Summary

Best. Christmas. Ever! is a serviceable Christmas movie on Netflix, with soft chuckles, tears, and sentimentality. Brandy’s performance is a highlight, and there’s even a musical number. The story emphasizes the risks of projecting insecurities onto others. Charlotte’s self-critical nature blinds her to the importance of nurturing positivity and appreciating what she has. While the movie’s directing is fun, the script drags and the conversations are flat. The film relies on Graham and Brandy to build a believable relationship, but falls short of doing so.

Fellow movie watchers, it’s the most wonderful time of year — the Netflix Christmas movies are here. The on-the-nose named Best. Christmas. Ever! brings us Brandy Norwood and Heather Graham in a sweet, sentimental Christmas adventure directed by Pet Sematary’s Mary Lambert. In this latest holiday offering, we have Brandy’s Jackie Jennings beaming with festive joy and Graham’s Charlotte Sanders as the skeptical, sour party pooper ready to unmask the seemingly perfect Jackie. These former friends come together for the first time in ages and learn some valuable lessons befitting of the holiday season.

Graham plays the disillusioned Charlotte, a brilliant engineer who was unsuccessful at gaining her dream career. She and her husband, Rob (Jason Biggs), live comfortably, but Charlotte’s prickly nature is often at odds with Rob’s optimism. The pair has two children — a daughter who wants to be a comic book hero and a son who wants to be a ninja and is also best friends with a stuffed monkey. After a year-long hiatus, Charlotte receives the Jennings family newsletter from former friend Jackie. The wealthy and successful mother of two boasts about her family’s achievements, wealth, and endless luck, causing Charlotte to mouth off to her family that such letters are braggy and riddled with lies. This gives her son the bright idea to GPS Jackie’s home address, as the family plans to stay with Charlotte’s sisters for the holidays. Surprise, surprise, Charlotte is then met with her personal nemesis on the fancy doorstep of her decked-out home.

Best. Christmas. Ever!, like many Christmas-themed movies from Netflix, is serviceable. There is a healthy amount of soft chuckles, some tears, and a lot of sentimentality. It also nudges that family-friendly envelope with the acknowledgment that these adults have a sex life (Hallmark could never). The real reason to watch this one is Brandy, a multi-talented star who has withstood the test of time; she is simply that girl! Brandy is fun, wholesome, and beaming the whole way through. And for good measure, we get a musical number because you cannot miss an opportunity to hear Brandy sing.

The companionship that both women crave isn’t well articulated in the writing, and the film relies on Graham and Brandy to build a believable relationship.

The story is a simple tale about the risks of projecting one’s insecurities onto others. Charlotte has a bad case of regret and is immensely self-critical, blinding her to the fact that, despite Jackie’s boastful newsletters, nurturing positivity and appreciating what you do have is actually helpful for building a happy life. Jackie does conceal some parts of her life to focus on the positives in her letters, but her desire to vocalize what she is proud of and what she hopes for is as much for her as it is for others to enjoy. Charlotte has a point in that she is very “braggadocious,” but the underlying sincerity cannot be easily overlooked.

Lambert has as much fun as she can directing, but Todd Calgi Gallicano and Charles Shyer’s script drags. The conversations are generally flat and lifeless. The hijinks Charlotte gets up to in a bid to uncover the truth about Jackie are barely entertaining. The companionship that both women crave isn’t well articulated in the writing, and the film relies on Graham and Brandy to build a believable relationship. It makes the movie quite dull. Charlotte’s ambition at the beginning of the movie is to unmask Jackie Jennings, but the writing doesn’t bother to have fun with the concept. Jackie isn’t some pompous suburban housewife hiding some deep, dark secret, but at the very least, the movie could play with the conceit and then show how wrong Charlotte is in the end.

Best. Christmas. Ever! is not the most splendiferous Christmas movie ever, but it will satisfy those hungry for new sentimental holiday movies every year. Netflix has a long way to go to compete with the death grip Hallmark has on this genre, but the streamer is trying. The audience that craves these will be happy regardless of who has the better output, but Netflix has a slight edge with amusing casting choices. From Vanessa Hudgens to Lindsay Lohan to Brandy Norwood, the roster of Netflix’s holiday films keeps getting more and more interesting. Brandy’s commitment here is commendable, so I can only hope that this inspires more great casting choices.

Best. Chrismas. Ever! is now streaming on Netflix. It is 80 minutes long and rated TV-PG.