The Heist Before Christmas
Published December 27, 2023
Film info
- Title The Heist Before Christmas
- Director David Kerr
- Year 2023
- Run time 1hr 17m
- Genres Family, Adventure
- Tagline It's time to take sides
Twelve-year-old Mikey Collins, who’s dirt-poor and hates Christmas, finds two Santa Clauses in the woods. One has just pulled off a bank heist and is on the run with the cash, the other Santa claims to have fallen out of his sleigh. Mikey has no time for this second guy – he’s well past believing any of the Jingle Bells, spirit-of-the-season rubbish, even if his little brother Sean insists on treating the old man like a superstar. Instead, Mikey’s determined to get his hands on the bank-robber’s cash, convinced that this is the answer to giving his family the Christmas they all crave. But as Mikey risks everything for the loot, he comes to realise that maybe the spirit of Christmas is alive after all...
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 3:24 | Didn’t know this was set in Ireland, love the way the kid says Howard. |
| 8:38 | “Do you always wear your coat in the house?” Sharp question. |
| 10:56 | “What do people want on Christmas Day? Batteries.” |
| 13:59 | Stuff for a Pound Area Manager. |
| 22:30 | “I don’t make guns anymore, not since the sixties.” |
| 29:04 | You gotta steal the right flavour of crisps. |
| 34:23 | Surely kids don’t write to Santa outside of Christmas. |
| 41:54 | Reminds me of The Sting, what was I supposed to do, call him out for cheating better than me? |
| 48:20 | “What are you looking for, Mikey, Shaun or the money?” |
| 55:42 | Bonus a cappella Sugababes. |
| 1:04:12 | It seems like these kids know the woods like the back of their hands, so I wouldn’t really want to go up against them. |
| 1:06:13 | I like that they’ve put Christmas lights on the derelict digger. |
| 1:13:29 | So much love for the family putting money second. |
Thoughts
I hadn’t initially planned for this to be a Film Watch viewing, as I thought it was TV rather than movie. But my new metric is whether it appears on Letterboxd, and it does, so what the hey, it counts. It was a bit short and kept going to ad break cards (although thankfully no actual ads) but definitely a film. Hmm.
The actual story though was good - love the accents, love the setting, nice family in difficult circumstances, would have liked it to be a bit more heisty than just walking through a forest, but entertaining and a good cast.
Rating: 3 / 5
