What do you get when you toss together Christmas cheer, Christmas kitsch, a fish-out-of-the-North-Pole setup swiped from “Elf,” and a plot that turns on whether Kris Kringle’s daughter,…
,” a holiday trifle from Disney Plus that, in its intentionally goofy and innocuous way, defines the don’t-worry-be-happy-it’s-just-home-viewing metaphysic of the made-for-streaming-services era.
Long ago, it was called straight-to-tape. Then it was called straight-to-VOD, and now it’s straight to your monthly subscription service. But if the delivery system has changed, the content remains very much the same. What you see a movie like “ ,” what the experience comes down to is: It’s something you’re not watching in a theater because most of uswatch it in a theater. It wouldn’t be worth the effort. Whatever your idea of a sentimental connect-the-dots Christmas comedy is, this isthat. At home, however, we don’t have to mind; it’s all part of the diverting-ourselves-to-oblivion aesthetic of the 21st century.
There’s a telling contradiction at the heart of the movie. As Noelle hires a private eye who is also a sweet divorced daddy, her befuddlement at how the world outside the North Pole works is established by her ignorance of assorted consumer goods. But the way the film presents it, Santa and his team are basically Amazon delivery people with cuddlier wardrobes . So what is there for Noelle to be ignorant of? It’s no accident her sleigh first crash-lands at a shopping mall.
The genre of Yuletide fairy tales that depict the North Pole as a ho-ho-hum comedy of human error probably dates back to the 1964 Rankin/Bass stop-motion TV classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” That special struck an ideal balance of tomfoolery and love, but a certain snarky aggro cynicism has been taking over Christmas movies ever since. “Noelle” is a G-rated lark for families, but it has that Disney kids’-TV flippancy.
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