All I Want for Christmas

If A Christmas Kiss was the romance movie that started my appreciation of Christmas movies, then All I Want For Christmas is the family movie that really got me hooked.

Contrary to other reviews which described the child as "bratty", I actually found Jesse to be very likable. Roger was an absolute d**** who never quite accepted Sara's life or who she really was and wanted to change her and everything around her. He certainly never accepted her son, who he viewed as an inconvenience, wanting to send him off to boarding school first chance he got.

What child, or adult for that matter, in that situation, wouldn't react angrily and push back every chance they got, especially knowing that he'd unintentionally caused this situation himself by setting the whole contest thing in motion - poor kid must have been cursing himself for that.

I find it difficult to believe it took Roger's boarding school stunt for Sara to finally realise what an d***** he was and how incompatible they were - I guess I just have to accept that she got caught up in the fantasy and the whirlwind of it all and lost her mind for a few weeks.

While this movie isn't without its flaws, there are some wonderfully subtle moments that I've not seen in a Christmas film since, in particular when Sara's setting her parameters and is describing her ideal partner - she's actually describing Ben but doesn't realise it, and this is something the viewer only picks up on during repeat viewings.

Speaking of repeat viewings, this is on the list of movies that got replayed every year (I first saw this in 2014 I think) and then suddenly stopped and disappeared from the rotation. Given some of the, for me, far inferior movies that get heavy airtime, they could do with bringing this one back.