Kathy is a young widow who runs a diner in the small town of Hope Springs. While she takes pride in her work, she hasn’t done much to care for herself or the house she once shared with her husband since his passing. After her friend Mel gives her a red scarf and encourages her to find love again, Kathy puts the scarf on the snow sculpture of a muscular man. Unbeknownst to Kathy, the sculpture comes to life later that night and takes the name of Jack. Despite the fact that Jack claims to be a snowman, Kathy finds herself falling for him.
I can’t lie; I assumed the movie would be terrible as soon as I saw the title. Netflix is very hit-or-miss with their rom-coms, especially their holiday rom-coms, and hello… the title was Hot Frosty. The premise was as ridiculous as the title. But I knew I was going to watch it anyway. And now that I’ve done that, I’ll admit it: Hot Frosty was not a great movie, but it wasn’t terrible, either!
I think what works in the movie’s favor is that the entire cast seems to understand what kind of movie they’re making. Nobody is phoning in their performance, but it’s clear they’re having fun with it. That certainly makes it more enjoyable for me.
While she’s probably best known for her role in Mean Girls (2004), Lacey Chabert has also appeared in over thirty Hallmark movies, so Hot Frosty probably wasn’t much of a stretch for her. I understand she was playing the “straight man” to Dustin Milligan’s Jack, but Chabert was the weak link in the cast for me. She is perfectly likable as Kathy, but I can’t help but think that with another actress at the helm, Kathy may have been a far more interesting character. It’s possible the character was just underwritten, but Kathy as a whole was underwhelming.
Like Buddy in Elf, Jack is a naive but sweet man who comes across as quite childlike before the “real world” prompts him to grow and mature – while never losing that optimistic innocence. Will Ferrell pulled it off without it being creepy – and Milligan manages to do the same. If you’ve ever watched Schitt’s Creek, you already know Milligan has what it takes to be both humorous and charming, and he is certainly both in this movie.
For whatever reason, all of the women in town seem to want Jack. He’s naive, but sweet and helpful. And he’s a total hottie, completely oblivious to all of the objectification. Not that it matters, of course, because Jack only has eyes for Kathy. While I wasn’t overly impressed with Kathy as a character, I do think Chabert and Milligan had nice chemistry. I found Kathy and Jack’s blossoming romance to be adorable, complete with a cutesy Christmas montage of baking cookies and snowball fights. It’s earnest in its sweetness, which can be hard to find in these ooey-gooey rom-coms.
Craig Robinson and Joe Lo Truglio, as the Sheriff and Deputy Sheriff of Hope Springs, add some comedic street cred to the film. Sheriff Hunter seems to be the de facto villain of the movie, though the extent of his villainy is that he is perhaps a little too aggressive in his search for the man (Jack) who was seen naked outside of a clothing store the night Jack came to life.
There’s really no major conflict found in Hot Frosty. While Jack did become a man, he’s still a snowman – I think? He’s never cold, and when he’s in a warm place for too long, he starts to sweat a lot – like he’s going to melt. If you know the story of Frosty the Snowman, you know where this is going.
Look, Hot Frosty isn’t going to become a Christmas classic, but it’s certainly one of Netflix’s better Christmas offerings. Carried by a talented cast, it’s entertaining, sweet, and invokes some genuine laughs. Don’t judge a movie by its title (or premise) as I did. Give it a try and enjoy the saccharine silliness.
Watched: 12/09/2024
Notable Song: feelslikeimfallinginlove by Coldplay feat. Zerb
