Lucky Christmas is one of those really wholesome movies that is definitely fun to watch and has pretty good writing. The only weakness is the romance as a whole and at this point it’s probably safe to say that this isn’t super surprising. That’s just how it goes sometimes. I’d say the movie still succeeds despite this, the humor is on point and the plot is interesting. It’s also the kind of scenario you could picture happening in real life.

The movie starts with Holly buying her lottery ticket as always and at this point it’s really just a habit. She doesn’t actually think she’s going to win or anything like that. So she goes about her day and doesn’t properly lock up her ticket in a safe or anything like that. She just leaves it in her car. Meanwhile Mike and his irresponsible friend are hanging out and Mike gets super drunk so his friend drives him home. The friend isn’t the smartest guy in the batch so he ends up stealing a nearby car to drive Mike home and that happens to be Holly’s. So he finds the winning lottery ticket and figures he could be rich but of course the ticket is in Holly’s name. Is there a way to trick her into giving up some of the money? Meanwhile Mike wants to make things right and give her back the ticket but he isn’t sure how to do that without looking suspicious. In the meantime he may as well romance her up a bit.

Right away you can see how we’re rooting against Mike and his friend. Mike does take a whole lot of the blame here since he should have come clean right from the jump. There were many opportunities to give the ticket back if he was being serious about this like sneaking it into her house, leaving it in an envelope addressed to her, etc. He just made excuse after excuse and then it’s doubly bad since he is trying to have a relationship with her as well. That means the whole thing is deceitful from the jump and so the romance really shouldn’t hold. Surely being betrayed on such a personal level would completely doom any chances of being together right?

Well, in a fair and just world that would certainly be the case but unfortunately it’s just not so simple in this film. Holly ultimately doesn’t mind and after a fight they’re back together but it’s ultra cheesy so the romance plot is the part that you will have to endure if you are to still enjoy the movie. It just doesn’t make any sense at all and neither does Mike’s still being friends with the guy. You can have an acquaintance who is annoying like if you work with them or something but a close friend who is this bad just shouldn’t be in your circles. It makes you look bad as well.

Just look at the first scene of the film where Mike’s friend causes them to burn down a house. Mike is also to blame since he wasn’t exactly stopping things and when the boss gets mad, Mike has the audacity to actually be defensive about the whole situation. That was another moment where I couldn’t be on his side. Not only could people have been seriously hurt but the whole thing was meaningless. There was no point to his actions and so he comes off as being completely immature which I would say is fully accurate here. He is not a mature person in the slightest and should have gotten told off along with his friend.

As for Holly, aside from being way too forgiving she is a decent character. I understand not paying attention to every lottery ticket after a while as you probably just start to assume that you will lose by default. I’d make the case that then you shouldn’t be wasting the money to buy tickets though. Even though most are only a dollar or so, it really adds up over time. Imagine putting that towards stocks or something instead. That would be a much better use of your time without a doubt.

Now this is a comedy so you don’t want to go too hard on the characters but I do think that at least Mike’s friend should have faced some jail time in the end. He stole a car, stole the lotto ticket, then he also handled Holly’s things carelessly like when he tosses all of her stuff into the ground without a second thought. He just didn’t seem like a good person at all especially with how insistent he was on keeping the money. You feel like he needed to learn some kind of lesson even after things worked out. It all felt a little too easy in the grand scheme of things.

Ah well, obviously this is more of a feel good movie and so things are looked at through an optimistic lens. It’s not a bad thing per say but it can be a bit annoying. On the plus side, the writing and pacing as pretty good as you’d expect for a film like this. It does maintain a cheery atmosphere and it’s always fun to daydream about winning the lottery. The vibes are good all the way through and I don’t really have any other complaints with the film. Now the ending is quite hilarious though and not in the way the film thought it would be.

The characters have until midnight in order to cash in the ticket so they dash over to the place but then when the clock hits 11:59, they decide to start making out instead of going into the store. Rookie mistake!!! I was dying inside because I knew they didn’t make it in time and so the money went to waste. You could argue that it’s probably the most tragic ending to a film that you will ever see in your life.

Overall, Lucky Christmas is a pretty good film. I will always remember it for the ending because no matter what the writers may say afterwards, it’s clear that the heroes were too late. They fumbled the bag right up until the end and there was no way out of their predicament. The movie may not have always been realistic but it was definitely a fun ride and so I would recommend this title. Who wouldn’t want to have a lucky Christmas right? 2025 may just be starting up now but it’s never too late to watch a good Christmas flick.

Overall 7/10