Day Eight: “The Christmas Project”

“The Christmas Project” is an adorable film about how far a little kindness can go. It follows the four Buckley brothers (Simon, Matthew, Peter and John) and the Hagbart siblings (I only remember Finn and Little Francie, but there were four of them) on their journeys through middle school. The brothers do this thing called “elving,” which is basically a Secret Santa but the other person doesn’t know they’re participating. When this family “elves,” they give food and presents to families who probably can’t afford it. 

With the very sub-par acting, it was very noticeable that the actors were reading off a script. Good acting (to me) is being able to spark the empathy in others with an emotional scene, or cause people to laugh until their stomachs ache in a comedy, or, at the very least, showing some sort of emotion at all. I also really felt like this movie was trying really hard to be a happier version of the 2000 film “Pay It Forward” because in both movies, the main characters are trying to make it a better place, despite not really knowing it, and in both movies, the kids at the school are jerks. 

This movie is available on Netflix.