Annie Claus is Coming to Town

Dir: Kevin Connor

2011

*

Hallmark really do have a twisted ideology. So, when the Claus family reach a certain age they are given a chance to explore the world to see if they want to remain in the North Pole their whole lives or to venture out and leave the family business for good. Seeing as Santa has no other children though, this is actually a new thing for his one and only daughter to have to undertake. When Hallmark say 'venture out into the world' they actually mean find a man, preferably a wealthy one who owns his own business. Annie 'lucks out' by randomly choosing LA as her 'sabbatical' location and soon finds the outside world a little harder than she thought. Annie's problem is that she's so naive, she's actually more like a ten year old girl than a grown women, leading to some rather uncomfortable viewing considering the film is essentially a romance. Unknown to the Santas, Annie's uncle hatches a plan to trick Annie into falling in love with an actor he has paid to lure her away from the North Pole for good. It's not clear how far this plan was ever supposed to go however, seeing as she would've found out eventually and she was always welcome to come home at any time. Luckily she doesn't fall for this plan and falls in love with a small business owner, an independent toy maker no less, who makes his own toys including Nintendo Wiis. Annie's evil uncle gets his comeuppance by being banished from the North Pole and into a kitchen job, insulting anyone who is struggling with low paid jobs this festive season. Annie and her new man also manage to set up both their best friends together, both are black, so are obviously perfect for each other. Maria Thayer is quite sweet as Annie Claus, so sweet in fact that my teeth fell out soon after the film ended. The rest of the film just made my eyes hurt.