Delayed Reaction: Your Christmas or Mine

Premise: A couple who are going to spend the holidays apart each decide to surprise the other by showing up to their family's Christmas.

Your Christmas or Mine is the kind of movie my One Big Leap rule was made for*. In this case, it's a leap that requires a lot of buy in. I have to believe that the premise could happen. That both Asa Butterfield and Cora Kirk would think to surprise each other, lose their system of quick communication (Kirk losing her phone), and be stuck in a situation where they can't just hop on a train to correct it (a snowstorm shuts the trains down). Once I get past those initial mechanics, I can just enjoy this silly little movie.

 

*A reminder, since I haven't referenced it for a while. The One Big Leap rule is that I'm willing to give every movie one big logical leap before I start criticizing it. Maybe that's a coincidental connection between two characters or a fantasy world that doesn't quite make sense. It's not a fool proof system, but it helps me from getting stuck on a "that just wouldn't happen" soap box.

 

Look, I'm going to be extra generous to this movie. I watched it Christmas morning. It's hard to be harsh on anything I watch then. It is a bit of a "chicken or the egg" situation though. This is also the kind of light-hearted movie that would put me in a good mood. So did Christmas make me like it or did I choose a movie I'd probably like because I wanted to stay in a good mood on Christmas?

 

I didn't know what the movie was about going in. I only knew the title and cast. As soon as I realized what was happening in the movie, I was excited. You see, one of my minor fascinations is what you can learn about a person without the person present. One of the most influential shows on my personal life was an MTV show called Room Raiders where a person would choose a date by looking through three contestants’' rooms. It got me thinking an unhealthy amount about what my living space says about me. And Your Christmas or Mine is a kind of actualization of that idea.

 

Now, the movie is also filled with a lot of shenanigans and extreme secrets the two protagonists have been keeping from each other. After the initial premise playing out, there wasn't a lot that I loved or that surprised me about the movie. It's pretty much what you'd expect. The familiar but not quite nameable cast are all charming. The movie throws in a lot of nice detail to round things out.

 

My one real issue with the movie is baked into the premise. It's hard to care about a couple who I barely see together. The movie hinges on the idea that Kirk and Butterfield are a couple I care about: who are even better as a team than together. Yet, the whole movie is about keeping them apart. I do like them together in the little bit that we see, so it's sad they don't get to spend more time together. It's hard to buy apples then complain that they don't taste like oranges though. I can't complain that the movie I watched was about exactly what it said it would be.

 

Verdict: Weakly Recommend