Sugar Plum Twist
Today the Excel Randomizer chose something with a little flavor, something with a heavy dose of picante caliente! We will stop now.
We open with some salsa music as we enter the Baila dance studio. After four years of high school Spanish and two years of Duo Lingo, I still can't hold a conversation with a native speaker but I do know that Baila means Dance and as such we are about to enter the Dance Dance Studio. Not a very creative name. Anyway, here we are introduced to the constant ball of energy and joy, Vivi Serrano (Laura Rosguer). Vivi has finished teaching her dancing class, and is musing with her father (Frank Rodriguez) that she in the coming year, she would like to continue her dance dreams on the big stage.
Down the street a bit we are introduced to Natalia (Jamie Gray Hyder), a retired famed Prima Ballerina now ready to start her second act as a dance choreographer, back in home town of Richmond. They could've said Richmond Virginia, but I don't remember them specifying a state so I guess it's like The Simpsons and Springfield. It is the holiday season and the local company is doing the Nutcracker, of course, with this company run by the particularly haughty, persnickety and snooty Ms. Kat as played by Rachel DeBenedet. I'll tell you what future casting directors, if you ever need an actor to play a character anywhere from an elite Madam to a Queen, and you need this actor to make those around her feel less than, Rachel DeBenedet has closed the door on that character. She made me feel worthless through my TV screen. That's talent right there.
At the moment, Natalia is the assistant choreographer with designs to be the main choreographer, and with the primary choreographer quitting with the show just weeks away, Natalia was thinking she's the logical choice to step up but Ms. Kat tells this ABT trained, award winning, world famous ballerina that she's not ready to teach locals how to pirouette. Also, they have no Sugar Plum Fairy and no time to contract another one so Ms. Kat begrudgingly goes with Natalia's suggestion to open the competition up to the Richmond locals. Well this is the opportunity that young Vivi has been waiting for and while Natalia was impressed with her performance, but Ms. Kat, in her unique, disapproving, less than way, not so much. But even though Vivi didn't get the part, Natalia sees something special in her.
At this point you may be getting concerned as I haven't mentioned a man yet in this Hallmarky Romantic Holiday movie, but no worries they are there. First we have Mateo (Ektor Rivera) the shows lighting director with the deep dimples who has his eye on Natalia, and we also have Justin (Jaelin Taylor) the hip-hop salsa music producer who has his eyes on Vivi. Neither of them serve much of a purpose in this movie. At least Mateo did get an invite to Natalia's family Christmas Karaoke party where he stayed until after everyone left so they could slow dance together in her living room. I'm pretty sure they made that magic later that night, but this is a Hallmark movie so we are to believe that good looking, young single people don't do that kind of thing. Whatever. After those two were giving each other the googley eyes the next day at rehearsal, I'm convinced they totally rubbed one out last night.
But while everything seems to be going great with desert parties, caroling, Karaoke, mentoring, dancing, and tree lighting ceremonies, you know it can't last. While Natalia was showing Vivi a few steps at the theater, Ms. Kat walks in on them and goes all Ms. Kat on all of them and then fires Natalia on the spot. Mateo tried to take up for his girl but all that did was make Natalia mad at Mateo and now their love is on the rocks. Ain't no big surprise.
Everybody is sad now, but nobody more so than Ms. Kat who only now realizes how vital Natalia was to her production of the Nutcracker which is like two days away. Ms. Kat eats that humble pie and asks Natalia to come back to work and even accepts her adjusted terms. Ms. Kat also makes a special trip to the Baila dance studio to watch Vivi and also makes her an offer. Then Natalia and Mateo make up and kiss under the moonlight.
We still have the performance of the Nutcracker to deal with, which goes great, Natalia is awarded the position of chief choreographer and Ms. Kat even has a special surprise, allowing Vivi to close out the show with her own solo dance number called the Sugar Plum Twist. Which is the title of the movie! The Dance kills, Natalia and Mateo make out, Vivi and Justin make out... At Christmas.
Let's get this out of the way, first and foremost, in regards to 'Sugar Plum Twist', and I know this is blasphemous but they seriously could've left the men out of this movie. This movie is more about these two women, one who wants to start her dream and the other whose dream is over and is concerned about what comes next. To that end this movie actually handles this premise very well. But of course we had to wedge a romance in here. TWO romances for that matter. The male actors themselves were fine, there just wasn't that much for them to do. Mateo was basically Natalia's hype guy, that character played by Rob Schneider in those Adam Sandler movies who popped up occasionally and yelled 'YOU CAN DO IT', and Justin was Vivi's Spotify account providing her a song whenever she needed one. The real relationship and the one that mattered most in this movie was between Natalia and Vivi. They honestly could've just focused on that. Or better still, move this over to Lifetime, remove the Christmas elements, have Natalia become obsessed with her student Vivi and call the movie 'My Psycho Dance Teacher'. I'd watch that.
The movie was middle of the road with its vomit worthiness with some Caroling, lots of tree trimming and decorating in general, even though no one actually shopped for a Christmas tree. We had a baking montage, some Christmas Karaoke which it seems these movies are trying to make a thing, a whole ugly sweater party including an ugly sweater shopping sequence which I don't believe I've ever seen before, and even a mistletoe sighting. But I don't think Natalia and Mateo needed mistletoe since I'm pretty sure they closed that deal a while ago. But even though there was some snow in the vicinity, we didn't get any snowball fights, no snowmen, no near miss kisses, no orphan kids and no dead parents as far as I could tell.
Sugar Plum Twist is a fine entry into the genre, that is if you are okay with your Hallmarky Holiday Romance being a little low on the romance, but high on sisters united helping each other out.
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