“Noelle” Review by Brooke Daugherty
December 3, 2019 6:22 am |
If you grew up on Disney Channel original movies and/or love Hallmark Holiday films, this is a MUST
WATCH. Otherwise, if you are still interested, continue reading. Anna Kendrick stars as Noelle Kringle,
the daughter of Santa Claus and sister of the next Santa – Nick Kringle (Bill Hader). When their father
dies, Nick moves into the role of Santa Claus but isn’t certain he is ready. Noelle suggests he takes the
weekend off, which he does – only he doesn’t return.
With it being so close to Christmas with no Santa, the next male heir is selected to fill the void. Enter
Billy Eichner as Gabriel Kringle, cousin of Noelle and Nick, and currently working in North Pole IT.
Noelle takes it upon herself to find Nick when residents of the North Pole begin to blame her for his
absence. She commandeers Santa’s sleigh, kidnaps her childhood nanny Elf Polly (Shirley MacLaine),
and heads to Phoenix AZ where she’s deduced Nick has gone.
The rest is a silly, mostly predictable romp where the spirit of Christmas is revealed to people, Noelle
and Polly make up backstories, and the day is saved in the end. There isn’t a romantic twist to this
movie like with Hallmark holiday films, but it is still fun. The cast is filled out with Michael Gross from
Family Ties as Elder Elf Abe and Kingsley Ben-Adir recently seen in the second season of Netflix’s The
OA as Jake Hapman. Ron Funches plays Elf Mortimer, who is the leader of “Santa’s Helpers” who are
essentially a Greek Chorus singing to the tunes of holiday songs. My favorite – “Joy to the world,
except for you, ‘cause you forgot to floss.”
I can’t give this a Tupperware for this style of movie as it seemed since this film was originally planned
to be released theatrically, writer/director Marc Lawrence wasn’t sure how far to push the silliness. I
would have liked to see more from Santa’s Helpers and maybe a bit more about Noelle and Nick before
they wound up in the desert. Although Eichner did not do his full on yell-talk, he played the part of ill
equipped Gabe decently enough, but I think a bit more could have been done for his character. I did
enjoy Kendrick who was charming and adorable as always, as well as Hader playing the ridiculousness
of his character straight.
If you are onboard for another quirky TV movie with an easily figured out plot and don’t want to pull your
hair out, stream it before Christmas. Otherwise, pass. Highest of Taste its from me, an avid viewer of
Hallmark Holiday films and Disney Channel Original movies.
PCL Rating: Taste It
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: FRESH 🍅
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Tags: Brooke Daugherty Pop Culture Leftovers, Noelle 2019, Noelle Disney Plus, Noelle Movie
Categorised in: Movie Reviews
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