Myself and Aimee watched a film on Netflix last night called Hot Frosty, which is presented like one of those Hallmark films, but it has some familiar faces in it. It's a Christmas movie and as such, it's to be expected that there would be a heavy dose of cheese, coupled with a side portion of heart-warming moments.
The Cast
Lacey Chabert is the main character and I knew her from Mean Girls... as did the creators of this film, because there are a few jokes centred around her involvement in that movie. One of which is where she is watching one of Lindsey Lohan's films and mentions that she looks like someone she went to high school with.
Some people may roll their eyes at jokes like that, but for me, I like it when films kind of poke fun at themselves, and that's very much how this one felt. The actors, and crew didn't take it seriously and were just having fun, and that's nice to see sometimes; especially when that energy translates to the screen, which it does in this movie.
Acting as the romantic partner is Jack Snowman played by Dustin Milligan. He played the character well in a very tongue-in-cheek way.
The antagonist of the movie is Craig Robinson, who has appeared in many comedies over the years and played his role well.
The Plot
There's not really much to it. A lonely woman ends up giving a scarf to a hot snowman sculpture and after taking a photo, kissing it, or both, the snowman comes to life and is found by her the next morning, in the place where she first gave him the scarf.
He's clueless and attractive, so of course, she has to take him in and teach him how to be a Human. And of course, because he's attractive, she can't help but fall for him. But since he accidentally broke into a store for clothes, the town's chief of police is following him, leading to a bit of a cat-and-mouse tale.
I tried not to spoil anything.
While watching it, I mentioned that this is an archetype for a particular type of film and it's actually been used a few times in movies.
Someone coined the term, "Born Sexy Yesterday," which is essentially what this, and many other films are doing with a story like this. A sexy person is literally born with no knowledge of anything and kind of has to be nurtured and cared for by a parental figure, turned love interest when they finally fully understand how to be a Human.
Fifth Element has the same archetype and there are a few others out there.
Usually, it's a female character, but there are plenty of male characters too who this happens to in the film. It can be seen as kind of perverse or weird in a way, and it is, but also it could be seen in another way. Where these types of tropes are used as a way for a main character to basically create their own love interest or "perfect" person. Kind of like a build-a-bear.
It's A Fairly Good Film
All round, it's not bad. I've seen worse films, but I think it's the sort of thing you'd have to be in the mood for. After watching nothing but serious films, or TV shows, it's usually refreshing to watch something along these lines, but if you've seen a few silly non-serious movies, maybe this would feel like overkill.
There are a lot of funny - not laugh out loud, but still funny - moments, and there are a few times where the film feels a bit too silly, and borderline lazy. There are also moments where the film feels like it's written by A.I.
There is one part in the film that raises an eyebrow. The snowman is basically taken back to a woman's house when she sees him, and when he gets there she has a bunch of older friends who are all perving on him, while he obliviously helps carry out a task.
Aimee kind of shook her head and said, "Think of this if the roles were reversed." I kind of nodded, because to be fair, if they were reversed it would have a totally different tone, rather than the carefree way the movie portrayed it.
