By Geno McGahee
During the Xmas season, there are plenty of Christian-themed holiday movies. I guess it could be argued that all of them are Christian-based, but there are those that focus on the feeling of the holiday and those that focus on the religious side of it. WISH FOR CHRISTMAS is a Pureflix film and that is the reason why I was so eager to see it. GOD’S NOT DEAD is one of the best religious films of all time and that was a Pureflix production. Now, I’m not religious, but I appreciate entertainment and WISH FOR CHRISTMAS is actually rather entertaining.
Luke (Joey Lawrence) and his wife, Elizabeth (Leigh-Allyn Baker), are lawyers that are out to help the public. They run their own firm and are not in it for the money. They are Christian and live to serve those in need. Their daughter, Anna (Anna Fricks), is a teenager that is very self-absorbed and tired of the restrictions placed upon her by her religious parents. She can’t dress as she wants to and the holiday ball that she wants to attend and be the queen of the ball. When they schedule the ball on Christmas Eve, the night of the big church service, Anna gets upset and wishes that her parents lose their faith. The next morning, she awakens to some strange things.
In these religious films, atheists are usually portrayed as cartoonish villains. We’ve seen it in the GOD’S NOT DEAD series and the other films that have recently been put out by Pureflix. I don’t think that there is a better way to do it and when Luke and Elizabeth lose their faith, they become money-hungry lawyers that are willing to give up church and let their teen daughter do whatever she wants. Elizabeth tries to become a friend to Anna, rather than her mother, as she takes her shopping and encourages to get her a belly-button ring. Anna likes it at first, but she begins to notice things that aren’t right.
Alex Smith (Sean T. Ward) was on the verge of losing his house when Luke and Elizabeth stepped in to help him deal with the banks. In this new world, the lawyers decide to drop his case and work for the banks, forcing Alex out of his home and pushing the foreclosure. They actually leave the poor guy in the waiting room for a couple hours before taking him in. Anna finds out through her boyfriend, Colton (Ryan Boudreau), who is also Alex’s son. She brings it up to her parents, but Luke tells her that if Alex paid his bills, he wouldn’t have the problems he did. Luke and Elizabeth also coldly fire their receptionist, Rebekah (Alexandra Boylan), after she isn’t receptive to the new direction of the firm. I felt bad for poor Rebekah, but seeing Luke and Elizabeth standing shoulder to shoulder, stone-faced, and firing her was quite amusing.
Unable to talk to anyone else, she confides in a homeless guy that is dressed up like Santa, played by Bill Engvall of Blue Collar Comedy Tour fame. She initially treated him very poorly but things begin to clear up and he becomes a voice of reason. She begins trying to get the faith back into her parents, but they are oblivious. She has to start within and examine her own selfishness and lack of love. She realizes how she has partaken in bullying and how she was even mistreating her friends. Her self-praising speech set for the ball is changed out with a tribute to Jesus and the community.
Her parents come around and things go back to the way they were, but now Anna has grown as a person and has become kinder. WISH FOR CHRISTMAS is not as over the top fun as GOD’S NOT DEAD, but it’s a rather good movie. Joey Lawrence and Leigh-Allyn Baker were great as the religious parents, but were fantastic as the atheist materialistic couple. I can tell they enjoyed the roles and they excelled at them. Great choices in casting across the board on this one. Anna Fricks did a great job in her starring role, coming off as unlikable initially, but then became somebody easy to root for. The cast and the cinematography in this film are exceptional.
I highly recommend WISH FOR CHRISTMAS. It was a good film and even if you’re not religious and I’m not, you can appreciate it. It borrows from some other holiday films, but it has its own vibe and approach to a lot of things. I enjoyed it.
Rating: 6.5/10
