[Warning: General spoilers ahead.]
Melissa Joan Hart has been all over our TVs with Anthony Anderson this season in some very silly and cute Walmart commercials, and this weekend, she steps behind the camera to helm The Santa Con, a new holiday film for Lifetime where she co-stars alongside Barry Watson, Melissa Sagemiller, Wendy Williams, Jaleel White, Scott Grimes, and John Ratzenberger.
Here’s what we’re promised: Small-time con man Nick DeMarcco (Watson) is ordered by his parole officer to take a minimum-wage job as a department store Santa during the holidays…and he hates it. Near the end of his first shift, he hastily promises a young boy, Billy (Tucker Meeks), that Santa will bring his estranged parents back together by Christmas. When his sister Rosemary (Hart) hears this, she is livid and can’t believe he would break a little boy’s heart with an empty promise. After a long night of soul searching – and with the help of an insightful female pastor (Williams) – Nick decides to make good on his promise to the child, somehow. But after meeting the boy’s mother Carol (Sagemiller), will Nick ultimately choose to put the happiness of others ahead of his own?
It’s a fun film with some serious moments thrown in, and Hart, Watson, and White click together in their scenes with each other. Watson has way to much fun feeding people utter BS with a completely straight face and just a hint of a wink, and then just gliding on it, for the most part.
The Santa Con airs Saturday at 8 pm/7c on Lifetime. Here’s a sneak peek:
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