So grab a cup of hot chocolate, don your gay apparel and beware of SPOILERS!
Sara (Lacey Chabert) works at a marketing firm as a junior web designer. When we meet her, she is bringing coffee in for some coworkers and is ignored by everyone around her as she holds open the door and then is pushed away from the elevator. She is forced to wait for the next one but is able to meet up with her friend Molly (Andrea Brooks, who was Charlotte in Once Upon a Time’s second episode this season). Molly asks Sara if she can help her with a project and though Sara protests that she has a lot of work, Molly gets her to agree.
One of their coworkers, Brian (Eduard Witzke) joins them and thanks Sara for bringing in coffee. As the elevator opens again, their boss Peter (Paul Greene) enters. He is on his phone and talks about Christmas not happening. The other three pretend not to listen in but all three fail. Peter gets off the phone and asks Brian to work Christmas. Brian agrees and then Paul asks Sara about the present she’s holding. She says it’s for the Secret Santa at the office party later before blathering on about how much she loves Christmas. It gets awkward fast and everyone looks happy to get off when the doors open.
Sara and Molly settle in at their desks where Molly asks Sara to work on her project right away. Before she can, though, Sara is called into her manager’s office. His name is Dirk (Jason McKinnon), which is a portmanteau of his two main qualities—he’s a dick and a jerk. He asks Sara for something and she says she emailed it to him the other day as she hands him his coffee. She goes through his emails and finds it in his trash. It’s a proposal for the Wilson Taylor account called Christmas 365, where they tie everything to living the spirit of Christmas every day of the year. Dirk lays into her, saying she’s just a junior web designer and he’s the director of marketing so she just does work and he does the creative ideas. He tries to pretend that it’s a team effort but he’s the kind of manager that I would be calling into my office to explain what it means to engage employees.
Later, Molly and Sara go to the staff Christmas party where Sara is still complaining about what Dirk did to her. Molly encourages her to say something to Dirk but Sara loses her nerve. They head inside as Peter gets to the microphone to address everyone. He thanks Dirk for coming up with a campaign called Holiday 365 that they will present to Wilson Taylor together the next day. Everyone but Sara and Molly applaud, knowing Dirk stole Sara’s idea and passed it off as his own.
Sara storms out of the party. Santa appears, saying that Sara left before he could give her her present. He hands her an envelope and she thanks him before walking away. Molly finds her and begs her to come back. But Sara just wants to go home. She does open her envelope, though, and gives it to Molly to read. The card will grant the bearer one wish that will be good for 48 hours. She and Molly are puzzled.
When Molly catches sight of a cute coworker, she rushes off after making Sara promise to come back for an eggnog. Santa then appears and asks if she’s not happy with her gift. She says that it should probably go to someone else. He insists he picked it out for her and says that there must be something she wishes. She says she wants the courage to speak up for herself and let people know what she’s thinking. Santa says it’s a tall order but he’ll see what he can do.
Sara goes in to get her eggnog when she sees Dirk being congratulated for coming up with such a great idea. The screen goes all weird and Sara marches over to him, saying that he stole the idea from her and that it’s not right. He tries to silence her and say they’ll talk later but she won’t be quiet. It attracts Peter’s attention and he comes over to investigate. Sara tells him that the idea was hers and she’s tired of Dirk stealing her ideas. She then leaves a stuttering Dirk to explain it to Peter.
Molly follows her, surprised. Sara snaps at her about all the work she does for her friend. Though taken aback, Molly acknowledges that she’s used Sara and promises to stop. They realize Santa’s gift made her wish to be brave come true.
The next day, Molly is surprised to find Sara packing up her desk. Sara says she can’t work with Dirk and doesn’t think she belongs at the company anymore. She wishes Molly best and then heads out. As she passes Peter’s office, he races out to stop her. She repeats her assertion that Dirk stole her idea, originally Christmas 365, and then thanks him before heading for the office. All the while, he keeps trying to talk to her.
Peter meets her when she gets off the elevator. He explains that he fired Dirk and knows the idea was hers. So he asks if she’ll fly out to Seattle to pitch the idea with him. He knows it’s last minute and promises to have her home in time for Christmas with her mother and sister. Sara agrees.
Sara worries that she’ll run out of courage before the pitch and blow it. Molly assures her that she has more than enough time as the pitch is that afternoon. She’ll go, dazzle Wilson Taylor and then come home with hours left on her wish.
That almost guarantees something is going to go wrong.
Indeed, Sara and Peter get to Seattle only for Wilson Taylor’s assistant, Megan (Donna Benedicto), to inform them that he’s gone in another direction and has left the office for the holidays. They protest that they flew out from Chicago and it was rude for him to not even cancel with them, which is true. Sara’s wish kicks in and she demands that they speak with Wilson Taylor. Megan goes off and when she comes back, she tells them that Wilson Taylor is willing to meet with them if they go to where he is staying.
