The Christmas Charade: Movie Review

The usual Christmas romance fare, bundled in an FBI sting operation.

Normally, Hallmark should stay in their own lane and not try to do a movie about FBI agents going undercover in a sting operation, but admittedly, The Christmas Charade is light and fun and arguably better suited to the genre than all the big budget movies that go way too big and way too far. There’s still a degree of suspension of disbelief required, but Hallmark makes it more about the romance than the FBI.		2024 Directed by: Corey Sevier Screenplay by: Kate Pragnell Starring: Rachel Skarsten, Corey Sevier
Whitney (Rachel Skarsten) is a librarian who lives a quiet, single and uneventful life. Until she accidentally mistakes Josh (Corey Sevier) an undercover FBI agent as her blind date. It starts slow and a little boring which is odd for a movie with a high-stakes caper as its central plot, but that also allows for this type of movie to fit into the Hallmark standard. After Whitney proves herself useful in the operation, most of the middle part of the movie is Josh and Whitney getting to know each other. While it is a little light on the romance, it’s heavy on the friendship and camaraderie. By the time we get to the third act, Josh and Whitney know each other extremely well, the audience knows them very well, and there’s confidence that they make a good pair. Josh and Whitney’s back and forth is actually quite enjoyable. Whitney’s a great character while Josh is too serious and is not a fully-rounded character, but they still work together. The movie keeps the FBI sting operation very simple: artifacts have been stolen, and they’re setting up their prime suspect to catch him the act as he targets a valuable necklace at a museum’s Christmas fundraiser. It doesn’t get anymore complicated than that, and it’s in Hallmark’s best interest to keep it that way since it allows the movie time for their traditional scenes: a Christmas Eve games night with Whitney’s parents and a Christmas market filled with surprise friends. The Christmas Charade incorporates an FBI action-thriller plot into a holiday comedy-drama romance and against all logic it actually works. It’s mild and understated but delivers the expected romance in a slightly unorthodox way.

Want a different Christmas movie or just more holiday-themed movies? Holiday Movies