Let’s get this out of the way: I’m not much of a romantic comedy person at all. It’s definitely not a genre I reach for a lot of the time, especially not Christmas rom-coms. They just seem a little too cheesy for me and I’ve always been kind of bitter towards love. Not that I’m a cynic or anything.
However, all of that went out the window when I heard about “Operation Christmas Drop.” The plot sounded so freaking adorable. But, I’ll be completely honest with you. The sole reason I had any interest in watching this film is that my all-time celebrity crush, Alexander Ludwig, is in it. I have been obsessed with this man since 2009 when he starred in “Race to Witch Mountain.” When I heard that he was going to be the love interest in this film, it was safe to say that I was more than on board with watching it.
Erica (Kat Graham) is a congressional aide, hoping to receive a promotion soon. She is asked to spend her Christmas at an Air Force base in Guam to investigate a mission entitled Operation Christmas Drop, in order to see if the military base should be defunded. While there, she meets Captain Andrew Jantz (Alexander Ludwig), who she immediately clashes with. Eventually, the two learn the truth about each other and how crucial Operation Christmas Drop truly is.
Now, if I’m being straightforward with you, this movie was super cheesy, With that said, I still had a fun time with it! I forced my mom to watch it with me, and she even enjoyed “Operation Christmas Drop.” It’s just a cute, feel-good movie that will warm your heart this holiday season.
The setting of this film was absolutely gorgeous. Guam has always been a place on my travel bucket list, and this movie only made me want to go there more. The shots of the beaches were incredible and the jungle looked so luscious and green. This movie’s main purpose obviously was not to promote travel to the Mariana Islands, but it won’t hurt the travel industry either.
The plot of “Operation Christmas Drop” was definitely fun. It is certainly predictable throughout most of the movie. However, one part definitely caught both my mom and me by surprise (which is pretty embarrassing to admit looking back on it now). The enemies-to-lovers aspect of the film was good because that’s one of my favorite tropes. However, I do wish there would’ve been more of a slow burn. The movie is only 95 minutes long, so I understand that there was not that much time to fully develop a romance with as long of a slow burn as I would’ve liked. Also, there really wasn’t too much romance in “Operation Christmas Drop.” I’m not complaining about this. There definitely was romance for those of you who want that out of the movie, but it was good for somebody like me who doesn’t normally reach for rom-coms.
After learning that Operation Christmas Drop is an actual mission flown by pilots at the Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, it made everything that much better. Also, one of the actors in the film, Bruce Best, actually played himself because he participates in Operation Christmas Drop every year. It’s so great that the film honors those who make this awesome, spectacular mission possible!
An area where this movie kind of flopped was the acting. Granted, it is a cheesier movie, so I didn’t expect phenomenal acting or anything. I think Alexander Ludwig did a pretty good job, but I am super biased here. Plus, even I can say this isn’t his best role ever. Personally, I wanted more from Kat Graham’s performance. Her delivery on some lines really fell flat for me. Her chemistry with Ludwig was there, but sometimes I found her hard to believe when she had scenes by herself. Virginia Madsen, who played Congresswoman Bradford, really irked me in this movie. I don’t recall seeing her in anything before, so I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt here and say it was just her character that was bad, not her acting. Her character just wasn’t very believable, in my opinion.
Another aspect of “Operation Christmas Drop” that fell flat for me was the comedy piece of it. I was hoping to laugh a lot more than I did. None of the lines stood out to me because they weren’t particularly funny. Don’t get me wrong, I did laugh at some points throughout the movie; it just wasn’t laugh-your-head-off funny. For a rom-com, it lacked in both the areas of rom and com.
For me, it’s not a movie I’m mad I watched at all. With that said, I also don’t need to add it to my mandatory Christmas viewing list that I watch every year. Let’s just say it’s no “Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas!” However, I would definitely recommend you give “Operation Christmas Drop” a watch if you’re in the mood for a new Christmas romantic comedy this season!