Confessions of a Christmas Letter (2024)
Angela! And Kevin!
As a fan of The Office, I wanted so much for Angela Kinsey to have something to write home about with this one… Alas, ‘twas not to be. Despite an opening scene cameo with Brian Baumgartner.
Kinsey stars as Settie, a smalltown mom whose obsession with having the best Christmas family newsletter results in her hiring a struggling novelist, Juan, who is flown from Puerto Rico to Holly Hills, USA, to ghostwrite her annual entry into the local newsletter competition. Along for the ride is serial dater daughter, Lily, who fakes an engagement to Juan to mask his true reason for being with the family over the holidays.
And with that plot, you’d totally think this would be a winner, right? I am being facetious. Of course this was bad. Well-decked boughs don’t do enough to mask what is clearly a set, not a real family home. Awkward soliloquies disrupt the flow. And it never clicks as though this is a real family. Slightly more Christmassy than some entries to the Countdown to Christmas, this was still a big ol’ dud.
Maybe if they’d gathered around a big pot of chili… #IYKYK
You’ll like this if…
You have always wondered just how short Angela Kinsey is IRL. I have newfound respect for the camerawork on The Office that managed to keep her in the same frame with her costars - there were many times in this movie where it felt like she was on her tippy toes, craning to get her head into the shot. Despite what the movie poster makes it look like, Angela and her on-screen daughter have 9” of height separating them!
