Lists. Some of us are list people, and some definitely aren’t. I can’t survive without all my lists, and I know I make a lot of them. The lists that I make – they don’t scare me, they calm me. However, there has been one list that has always scared me – the naughty or nice list from Santa Claus. She’s Making A List didn’t exactly change my fear of that.
Kinda.
Coal seems like a possibility for me every single year. Though my friends will tell me that I am nicer than I think I am, I will tell you that I would have made that naughty list over and over.
Lacey Chabert plays Isabel Haynes, a naughty-or-nice inspector. Santa has outsourced the naughty-or-nice inspector, and Isabel is one of the top inspectors. The problem with her is that she travels so much and doesn’t seem to wait for the entire picture of why a kid does something to figure out if they are naughty or nice.
Isabel relies on her experience as an inspector to make quick decisions. It’s when she has a new assignment, Charlie, that she’s faced with not knowing what list to put her on. As things keep happening, that leads Isabel to meet Charlie and her Dad (Andrew Walker), and things start to change.
Isabel didn’t mean to make contact, nor did she mean to get involved, but here she was. Jason Duncan (Andrew Walker) is charming, captivating, and well, a great jaw line. He wants to make an impression, and he also wants to change the mistakes of his past. When his wife passed, he stopped nitpicking life and instead wanted to see the good in it.
Jason used to be a food critic and was flat-out mean to restaurants. Now, he helps them improve. He doesn’t see things in absolutes – he sees things in possibilities and tries to see things in whole pictures.
Charlie isn’t for her Dad dating. She’s afraid of losing her Dad, and I get that because of all that she’s been through. Cadence Compton, who plays Charlie, shines. This little girl knows how to be a presence on the screen and to tap into all the emotions that her character is presented with. When you see Charlie, she is the most confusing child. She’s both doing things that are good and bad, but all for reasons that can’t fall under a specific rule.
Every time Isabel breaks the fourth wall and explains what is going on and the way she sees things, I couldn’t help but smile. Why? Because, for some reason, it drew me deeper into the story. It made me understand the character’s mindset and really embrace that. She was showing us that things aren’t black and white, but rather we need to look at the shades of grey that are in between.
What Lacey Chabert and Andrew Walker make on the screen is magic, no matter the movie that they are in. Both are so talented, and both give their all in every role. When it comes to She’s Making A List, the two manage to do just that and go a step above. The Hallmark family of actors embrace Christmas and somehow make the viewer embrace it too. They make you see the beauty of the season, of the holiday. I am not a person who frequently believes in holidays and the meaning or tradition of them (trauma), but every time I watch a movie like this I do find myself believing a little bit more.
Lacey Chabert and Andrew Walker are talented actors. Them on screen is captivating. A story like this – with all its underlying lessons – is one that can instantly become a classic. It’s a reminder that judging people gets you nowhere but disappointed and is more a reflection of you – it is a lesson that we all need to learn. We don’t understand all of the reasons, and we may never see the entire picture, but that is something that should slow us from judgment.
Naughty and nice lists are outdated. Life is not that simple. Hallmark has created something special with this movie. This season of Countdown to Christmas has been different. It has been an expansion of the movies that we know and love, but also evolved with time and a changing world.
I was lucky to believe in the magic of Christmas once, and though I lost that feeling along the way, with movies like this, I am finding it again. We’re all lucky if we have something to believe in and something to guide us towards joy. Hallmark starts in October, and well, if we’re being honest, they do that all year with so much. She’s Making A List is special, unique, and honestly, I would not mind a sequel.
Lacey Chabert, Andrew Walker, and Cadence Compton should be proud of what they created here.