Except what appears to be the one rental car place in town (isn’t this Seattle? Hello?) has rented out all the cars. There is a mother and her young daughter trying to get one but the manager insists he doesn’t have one. The little girl talks with Sara, saying she hopes Santa knows where to find her if she’s not home. Sara’s wish kicks in and she’s able to convince the manager to give them a car. When it ends up really being the last one, the mother offers to give them a ride since she’s heading out their way anyway. They thank her and get in the car.
When they get to the place Wilson Taylor is supposed to be, they discover he’s already left because they were running late. Peter pleads with Megan before Sara gets on the phone, getting them another meeting with him the next day.
Peter confesses to Sara that they really need this deal. He says their sales have been stagnant the past two quarters and if they don’t land Wilson Taylor, he’ll have to start laying people off. And he really doesn’t want to do that. Sara understands and promises him they’ll get the deal.
He brings her to a little bed and breakfast to get a room. It’s there that Sara learns that Paul grew up in the little town they are in and that his aunt owns the place. She asks him to come with her to visit his parents and Sara encourages Peter to do so when it appears he is trying to weasel his way out of it.
So they head to Peter’s home. His mother welcomes him and Sara in, inviting them to help her decorate Christmas cookies while they drink hot chocolate. Peter tries to get out of it but his mother reminds him he can’t eat any cookies if he doesn’t decorate. So he gives in as Sara excuses herself to get more hot chocolate.
In the kitchen, she meets Peter’s father. He’s watching football and she asks him why he doesn’t come make cookies with them. He replies that it’s not his scene and she picks up that there is bad blood between him and his son. She sits down and talks about her own father, who taught her everything about football and took her to games. Sara cherishes those memories, especially as she lost him six years ago. She says she’d give anything to have him again and then encourages Peter’s dad to make amends with him.
Meanwhile, Peter’s mom is trying to do the same in the other room. She wants him to come home for Christmas and he replies that his father shouldn’t have made an ultimatum at Christmas dinner. Mom agrees and the room deflates a bit as Sara comes back with her hot chocolate. He jokes about how long it took her and she teases him back, bringing the mood back up.
Sara then convinces Peter to join them in choosing a Christmas tree and his father decides to stay home. They all head to the lot together and Sara helps tie the tree to the car, bragging about how she was a Girl Scout. She then gets a rope sliver but Peter is able to get it out, revealing he was a Boy Scout. They have a brief moment that his mother and aunt seize on, sending the two on a romantic walk back to the inn.
A walk that includes snowball fights and singing Christmas carols, which shows that Peter has a good voice. He also tells her that his father wanted him to be lawyer and join his firm. But Peter wanted to go into marketing. They had a big fight and his father issued an ultimatum at Christmas dinner. So he hadn’t come home for Christmas since and that’s why he likes to work it.
Sara says that he could try to do something special for the employees who work it with him. He says he pays them time and a half. But she says they deserve more. Like Christmas dinner, maybe some extra time off, just…more. They are sacrificing their holiday. He decides to take it under consideration.
Pretty much romance blooms and it is clear they are falling in love as they return to the inn.
The next day, they finally get to see Wilson Taylor (Mark Brandon). He only gives them a few minutes to present and is constantly on his phone, trying to make reservations. Sara waits for her laptop to boot up but decides to wing it. When he calls her “sweetheart,” her wish kicks in and she calls him out for his rudeness. She lets him have it and he then shows them the door.
Outside, Sara is still stewing. Peter is in shock and is angry. He explains that they needed the account and all she had to do was just sit there and let Wilson Taylor be rude. He told her not to take it personally. But Sara has a point—he had already decided not to give them the account. It didn’t matter what they said because it was clear Wilson was listening. But Peter also has a point—she just lost them a potential client. He says he’ll get her home for Christmas like he promised but he plans to stay behind for a bit.
Sara feels so guilty about everything, she gives up her seat and goes to find Wilson Taylor herself. She tries to get in touch with Santa to get some more courage but the colleague who planned the party explained there was no Santa at the party. Sara is confused but she decides that maybe the courage was inside her all along. With a little help from Megan, Sara is able to find Wilson Taylor and she jumps into his car. She apologizes and asks for some of his time.
Back in Chicago, it’s Christmas. Peter is working as are Brian and his team. Sara shows up, though, and surprises him with the Wilson Taylor account. She explains how she talked with him and explained her pitch. He was much more agreeable and loved the idea. Peter is thrilled and apologizes for yelling at her. She wishes him a Merry Christmas and then surprises him again with his family. They bring in a Christmas dinner for everyone and Peter makes up with his father. Peter and Sara have a moment and kiss under the mistletoe as the movie ends.
I thought the little girl was going to play a role later on, maybe being Wilson Taylor’s daughter or granddaughter. While I enjoyed that Sara convinced him on her own and didn’t need that she was nice to his relatives to help her, it still seemed pointless to have focused so long on that little girl and her mother for them to just disappear from the film.
So how was the movie? Pretty cute. It was nice to see Sara taking the lead but I felt like the final tension was a bit forced. Like there had to be a disagreement because there’s definitely a Hallmark formula when it comes to these movies.
But I guess if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it—right?
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