The Noel Diary (2022)
A tender Christmas romance that finds hope in what it does not quite show.
As a teenager in the 2000s, I watched the TV series Smallville. If I had already lost interest by the time the Green Arrow character was introduced, I remember having seen a few episodes with him. I could not tell today what his character did, but his face is definitely not unknown to me. This is why I also watch Tracker these days.
And when Netflix suggested a Christmas film with that very face on the film thumbnail, I knew I had to add it to my to-watch list. It was also with a bit of hope to see the actor happy through his character, as Green Arrow and Tracker’s Colter Shaw lack quite a bit in this department. And I enjoy seeing people happy. And after Netflix’s previous suggestion, the Love Hard romcom, I went in to watch the same kind of film. It turned out it was about romance. But I was completely wrong about the comedy part.
The first few minutes set the tone, making it clear it is not a comedic film. The main character, Jake, while famous, is dark, secretive and is content spending time with his dog, not to say reclusive. I was a bit disappointed as I came for a laugh, and was now watching a serious film. But this was on me, and I decided to stay for the ride, it is still a romance film. The kind where you can imagine a Richard Gere scarf-under-the-snow kind of scene. Which you get.
The film tries very hard to make things complex as it goes on, sometimes too much. In a few words, every major character is unhappy. Jake because he is alone; Rachel because she is looking for her mother with very little information about her. Even secondary characters, like Jake’s mother’s neighbour and his father. But some substantial time is spent deepening why they are unhappy. Their meetings help everyone enter the path to happiness with the help of Christmas. On this aspect, the film works.
A gripe came really quickly, sadly. Rachel meets Jake because he is cleaning the house where his mother, who recently passed away, lived. As her own mother has worked for his parents and lived with them, it makes sense to speak and spend time with him. Even talking with the neighbour to get more information is logical. And as she seems to click with Jake, she has dinner with him, talking about topics completely unrelated to her mother. OK, nothing unnatural, two people meeting and enjoying themselves having dinner. Up to the point where she tells him she is engaged. Cold shower. As if the film leaned toward a romance with a character open to cheat on her fiancé. It would seem logical to me to casually speak earlier about it so as not to mislead anyone. At least before the dinner. Her later announcement to Jake she has not told her fiancé she is spending time with another man is both cold to the fiancé and - call me paranoid - insecure.
Jake’s character gets better, opening up to Rachel and, more importantly, to his father, whom he has not met and whom has been fed up with for 35 years. But here and there, he is not the proper pure love interest I hoped to see in this kind of film. In one scene, he discovers Rachel reading his book, but clearly ogles her bare legs at the same time. Later, he finds her at her house, but nothing is said about him having basically tracked down her address.
For these unnecessarily complex and sad characters, the watch is not enjoyable. The redemption, on the other hand, and in particular between Jake and his father, redeems it.
If I have to remember one thing about this film, it is the ending. As a romance film, everyone gets a happy ending. Except for Rachel’s fiancé, but we never really get to know him, so I do not care for him enough to worry. But more than the feel-good ending, it is how things are implicitly told. Rachel and Jake end up together, but you do not see them getting together. Jake does or does not meet often with his father, we do not know, but the door is open thanks to their rekindled relationship and it is the most important. Rachel does not find her mother during the film, but said mother tells Jake she is open to meeting Rachel and with Jake and Rachel reuniting, we know it is only a matter of time. These crumbs of later happiness are what make this ending a great one to me.
Next Sunday evening, I will be watching the 2019 film, Yesterday.
-- from the Evening Notes