Operation Christmas Drop
A few years ago Netflix was just dipping their toes into the Romantic Christmas Movie pool, now these suckers have pushed all their chips to the center of the table. They have like 20 of these coming out this year, and I bet it would be even more if wasn't for 'Rona shutting down productions, and they even have their own crew of heroines. If Hallmark has Candace Cameron Bure, Lacey Chabert, and Danica McKellar, Netflix has Rose McIver, Vanessa Hudgins and todays star, Kat Graham in Operation Christmas Drop. Is Operation Christmas Drop a good movie? Of course not silly! Almost none of these are are good, at least in the classic sense of a good movie, but does it do what it supposed to do? Why yes it does sort of.
Erica (Graham) is a hard working Washington D.C. something or another, working under hard core congresswoman Bradford (Virginia Madsen), who has been tasked with closing down some armed forces bases, and some base in Guam is on her list. I can't remember the actual name of the base, so let's just call it Camp Christmas. The reason Camp Christmas is on the Congresswoman's radar is because the latest issue of the Star and Stripes newspaper has a cover story featuring Camp Christmas pilot Capt. Andrew (Alexander Ludwig) posing in shorts and a tank, along with a Santa hat, while holding a ukulele. Clearly they aren't doing anything on this base regarding National Security. And having been raised on army bases overseas, a lot of this stuff feels very familiar to me.
The congresswoman has made up her mind to close this base already, she just needs a report supporting her decision and she dispatches Erica, a week before Christmas, to generate this report. Note: I don't think a a lone member of congress has the power to arbitrarily close armed bases, but we will roll with the concept for the movies sake. Erica arrives, meets Captain Andrew, and these two good looking kids do NOT hit it off. I mean Andrew knows full well why Erica is there, and Erica is going expose all of the Camp Christmas wasteful, tax dollar usurping practices. Conflict shall ensue.
Andrew shows Erica around, explains what they do charity wise, especially the Christmas Drop where they give desperately needed supplies to the locals, and he explains how this is all done via donations, along with the soldiers volunteering their free time, so no tax dollars are being used. Erica has her doubts, but the more she hangs around the completely selfless Captain Andrew, who is only missing Angel Wings, the more she sees and the more she feels. But gosh darnit, her boss wants this base CLOSED! It's almost like its personal with this woman.
Still, the Captain and the Bureaucrat are spending more and more time together, even going Christmas snorkeling. Because putting a woman like Kat Graham in your movie, placing said movie in a tropical setting with lots of beaches and crystal blue waters and NOT have her put on a bikini would be irresponsible film making. And that's not me talking, but the official Book of Filmmaking. Then after a near miss kiss it's a done deal, Camp Christmas has to stay open! But like I said, boss lady really wants this place shut down, and did I mention Erica has big promotion on the line? Sadly, the decision seems to be made, everybody's sad, the Captain and the Bureaucrat's relationship is in danger, unless we can find a way to make the Congresswoman see the truth... that having an airbase in the Pacific is critical to American Sovereignty and our ability to quickly mobilize an air strike against our enemies and bomb them out of existence! Oh, and dropping Christmas stuff. That too. It's make out time!
First off, Operation Christmas Drop is a real thing and if you want to support this very worthy cause there is information available on internet on how to donate.
But back to the movie itself, as a Romantic Christmas movie, well, it takes place on a tropical island. That means no snow, no snow men, no snow ball fights and no nothing with anything associated with the cold. We did start out in Snowy D.C., but we didn't have any fun there because nothing fun happens in Washington D.C.. Also I don't remember seeing any cookie baking or eggnog drinking, but we did kind of get a Christmas tree scene and there were presents and some caroling, including a Christmas / violin / Irish Jig on the beach. Gotta say I've never seen that before. Otherwise the film did follow the typical, predictable story arc that we've grown accustomed to seeing in these movies.
So in the absence of the typical tropes we are used to seeing, almost demand to see, as I have often said the most important question is: Does our main couple generate any chemistry together. Kind of? Alexander Ludwig is a tall good looking dude, but I'm not sure he's completely figured out this acting thing yet, but he does have Kat Graham on his arm who I think could make a relationship between her and a Jellyfish seem believable. Another thing, if you want to think about what happens in the movie the day after Christmas, and I understand if you don't want to think about that, but they never really established a relationship beyond whatever's gonna happen the morning after the night we saw them making out with the credits rolling. I mean they are both young, she got her big promotion and is taking it, he's an Air Force officer on the come up so I don't see him moving to D.C., thus I'm pretty sure this is it for these two.
Regardless of all of that, I'm not sure the Christmas Romance connoisseur will appreciate Operation Christmas Drop as it is missing quite a few key elements that make these things what they are, but Kat Graham fans, and I'm sure there are a few of those out there, this movie should bring them much joy.
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