Directed by: Michael Fimognari
Written by: Abby McDonald & Amy Reed
Starring: Olivia Holt, Connor Swindells, Lucy Punch, Peter Serafinowicz
Rating: [1.5/5]
It cannot be stressed enough the importance of chemistry in selling a Christmas romance film, seeing as the season itself and the central couple exist as the sole reason to watch these movies. They certainly do not provide much of any other reason to do so from a narrative or filmmaking perspective, but with Jingle Bell Heist we receive the addition of a heist element, which is meant to add something interesting to the narrative but only underscores yet another way in which it woefully underdelivers.
Struggling financially to pay for her mother’s medical treatments, Sophia (Olivia Holt) needs to find a way to come up with cash quickly. Nick (Connor Swindells), a petty criminal, proposes that they can rob the store Sophia works in to obtain the cash they both need, given he needs funds to help remain in his daughter’s life. Together they work out a way to get the heist completed as some complications begin to arise with the security measures in place.
Coming in with plenty of promise, Jingle Bell Heist sought to bring something different from what we typically see in Christmas romance films. Usually, it’s a mix of a clash of environment, where someone from the big city mingles with another from a small town. Instead, we have the combination of someone from America who meets an Englishman as they try to get access to some cash during this time of financial strife in their lives, therefore, needing this heist. It has the makings of something at least borderline entertaining, but it proves too hard to watch, even with its more endearing elements on display.
In my critiquing of this film, I want to make it clear it does not reflect on Peter Serafinowicz, who does a great job in playing this store manager with something up his sleeve. He portrays exactly the type of character he plays so well and he proves to be the brightest spot of this film, which pretty much struggles in every other facet Jingle Bell Heist truly flies off a cliff with the unfortunate truth of this couple not only lacking chemistry, but the sheer lack of any real energy to this story, which comes down to the two leads. Olivia Holt and Connor Swindells proved quite difficult to watch as they put on this will-they-or-won’t-they romance in the middle of this heist plot. Not only does this attempt at romance feel half-baked and underwhelming, their attempt at banter with each other falls so flat it proves difficult to watch. It made me want to just go back to more Peter Serafinowicz, but that was not on the menu here. We have to continually watch the mismatched characters and actors try to sell this story and it just repeatedly falls on its face despite the decent production budget on display for a film within this genre.
This all gets to everything prior to the heist in question, which has to toggle between both being sophisticated enough to actually work but also displaying an amateurism between these two to provide comedy. These two, of course, are not hardened criminals and therefore they should struggle to pull off something like this, but the lengths of stupidity one has to look past proves a bit too difficult to find enjoyment. That ultimately displays what makes this film so difficult to take in and highlights its biggest failure of not providing entertainment. It tries aplenty to bring different elements, but it cannot escape the reality that its lead characters are simply not that engaging and the central romance feels drier than the Sahara.
An utter and complete shame, Jingle Bell Heist had all the ingredients to deliver something fun as it combines the season of Christmas with a heist storyline. Unfortunately, it takes these two positive elements and crafts something almost unwatchable at times. With all of these ingredients, it fails because the two most important components, the two leads, fail to muster anything remotely intriguing for their characters and left me wanting to spend more time with the supporting players. Having your audience feel this way would spell doom for any film and it pretty much explains the issue at the core of this film.
Films with Josh 
