By Geno McGahee
I like the movie LIAR LIAR and I love Christmas movies. So, when I stumbled onto this synopsis for THE TRUTH ABOUT CHRISTMAS, I was really eager to check it out. You’re usually guaranteed some laughs when somebody has to tell the truth and that is the case here in this holiday film.
Jillian (Kali Hawk) is dating a soon to be mayor of New York City, George (Damon Dayoub), and is in charge of dealing with the press and public. She is the spin doctor and lies all the time and everything seems to be going really well.
The couple is going to spend Christmas together and Jillian is finally going to meet George’s family, but she forgot to buy his niece a gift and it’s impossible to find. This is much like JINGLE ALL THE WAY with Arnold Schwarzenegger when he’s trying to get that annoying shithead kid a Turbo Man, but there is no Sinbad in THE TRUTH ABOUT CHRISTMAS. Perhaps he was in it but the Mandela Effect removed him. Whatever the case, I’m rambling. Sorry.
Seeking out the gift, Jillian comes face to face with a child that has picked up the last one. She lies and basically tricks the kid out of it and now can make a good impression to the future in-laws, but Santa (Paul Dick) isn’t having it. Santa places some of his magic down and now Jillian cannot lie.
The humor of this movie happens immediately after Jillian cannot lie anymore. Her comments to George’s family are pretty funny. At times she climbs out windows to escape talking to the family and her over the top reactions proved amusing. I began really enjoying this film. Kali Hawk really did well in these scenes.
Jillian meets George’s brother, Blake (Ali Ghandour), and the two bump heads. He doesn’t support his brother’s lying ways or his campaign and has his own life that involves helping people. Eventually, the two start to understand each other and the truth that Jillian keeps putting out there prompts the other family members to become honest.
I was really enjoying this film but then, all of a sudden, it died. Jillian works with Blake to hand out stuff to the needy and there’s a competition for the best talented person at Christmas or something and some asshole won it three years in a row for singing badly. When the crowd is asked if anyone can beat him, Jillian raises her hand and I expected her to sing and blow him away, but she didn’t. She did standup comedy and it made Jim Breuer seem funny. The scene went on FOREVER and she didn’t say one funny thing, but I did have one good laugh. When she insulted Blake, some guy in the audience screamed “BURN!” I want to use that. I want somebody to use it when I insult somebody.
The film struggles to the end and lost the magic it had initially. It just ran out of steam. I found the first half very enjoyable and funny and the last half was difficult to get through. The cast was really good and there was some good stuff here, but I wish there was more focus to finish as well as they started.
In the end, I recommend this film. The laughs are worth getting through the boring stuff at the end.
