This is a slightly unusual Christmas movie in that the lead couple is already married but experiencing a time of separation. The two kids are freely exchanged between their home where mom is living and grandmother's house where dad is living. This makes for an interesting mix of tone and emotions. There is some serious friction between the couple but they seem to care about each other and neither has reached the point where they really want a divorce. One source of their friction is that each is busy and stressed by their work worlds. We find out fairly deep into the movie the truth about another important source of their friction (although I agree with another reviewer that it doesn't make sense that this was a secret.)

The movie deals with a lot of family issues. The struggle by the kids is an obvious one. Money is another. Enrique's mom is a bit of a meddler. Enrique is helping his mom maintain the family restaurant after the passing of his dad. Rebecca is not used to the tight knit family that Enrique has especially given that he has a strong family loyalty. Opposite sex relationships at work is an issue.

The movie also has some light moments with some humor. The kids get a "magic pen" from Santa. Grandma starts reading their letters to Santa and tries to fulfill some wishes. There are lots of misunderstandings often humorous. Another factor that leads to some of the lighter moments is Rebecca's children's book which she is late delivering and has writer's block. Later in the movie, Rebecca starts to put some of the family's personal experiences into the book and the parallels are interesting.

I like the family tradition where one person can make a statement beginning with "True or False" to confront the true feelings of the other person. Even the kids do it. I would have expected a family with this tradition would resolve many problems before they get serious because of the resulting honesty and openness.

I am an avid Christmas movie fan but I find it easy to get angry at someone or something early or be turned off by a less than jolly tone. Somehow in this movie I avoided both and was able to enjoy a good story.

Letters To Santa (2023) -

If you're going to make a film about separated parents at Christmas I believe that it really should be a full on comedy and not a blend of emotional distress and humour, because the subject matter is never a pleasant topic.

Perhaps it shouldn't even be a trope that's used for seasonal films at all.

It did need to be heartfelt, but not this hodge podge mix of sad and farcical, which from the beginning put me off quite a lot.

Add to that the shoddy camera work and the incredibly obvious outcome and it really wasn't the best.

The only reason it had made it to my final cut of the Christmas films I chose to watch this year (Because there were so many and just not enough time) was due to Rafael de la Fuente as Enrique looking so good and peaking my interest and my trousers.

He really was hot, but not the best actor and quite gay seeming (Turned out he's a gayer in real life). And there was no way anyone could be as bad at throwing as his character either, which didn't help his cause, but he was the one I felt for the most.

Rebecca (Katie Leclerc) was definitely the one causing the majority of the problems in their relationship and certainly the least flexible. I didn't really want Enrique to get back together with her, except for the sake of the kids, who really weren't that bad for a change. Perhaps a good story would be to show how families can separate and still be happy in two homes, as is quite often the case today? Present a situation where the biological parents realise that they are better as friends and can work things out amicably whilst showing the grieving children the benefits of having four parents. Make one of the couples gay and give one of the kids a wheelchair to make sure to cover the bases and you've got a winning formula. It probably sounds like I'm joking, but I would watch that.

One of the things that I can't get to grips with in these situations is how families can struggle to find time for each other. If I had kids they would be my whole world, heck if I had a cat the same would be true. My parents made a point to give my sister and I time as a child and I never wanted for a Grandparent, Aunty or Uncle, although the sister and cousins were frequently annoying. It's such a shame that families have become so fractured.

And another thing. How are the restaurants depicted always sooo busy that the characters do lose touch with their families and spend too much time at work? I also can't work out how writing a children's book is sooo stressful. I've written three, although none are yet published, but there really shouldn't be any of the pressure that this film made out there was.

Ultimately the plot was as you'd expect - The magic of Christmas helped two struggling separated parents find their way back to each other via the various tick list items of cookies, trees, decorations and so on. It's been done before and better and as I've said I really don't think that it's the right topic to deliver seasonal messages, but this interpretation wasn't so bad that I turned it off. I will state once again that Rafael de la Fuente may have had something to do with that and I wouldn't mind seeing him in the gay parent role described above either, because I think he could deliver that better.

As for the other bits and bobs that I observed in the film, I felt that the Counsellor, Dr Eaton (Liliane Klein) was highly unprofessional and way too much. Liam, played by Harry Aspinwall, was over the top British in his performance too, while Vanessa (Mariela Hill) was just a lousy actor. Laura Cerón as Enrique's Mother Camilla was good, but the other supporting cast members weren't brilliant.

The dog was adorable however, but for some reason became surplus to requirements far too quickly and was hardly ever shown afterwards.

As has happened before, it felt like the story had been rushed to fit the 1.5 hour time frame and not to really do it justice, which is why the kids looking after the puppy and the positive effect it would have had on the household were probably edited down and the overall feel of warmth at Christmas time might have seemed lacking.

The last note I had was that the drawings for the "Oh so stressful" book were awful and really old fashioned and the storyline for it a real cop out, especially as there wasn't any real magic involved in the films actual narrative, which could have potentially made this film more enjoyable to tone down the upset in their relationship.

The kids "Magic" pen told their parents what they really wanted, but I honestly didn't see the marriage lasting more than another year at most. Perhaps Enrique's coming out and their amicable separation could be the sequel?

Not the worst film I've ever seen, but it needed more newness and a bit of extra polish.

5.35/10.

Yikes, the conservative people who still watch Hallmark despite their contention that they will boycott and only watch GAC Family might actually make good on their threat on this one because Hallmark has produced a film - actually, a very good one - where it's two main characters are separated! And, at the end of the movie (don't act like you don't know how it'll end) they are in bed together. Shock, horror, etc.

'Letters to Santa' shines a light on what it must be like for kids with estranged parents. The storyline is handled sensitively, though there is more realistic conflict than you expect from a Hallmark movie. Albeit with the usual HEA ending.

Rafael de la Fuente & Katie LeClerc are both good actors, and bring their flawed characters to life to great effect.

I enjoyed the originality and there are some good messages to be found in this movie, too.