Jingle Bell Heist
Jingle Bell Heist isn't a great heist movie, or a great Christmas movie, or a great romcom, although the film attempts, and fails at, all three. You can at least give it points for consistency, I guess.
Olivia Holt and Connor Swindells star as one current and one former employee of a high-end department store who team up (each for their own reasons) to rob the store's insufferable owner (Peter Serafinowicz). Sadly, the heist is subpar and the chemistry between the two stars is questionable at best.
The plot basically throws the two characters together in a series of (mostly half-assed and botched) early jobs setting up their ultimate goal of stealing from the owner's personal safe. Along the way we'll get each's troubled family baggage, the pair beginning to have feelings for each other, and an extremely awkward late twist that really isn't necessary and simply overcomplicates the otherwise paint-by-numbers plot.
More completely forgettable than awful, Jingle Bell Heist certainly fits easily into the throwaway Christmas movie genre. Holt and Swindells are fine, as are Lucy Punch and Ed Kear (who I expected to be recruited into the heist given the theme of the film) in smaller roles, although neither the script nor director Michael Fimognari provide enough opportunities for them to succeed in trying to make this holiday turkey more than what's on the page.
- Title: Jingle Bell Heist
- IMDb: link
