Picture a Perfect Christmas
By Lisa Sue
In this movie, we are presented with an orphan (Troy) who lost his parents and now lives in Bainbridge with his Uncle David. Next door to Uncle David lives Louise, who I believe injured herself, thus “forcing” her granddaughter Sophie to come home to help. I know I have all the relationships correct, if I have messed up some of the initial set up I do apologize, but that is the risk one takes when only watching the back half-ish (ok, last one third) of a movie. David and Sophie meet (how is not specifically known to me but meeting seems logical as they are neighbors) and start spending a lot of time together during this most joyous time of the year. Meeting Soph helps out David practically, as Granny and Soph help to look after Troy when David’s too busy with work. But I also get the impression that simply being there for Troy, at the encouragement of Soph, helps to strengthen what was not always a smooth relationship between a bachelor Uncle suddenly forced to be a single parent.
There is ice skating, way too much hot chocolate for one child to consume, along with the usual tree trimming and cookie baking. So what separates Picture A Perfect Christmas from the literally hundreds of other Christmas movies on Hallmark? I would have to say this is the rare Christmas movie that doesn’t rely on miscommunication. There are no lies of omission (like not mentioning one is Royalty or the corporate villain about to shut down some beloved local institution) that must be explained away but as time passes magically seems harder and harder to verbalize. There is no deceit between themselves or others- David is honest about Troy, and Sophie is upfront about her jet setting job as a photographer. So you may be asking yourself, what is the conflict? What is the “breakup “that will happen between minutes 60-75 of the movie to tear David and Sophie apart? It isn’t an ex wanting back in, and to David’s credit he didn’t even hide he was having lunch with his ex from Soph (kudos for his transparency.) What prompts the divergence is the most mundane of things; Sophie’s job needs her on location in Zurich earlier than expected. This means she’ll miss Troy in the Christmas pageant, and she really was growing fond of the boy, and his uncle. Now Soph has to make the most important decision of all- does she drop everything she’s worked for and uproot her life for something that isn’t even a thing? I should mention she had a boyfriend at the start of these holidays. His departure barely causes a fuss and both exes are now conveniently out of the way. Anyways, dear reader if you don’t already know the answer to Sophie’s question, you haven’t been watching the right Christmas movies. Because of COURSE she chooses to be with Troy, David, and Granny over the holidays, a realization she comes to apparently while en route to the airport.
Never mind the timing, once Sophie’s in she’s all in. Sophie tells her boss she’s willing to lose the Zurich job entirely, but she can’t make it to the photo shoot before the New Year. She manages to get to the Christmas pageant on time to receive the card that David and Troy made for her. Turns out Troy’s wish for Christmas was a family, and he really liked Sophie. We suspect that David too was counting on Sophie sticking around, as he seemed to be a better person for having her in his life. But he didn’t want to be the bad guy forcing her to decide between him and Troy or her promising career. Again dear reader, if you suspect Sophie was really going to lose out on her Zurich gig, you haven’t watched enough of these. Of course in a minor twist, besides fulfilling a little boy’s wish of having a family, Sophie’s choice allows her to continue her photography career, and David and Troy are coming to Zurich with her! Let the family ski trip commence! Because why should Sophie’s choice be gut wrenching and heart breaking when it could be wish fulfilling? And kudos to this movie for emphasizing kindness, because during Christmas it isn’t always about finding a man (although we are forgiven for believing this when watching so many of these movies.) David creates an app that links those who need help with those who want to help, as he was inspired by Soph and the local toy drive. Turns out as a kid, David’s family relied on charity to make Christmas wishes come true, and he’s been looking for a way to repay that kindness. But as Sophie wisely points out, true kindness is its own reward, and doesn’t need to be repaid. To function as a society though, it is nice when one can to pay things forward, for those less fortunate. And isn’t that a better Christmas movie than just finding a man?
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