime since his boss has him working around the clock with a Christmas Eve deadline. Ben is basically the Bob Cratchit character to Charles Jarman’s Scrooge-like boss, but he handles all of the husband/dad duties with skill. Avan Stewart is terrific as Max, the beleaguered teen who finds solace in recording TikTok-like videos of himself dancing … but for his own consumption because if anyone at school saw them he’d be more of a pariah than he already is. His discomfort in class when Sue shows up for Career Day when his mom is called away to work — with Sue having no idea what a career is — will bring back the memories for anyone else who felt his awkwardness (Sue does work a little magic that makes him suddenly popular, but that is where things immediately begin to go wrong). Stewart really is perfect as Max. Kyra Leroux (Britta from Riverdale) is also outstanding as rebel teen daughter Nina. Nina knows what she wants to do after graduation, and has been honing her musical talents, hoping to be admitted to a school for musicians. Leroux perfectly demonstrates her frustrations with the mother who believes in her talent but also wants her daughter to plan for a more stable future if music doesn’t work out for her. But Nina can only see what’s right in front of her face, and Leroux captures all of that with great authenticity.
The screenplay by writer and director Ryan Landels could not have been better, making the fantastical situation feel grounded, mixing the magical with the realistic, perfectly creating the Sugarplum character as a magical being but also making her real enough to be believable. The leeway he seems to have been given by Hallmark to totally poke fun at the network lets us all be in on the joke instead of it all coming off mean-spirited. Landels also makes the family situation feel authentic and manages to not make Emily’s backstory about Christmas too treacly. Also, unlike Debbie Macomber’s Joyful Mrs. Miracle, Emily does question Sugarplum’s bottomless purse and is given the perfect answer as to how it seems to hold an endless supply of outfits (I lost count of Sugarplum’s costume changes). Everything about Sugarplummed from the script to the production design is crafted to perfection, and it’s topped off with a magnificent cast like the perfect star on top of a tree. Hallmark has turned out many memorable films this holiday season, but Sugarplummed is destined to be a holiday classic you can watch year after year.
Sugarplummed has a run time of 1 hour 24 minutes, and is rated TV-G. The film is streaming on Peacock and On Demand.
Sneak Peek – Sugarplummed
Share this post
