Tonight's Movie: A Big Fat Family Christmas (2022)

One of the most recent Hallmark films I watched was A BIG FAT FAMILY CHRISTMAS (2022).

A BIG FAT FAMILY CHRISTMAS aired on Hallmark Channel in 2022 and is now available on DVD in a 6-film set of Christmas movies.

Shannon Chan-Kent plays newspaper photographer Liv Rose Chang.  She works for the San Francisco Chronicle, where she meets reporter Henry (Shannon Kook), a reporter from Bangkok who has just been hired by the paper.

Liv and Henry's editor Charles (Jack Wagner) assigns them to cover a big annual Christmas party hosted by Liv's parents (Tia Carrere and Yee Jee Tso) for their local Chinese community.

There's just one problem: Liv is embarrassed by her parents' over-the-top (to put it mildly) style of celebrating Christmas, and she attempts to keep her connection to the party a secret from Henry and Charles. Which, of course, isn't exactly ethical given that she's actually part of the story she's helping cover.

Liv and Henry quickly grow close and Liv begins to realize she's been wrong about both her parents' Christmas traditions and keeping secrets from her colleagues...

I chose this movie in part because I was intrigued by largely Asian cast and the San Francisco setting. The movie, however, was filmed in Vancouver; I'm not certain if any of it was actually filmed in San Francisco (maybe a cable car scene?).

The movie is rather strange in that it's set in a fantasy version of modern-day San Francisco; Liv and Henry do a great deal of walking around the city, but every street is safe and clean. What's more, print editions of newspapers aren't a dying breed, heavily impacted by layoffs, and a front-page story is a big deal.

There were a couple other mildly off-kilter moments, such as when Liv and Henry are invited to say a Christmas prayer while visiting a church. The church is apparently Roman Catholic, where an invitation for an Advent prayer would have been more likely ahead of Christmas.

The film was watchable enough but didn't really work that well for me, chiefly because the character of Liv is so edgy. She makes some very bad choices, personally and professionally, which hurt her parents and coworkers. There's a painful family confrontation late in the film which is heavier going than is typically found in a Hallmark Christmas film.

I also wasn't sure I completely bought the reticent Henry falling for Liv. He's a very nice, handsome guy, but between his quietly mellow character -- unless he's on a cable car -- and her aversion to truth-telling, let's just say they need to make sure they're right for one another.

Speaking of cable cars, Liv and Henry also have a moment of irresponsibility regarding a very large amount of money which has to be seen to be believed.

That said, the cast is attractive and otherwise likeable, and Shannon-Kent has a nice redemptive moment singing "O Holy Night" in Cantonese as part of the film's climax. I assume it was her actual singing voice, as it sounded like her speaking voice. It's a touching moment.

A particular plus for me was that the supporting cast includes two actors from "old school" GENERAL HOSPITAL of the '80s-'90s, Tia Carrere (who played Jade on GH) and Jack Wagner (who played Frisco). Carrere also voiced Nani in Disney's LILO AND STITCH (2002).

Wagner's screen time is limited -- but I have to mention a typewriter on his office desk is a very nice touch -- but Carrere makes an impression as Liv's exuberant mother.

In the end, it's worth seeing for Hallmark fans, as it has a number of aspects which make it unique in the Hallmark Christmas genre, but it's not one of the network's stronger films.

A BIG FAT FAMILY CHRISTMAS was directed by Jennifer Liao and filmed by Dan Dumouchel. It runs 85 minutes.

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