As far as Christmas-themed rom-coms are concerned, every passing year opens the floodgates to innumerable entries, be it big-budget studio pictures, or small-scale Hallmark flicks. Hot Frosty joins the ranks of a seemingly bottomless subgenre often content to go for the easy marks rather than attempt any form of originality. Thankfully, writer Russell Hainline (The Santa Summit, In Merry Measure) and director Jerry Ciccoritti (Angel Falls Christmas, Holidaze) have respectively spent plenty of time playing in the Christmas sandbox—the result is a sugary-sweet rom-com that never overstays its welcome. Led by the doofy charisma of adorable-yet-hunky Dustin Milligan (Schitt’s Creek, CW’s 90210) and a charming turn from Lacey Chabert (Mean Girls, Black Christmas), this whimsical take on a familiar tale should help charge up yuletide cheer just in time to put up a Christmas tree.
Kathy (Chabert) has spent most of her time since the passing of her husband simply wallowing, allowing her home and subsequently her own life to fall into a state of disrepair. Kathy’s bleak existence, filled with leaky ceilings and cold nights, changes for good after being gifted with a mysterious scarf. When she places it on an especially chiseled male snow sculpture in the midst of her town’s annual sculpture competition, Jack (Milligan) magically comes to life. Naked but endearingly innocent, Jack must learn the ropes of human life—starting with raiding a store for clothes. This unintentional robbery puts Jack in the crosshairs of the town’s local law enforcement (Craig Robinson, Joe Lo Truglio). Jack’s fish-out-of-water hijinks lead to plenty of hilarious moments as he gravitates towards his “creator,” Kathy.
Christmas fairy tales are often filled with cutesy moments of predictable fun; despite an opening claiming the contrary, Hot Frosty still presents plenty of cliches, albeit with its own unique spin. More than living up to the title, we get plenty of shirtless scenes of Milligan, sporting an impressive physique and toned abs that gel wonderfully with the character’s naive personality. He quickly becomes Kathy’s emotional support, also managing to absorb plenty of knowledge from watching television. Before long, Jack whips up eggnog, and starts to work on repairing Kathy’s roof. It all seems too good to be true. Jack must maintain cold temperatures so that he will not melt, but the presentation of this element is one of the only actual magical details in the storyline. Otherwise, rather typical rom-com flair plays out as expected, with a new man for Kathy helping to open her up to the many possibilities that life has on offer.
Despite being a rather standard rom-com affair, I still had a lot of fun with this one. Perhaps it was lowered expectations, or just being the first holiday movie of the season watched—whatever the case, the easy chemistry between Chabert and Milligan makes for an entertaining watch. The addition of Robinson as a semi-annoying supporting character works in the film’s favor to provide a villainous roadblock for Jack and Kathy getting together. Robinson’s bumbling cop receives better material than expected, even singing a song about Hope Springs in the police station. A careful balance of humor and heartfelt emotion plays out in a way that will have viewers rooting for Jack to stick around for good. Hot Frosty accomplishes exactly what was promised on the tin, managing to craft a heartfelt holiday treat with a dash of magic. It goes down easier than a glass of ice cubes.
Bundle up for a special night with Hot Frosty, coming exclusively to Netflix on Wednesday, November 13th.
