Rating: NR, Made for TV- momentary language
Starring: Jenny McCarthy, Ivan Sergei, George Wendt, Kandyce McClure
Mary Class (McCarthy) is a smart, hardworking business woman in New York City. It’s all about what’s new, what’s hot and how you can make it better. She owns her own consulting firm and is great at what she does, but she’s got a little secret. Her father is Santa, and her last name is really Claus.
Mary’s just landed a huge new project when she gets a phone call from her mother telling her her father has had a heart attack. Mary immediate jumps a plane, along with her assistant, Donna (McClure) to go home and help. Mary doesn’t tell Donna exactly where they are heading, just that they are going to the small town of Polaris, which is “north, far North” at the utmost tip of Canada.
Upon arriving in Polaris, Mary runs into Luke (Sergei) who you just know is an old flame with some unrequited feelings, and it seems to be mutual despite Mary having a boyfriend back in New York City (though the relationship seems very casual and not at all very loving). It’s obvious the two have a strong history, but we don’t find out until later in the movie exactly what.
Luke takes Mary and Donna to her home (AKA Santa’s Workshop) via a sleigh pulled by dogs where Donna learns the real truth about Mary’s family and she’s absolutely thrilled. Mary sees her mother, though hesitates about seeing her father because they always seem to butt heads. Santa (Wendt) is doing better, but not great, and it’s clear to Mary that she must take over her father’s job until sometime after the holidays are over. She must get toy production up, learn how to drive a flying sleigh and how to get down a chimney to deliver toys. Time is short but Mary is certain, despite her father’s misgivings, that modernizing the toy making process, the letter sorting and “list” checking (which Donna gets the honor of checking—twice) that she’ll make the process better in the long run. It’s something she’s been dreaming about since she was a child. Santa doesn’t agree however and think things should stay the same (after all, it’s worked for centuries). But the elves (the only thing I didn’t like about this movie) just can’t handle change, and subsequently things go a little crazy. Mary’s also trying to multitask by getting her latest business project off the ground, deal with her boyfriend and her feelings for Luke. Eventually things come to a head when her boyfriend tracks her down and proposes to her (though the timing is undoubtedly fishy).
“Santa Baby” is certainly a family movie, though geared more towards adults (meaning mostly women) than it is children. McCarthy is good in this movie, as she avoids the screeching and exaggerated funny faces that made her famous, and Ivan Sergei is adorable as always (I’ve been a fan since he was on “Jack and Jill”). Catch it on ABC Family December 16th at 2:00 p.m.