If you looked at the poster for Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas, you would think that the film is some cool action/fantasy Christmas feature starring Kirk Cameron. Boy, you would be so wrong. That poster is the most action you’ll get out of this nonsensical Christian movie. Now, to be clear, this article isn’t attacking Christianity in the slightest. This is a Christian film that does a piss poor job of addressing what the holiday actually means. It’s not as much of a propaganda piece as some other Christian-type films, but Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas feels like a preachy lecture that was somehow turned into a movie. Take the beginning, which starts with Kirk Cameron rambling on about what makes Christmas special. There isn’t an intriguing moment that gets you excited for the rest of the movie. That isn’t even about an incident that at least tells you what the film is actually about. It’s just Kirk talking, and talking, and talking as if he’s filming a holiday special for Youtube. Here’s the thing, I get what Kirk Cameron is trying to do, and in some ways, it does set up the little plot that this film has. The purpose is to get over how great Christmas is, which the main “protagonist” is actually against. The issue is that there’s no set-up for what’s to come. If you actually cut this portion of the film out, it wouldn’t change the story. It ultimately has no purpose other than fans of Kirk Cameron who’s dreamt of him happily rambling and drinking fake hot chocolate in front of the camera. But that’s nearly the entire movie honestly. Most of the time, it’s Kirk Cameron talking. This film clearly hates the “show, don’t tell” rule.
So, what is the actual plot? It’s about Christian – subtlety is also thrown out of the window here – who’s unhappy with what Christmas has become. To be fair, there’s actually some decent meat to the Christian character and why he doesn’t like the festive holiday. Christian does talk about how the holiday seems to be more about greed and materialism, and how we should be more giving. This is actually an interesting and good point that could’ve made an interesting narrative. Many of us grow up being told that Christmas is about family time and giving back to our loved ones, even though most of us only tend to care about the potential of gifts that we’re getting. However, Christian is treated as the Grinch here. His viewpoint is instantly shut down by Kirk Cameron at every notion. Oh, and did I tell you that a good portion of the film takes place in a car. I don’t mean a moving that sees Kirk Cameron going to the North Pole to help Santa save Christmas.
I mean a parked car where the main characters do nothing but talk their heads off. Christian continuously brings up strong points on why he doesn’t like the holiday, but instead of countering with a compelling argument, Kirk just tells him that he’s wrong and doesn’t come close to trying to address Christian’s concerns about the holiday. It’s a one-sided argument where Christian is supposed to accept Kirk’s lame responses because the script doesn’t want to give you valuable information on both sides regarding the topic. That’s why Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas feels like a sermon that was given the greenlight as a feature. What’s worse is that it isn’t even a good sermon. It’s okay that the film wants to celebrate Christmas and all of its holiday glory; however, if you’re going to bring up valiant issues concerning the holiday then the counter argument needs to be strong as well. That’s mostly the problem with all Christian films. It’s usually a one-sided affair without any sort of push back by the antagonists. Christian eventually sees the light and joins in on the wacky party. This is where the dance number comes in. It’s random, but to be fair, this whole film is random. There’s this out of the blue conversation between DeAndre and another party goer about a war on Christmas. It’s more babbling that doesn’t go anywhere as this topic is never brought up again within the movie. What little plot there is fails to be compelling, the camera work and lighting screams amateurish, the dialogue tends to be bad more often than not, and the acting is horrendous. The title doesn’t even make sense because Christmas isn’t in danger. Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas could’ve been an interesting piece that explores the topic of greed and materialism that’s taken over the holiday, but the filmmakers simply said, “f**k that!” and let’s sell the hell out Christmas without addressing the issues. Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas is on the level of The Room in terms of how bad it is. However, unlike The Room, there’s simply no entertainment value to be found here.
Follow Us
