It took all of three seconds before I was laughing and fell off my bed when watching Three Wise Men and a Baby. Andrew Walker reciting affirmations in the mirror shirtless is something that I never knew that I needed.
And yet I did. Paul Campbell & Kimberley Sustad seemed to know all of the things that we needed in Three Wise Men and a Baby.
From the beginning when hearing about this movie, my mind could only thing of the 1987 film, Three Men and a Baby. While I will say it was genius casting Margaret Colin, who was in the 1987 film, Three Wise Men and a Baby sets itself apart quickly by its tone, comedy, and setting. It took just a few minutes to realize this movie is different – a story of family and brothers and maybe, just maybe, the story of them all finding a bit about themselves.
In this writers humble opinion it’s a story about brothers remembering the reasons that they fell apart, the things that they kept in, and the ways that they were able to pull themselves back together.
Three brothers played by the trifecta of Hallmark movie greatness, Paul Campbell, Tyler Hynes, Andrew Walker.
Walker plays Luke – the brother that can seem to do no wrong. He’s so put together that it’s kinda scary. He seems to live and die by having all of his ducks in a row, but I can’t distinguish if that’s because he’s a fire fighter or if it’s because he’s spent his whole life making sure that he had everything together for his family. And yet, maybe it’s a combination of both.
Campbell plays Stephen – who I view as the judgmental as the day is long brother. He wants to act as though he has everything together, but he truly doesn’t. He’s got everything organized and clean and dresses perfect, but that’s mostly because his life has been anything but perfect.
Hynes plays Taylor – the brother who is filled with anger and rage, but doesn’t realize just how angry he is. He can’t hold down a job. One person describes him as “throwing a brick into a washing machine” and well, that’s the nice way to put it. He’s the grinch about life, though I am not sure that he’s the grinch that stole Christmas.
From the beginning you know one thing for certain about all three of these men – they live and home with their mother. What you don’t know is why there seems to be a rift the size of the Grand Canyon between them all.
I do believe that all members of a family have a part to play in the fabric of their households, but I also believe that as fabric falls apart it takes something to put that back together.
In this family, that’s Thomas. Thomas is a baby left at the fire station for Luke. Instead of Luke calling CPS, after talking to the people in his fire house, he takes the baby home. His Mom is the voice of reason, says that she’ll take care of the baby while Luke is at work and that whomever left the baby deserves understanding and a second chance.
Moms do have the best insight, I will say that. Though I can’t imagine being that understanding, I will say that I admire that about her. I admire that she’s willing to see that at times people need help and she did the one thing that she could do – she believed in someone.
Like all good movies or moments in life, there is something that propels life forward. Something that propels people forward. In this moment, it’s the boys Mom having to leave, because their aunt slipped and fell. She thinks that she’ll only be gone for 24 hours and the boys tell her that they can handle taking care of the baby.
The thing is that no one really knows how to take care of a baby. There are a million things that go wrong – but it doesn’t take long to realize that these men are falling for this baby. Their every movement is centered around making sure that the baby is happy and content. It doesn’t mean that it isn’t funny because it definitely is.
Taylor and Stephen look like they’ve been to war and Luke comes in and is able to keep everything in order. He’s able to accomplish everything that they aren’t while taking care of the baby. It’s kind of annoying and definitely some shit like my sister would do. But, we all have our strengths.
Even super human people make mistakes.
Luke makes a mistake and accidentally picks up the wrong carseat, bringing home the baby. Even Taylor and Stephen are more worried about the baby than ribbing their brother, which hey, shows growth.
While I do wish we could have seen the brothers try to find the baby, I do think that it wasn’t necessary to the movie. One thing that I have learned is that movies only have so much time. I just would have laughed if the other parent was there to get her kid and went off.
It’s in these moments that the three of them learn that they need to appreciate each other, but also appreciate their Mom more. See, their Dad left when they were younger and it’s been something that they don’t talk about, but has affected them all. It just reminded me that scars can stay with you forever, but people can hide their scars. Their Mom did.
She’s never complained about them, never done anything without a smile on her face. She’s always made sure that these three know that they are loved. While they want to give her the Christmas that she’s always wanted, they don’t know how to get out of their own way. Even when they’re supposed to be worrying about doing something for her, they make it about themselves.
They need to learn that sometimes they are going to let each other down, but dredging up the past isn’t going to make anything better. It’s definitely not going to make their relationships better. When they are all confronted with conflict they deal with it in different ways. Luke feels like he needs to be in charge of things, Stephen isolates, and Taylor hides.
But calling each other out isn’t going to make their relationships better. It’s when something happens to Thomas, that they all come together and realize that they need each other. It’s then that they realize that they need to try.
And so they find themselves back on track to decorate their house, for a contest to win their Mom a cruise. When it doesn’t go perfect, they improvise and trust each other to get through it and do their best. None of them know anything about the birth of Jesus, apparently, but what they do know is that they are going to give it their best shot.
And there is something so special about the way that they come together – even when their hearts are breaking. See Thomas’s Mama comes back for him. It turns out she left him with Luke because he was the first person on the scene when she went into labor and he was so calm. She trusted him. She believed in him.
What I loved so much about this family is that they trusted and believed in Sophie (Thomas’s Mama) without even knowing her. Yet, what I also loved was that they made sure to let her know that she would never be alone.
That Thomas and her would always have them.
While I hated to see Three Wise Men and a Baby end, I was thankful that it even existed. Sometimes a movie is so special because it is so relatable. It’s so special because it teaches you to appreciate all those around you, and those who have raised and cared and lifted you up.
So often movies about Christmas are all about Christmas and rightfully so. But this one, it was a movie about family and Christmas just happened to be a part of it.
Definitely in our top five of this Countdown to Christmas season.
OTHER THOUGHTS
- Will never get over Andrew Walker’s character in a towel reciting affirmations
- Why was Tyler’s character doing squats holding the baby?
- THE BROTHERS DANCE!!!!
- The fact that the Mama made Luke green juice… thats love cause that s**t stinks
- Mark LeClark is just the grinch
- Taylor is really just so bitter and at the beginning I actually hated the character
- Fiona and Taylor – didn’t see that one but also, like she’s really a good person for putting up with his attitude
- Taylor giving dating advice to a 12 year old… cringe, but yet funny
- The Brenner brothers are just… well, they are everything and anything and all over the place.
- I kinda want Taylor’s gaming setup and I don’t game
- The babies are really the star of the show
- Aunt Louise is way too calm for slipping and falling
- The elf scene wasn’t what was expected, but loved it
- I don’t like David
- Taylor trying to give a sex talk… hahahaha
- Stephen thinking he’s an uncle… I laughed
- Where can I get the calendar where Luke is Mr. January??/
- Mark LeClark is like Bif from Back to the Future
- Stephen as a dog shrink… it’s the best thing ever
- The 3 Wise Men scene is everything
- Stephen and his panic attacks… I relate.
- Stephens client Sue… she’s A LOT. Like not in a pleasant way.
- Love Andrew, Paul, and Tyler in a movie together. Need one of them like The Wedding Veil Trilogy…
