Hallmark Review: 'The Santa Stakeout'

In a Denver police station resides two detectives with polar opposite personalities. Rookie Tanya Morris (Tamera Mowry-Housley) loves Christmas and is a stickler for organization. Veteran detective Ryan Anderson (Paul Campbell) is indifferent to the holiday and couldn't care less about tidiness. Despite their differences, a surprise case throws them together. A string of art galleries have been burglarized and the detectives quickly surmise their prime suspect to be Francis Miller (Joe Pantoliano). He's an ex-felon with a history of theft who was working as a Santa at the parties preceding each robbery. But with no evidence for a search warrant, Ryan suggests that a stakeout be set up against Miller.

Much to their shared dismay, though, Tanya and Ryan's captain assigns the two of them to investigate Miller together. After moving into the house next door to Miller, an unexpected hiccup results in Tanya and Ryan having to get creative with their assignment--by posing as a newlywed couple! As they go about their ruse and integrate themselves into Miller's close-knit neighborhood, Tanya and Ryan begin to wonder if there's more to the case than meets the eye...and more to each other than they initially realized.

It's ironic how this movie and Most Wanted Santa both came out this year. Not only do their titles share a word in common, but both also have plots that center around art thefts being investigated by a pair of detectives who initially don't get along. They also occupy the same sort of blended genre: comedy mixed with the usual trappings of Hallmark holiday romance. Unlike the Tubi-released film, however, The Santa Stakeout puts a notably heavier emphasis on the romance of its plot than on its crime aspects. It's a good thing they do that, though. Even if you don't frequent Hallmark's whodunnit collection, it shouldn't take you too long to unwrap the mystery behind Francis Miller and the art robberies. Still, between the breezy pacing and story brimming with heart, The Santa Stakeout makes for a delightful movie about love, friendship, and rediscovering one's love for the holiday season.

The film gets off to a cute start with its opening sequence, which juxtaposes the familiar Christmas festivities against the plot-inciting art thefts. We're then introduced to our mismatched pair of soon-to-be investigative partners and the solid opening continues--albeit while hitting a few slick patches. While their performances have some infrequent bouts of stiffness, Tamera Mowry-Housley and Paul Campbell loosen up as the story goes on and their characters' dynamic changes. Tanya and Ryan start as your average cop odd couple, with Tanya being the by-the-books optimist to Ryan's loose cannon cynic. The two work well together comedically (Campbell's comedic timing and facial acting are consistently great) and sell the Enemies to Friends to Something More transformation of Tanya and Ryan's relationship. Some of their bickering conversations get a little annoying, but once Tanya and Ryan let their guards down and drop the biting snark, they become an endearing detective duo as they convince their new neighbors they're a honeymoon-phase husband and wife.

Those neighbors, in turn, provide The Santa Stakeout with another helping of charm. At the center of Tanya and Ryan's new neighborhood sits Francis Miller/"Mr. Christmas." While Mowry-Housley and Campbell's acting was really only stiff during the first act, Joe Pantoliano's performance is sporadically shaky for much longer. But like the two leads, Pantoliano still excels at capturing his character's personality. An outwardly festive man with a perpetually kind attitude, you'll fall in love with Miller's energy as easily as Tanya and Ryan do and join them in hoping he's not back to his old ways. Pantoliano is matched in lovability by the actors playing Miller's Christmas Committee colleagues. They bring the necessary wholesomeness to their portrayal of a group of friendly neighbors ready to welcome newcomers into their quaint little community. The black sheep of the bunch is Lindsay Winch's Alicia, whose schtick of awkwardly hitting on Ryan (someone she believes to be a married man) falling flat for the most part before being abruptly dropped.

On the whole, though, you'll understand why Tanya and Ryan find their new home so appealing. It's especially easy to see why the community appeals so much to Ryan. In addition to having lost his Christmas spirit after a bitter divorce, he also reveals that he never knew his father growing up. It makes the vaguely paternal interest that Miller takes with Ryan all the sweeter. When it comes to supporting characters unconnected to the Miller neighborhood, The Santa Stakeout is pretty sparse and hardly any of them stand out in the best way. Peter Bryant's Captain Fletcher initially gives off Raymond Holt vibes which could've been used to great comedic effect. But after a few moderately funny skits when he's first assigning Tanya and Ryan the case, Fletcher is offscreen for most of the movie. And when he does reappear, he's shifted into your standard stern police captain. The fact that Fletcher at one point coldly (and needlessly) chides his detectives and never apologizes for it further wastes the character's potential. Raf Rogers fares slightly better as klutzy Officer Talbot, who plays a key role in the best sequence of the film.

Interestingly, there are three Hallmark regulars in The Santa Stakeout relegated to incredibly minor roles. Dolores Drake appears for all of one scene as Tanya's neighbor Mrs. Wilson. Ecstasia Sanders only gets a little more time as her sister Amy. But Rebecca Staab's diminished role is the most egregious of the trio. SPOILER ALERT After it becomes clear no one in Miller's neighborhood is responsible for the robberies, Lois Carmichael is left as the only "safe" culprit. Staab only gets one scene before the reveal, with her lack of screentime and Lois's generic motivation/dialogue giving her next to nothing to work with. Spoilers Over But to lighten the mood, here's a fun fact: two of the previously mentioned actresses have appeared in a Hallmark movie that had Paul Campbell as the leading man prior to The Santa Stakeout. Drake was in A Godwink Christmas and Staab was in Christmas by Starlight.

While the film's story is on the simple side despite its unconventional setup, The Santa Stakeout has more than enough heart and humor to make that story fun to follow. The main cast powers through some rough spots to get you interested in their characters and how they change throughout the movie. Tanya and Ryan will make you laugh as much as they'll make you smile when they warm up to each other. The antics they get into are funny, the people they wind up befriending are adorable in how cordial they are, and there's a refreshing lack of artificial conflict to threaten their budding relationship. If you have an aversion to convoluted third-act misunderstandings, The Santa Stakeout is devoid of any of those narrative headaches. So if you have a cozy blanket and some leftover Christmas cookies, here's a movie to consider giving a watch while snuggled under the former and snacking on the latter.

Score: 7.5 out of 10 mugs of Santa coffee.