Directed By Sandra L. Martin

Starring – Lawson Touliatos, Leela Owen, Dimitri Mareno

The Plot – Follows Jake Young (Touliatos), a young boy who experiences a life-changing effect when he transports back to Bethlehem on the night of Jesus’ birth after an skateboarding accident right before Christmas.

This film is rated G

It’s Christmas Again TRAILER 2022 – YouTube

POSITIVES

Free from the depravities of a religious persecution complex or mean-spirited personality, “It’s Christmas Again” proves that religious films can still be tastefully executed without downright alienating half of the audience in the process. In fact, its religious emphasis is only the soul of the film, but never its heart, instead doubling down on the importance of the holiday season in ways that cleverly and faithfully make it a product of what it preaches, in turn leading to an engagement that at least continuously kept me interested. A lot of the praise for this is almost entirely owed to the movie’s pacing, which with a brief 85-minute run time is forced to consistently keep the story moving at all times, but the other side of its respect factor is owed to the story itself, which exerts with it some depth in creativity that continuously kept me guessing in its appreciation for some of Christmas’ all-time favorite classics. It’s a spoonful of “It’s a Wonderful Life” and two spoonful’s of “A Christmas Carol”, using the familiarities of the duo’s multi-tiered framing device, but in ways that convey insight into the origins of the Christian holiday, instead of deconstructing a flawed protagonist. Because of such, there’s just enough unpredictability factor in the ever-changing landscape and stakes to the engagement, in turn deviating from expectations almost immediately from the ground running. Finally, while the performances and technical merits leave more to be desired, the tracks of the movie’s musical labeling deliver an instrumentally eclectic and conceptually versatile appeal that warms its way to the hearts of its audience, with some earworms in chorus that won’t be easily shook with the passage of time. Considering many musicals this year haven’t been able to duplicate the appealing factor in ways that justify or entertain with their opportunity, the triumph here is all the more impressive for composer Tyler Michael Smith, who channels an essence of Lin-Manuel Miranda in both structural and lyrical impulses, attaining with it the deviation from typical long-winded and inspirational musical numbers that are often a lot bigger than the films they stem from.

NEGATIVES

Unfortunately, the air of limitations becomes apparent in the film’s spotty production values almost immediately, jarring the execution of the introduction in ways that set the precedent in this feeling like an uphill climb. On the subject of the musical performances, as previously conveyed, the tracks themselves are charmingly endearing in both lyrical and emotional dexterities, but the imbalance in sound mixing condemn it to plaguing incoherence of the most distorted variety. Sometimes, the music volume overrides the delivery of the performers, making it difficult to understand the lyrical significance, while other times the editing abruptly hinders the extensive merit of the deliveries, leaving it chopped during the moments it so evidently lifted the talents and capabilities of the performers beyond what they unfortunately remained sedated with. This leads me to the performances themselves, which I don’t entirely blame on the merits of the ensemble, but rather the blandness of the direction, which continuously accepted mediocrity in leading to uninspired deliveries. To be fair, Touliatos and Owen have the personality and presence to emit an irrepacable presence to their capabilities, but it simply doesn’t show here, with deliveries so cold and narrated in ways that eviscerated the spontaneity and nuance of their interactions. There’s also something strangely disorienting about the editing, in that it often feels like a scene between two characters is focusing on other irrelevant extras while this conversation continues. I say this because whenever a development requires patience and commitment, it shovels in these strange deposits from somewhere else in the atmosphere, feeling like what I can only remember is the first example of attention-deficit editing that I’ve seen in my nearly thirteen years as an analyst. Beyond this, the tonal capacity for the film has its heart in the right place, but the G-rating for the film is a bit too squeaky clean to elude a corniness and insincerity to the personalities. Even the best religious films attain with them a PG rating to flesh out some of the more dramatic and compelling moments, but here the limitations keep it from pursuing such, leaving it free from the kind of stakes or long-term circumstances that simultaneously test the characters or entice the audience with any kind of thorough climax. Last but not least, while “It’s Christmas Again” is far from the worst I’ve seen in any of the musical, religious, or holiday categories, the writing of such feels stagnant in bringing effort or effectiveness to the depths of comedy or drama that it requires heavily in the appeal of its plot. The former crashes and burns humiliatingly in ways that add further limitations to the aforementioned ratings struggle that keeps it from being able to properly express itself, and the latter, with a complete refusal in attempting to challenge or even momentarily strain the happiness and glow of its audience, leaves it absent on arrival, cementing an underwhelming appeal that attempts and fails considerably towards establishing a connection with its audience.

OVERALL
“It’s Christmas Again” is among the more tolerable of religious genre installments, but still plagued by the aspects of production that keep it far from the notoriety of its competition. Though its heart is in the right place while illustrating the importance and meanings of the holiday season, the ineffectiveness of its ambition is the coal in our stocking that keeps on giving, leaving us disappointed by the gift we were hoping for, but didn’t quite receive.

My Grade: 4/10 or D