1000 Miles From Christmas, or A mil kilómetros de la Navidad, is a romantic-comedy Christmas movie directed by Álvaro Fernández Armero, and stars Tamar Novas, Verónica Forqué, Andrea Ros, and Peter Vives, alongside other cast members. The movie is 102 minutes long.
Netflix describes the movie as:
An auditor who completely despises Christmas is sent to a small town for work, where he meets a woman determined to change his view about the holiday.
– 1000 Miles From Christmas review does not contain spoilers –
Raul is one of those insufferable a-holes whom you wouldn’t want even 5 meters from you, especially during the holidays. The good thing is, they, hopefully, wouldn’t want to come close to you either. He is insufferably annoying and makes it a point to ruin good things for everyone around him. I mean, I get it if you don’t want to celebrate Christmas, but why ruin it for others around you? Because they are unhappy, spoilt and annoying people who can’t get out of their own misery to see the bigger picture. But I digress.
The people around him, on the other hand, are extremely enthusiastic about everything in life. Too into Christmas, too into chatting about their own children… you get the gist. It’s like most of these people were made with keeping the extremes in mind. There’s Raul who despises happiness and then there is everyone else whose excitement knows no bounds. The only person who seems somewhere in the middle of the two extremes spectrum is Paula, a school teacher with a very odd dream.
Anyway, 1000 Miles From Christmas gives very conflicting feelings about the holiday season. Raul and Paul’s interactions are extremely annoying and a while after that you just feel second-hand embarrassment for Raul’s unnecessary outbursts about Christmas to children. For all those wondering, we do get to see the reasons why Raul hates Christmas so much, but really, harbouring this much hatred for a holiday points towards deeper issues that need to be addressed.
Much like every other movie and piece of media out there, 1000 Miles From Christmas has Raul changing his stance for manic pixie girl Paula. She’s the type who does it all – she’s the teacher, karate teacher, singing instructor and seasonal Nativity scene maker, among a host of other things. She’s always up to something or the other and also bringing a positive change in Raul’s life. Now, I am all for your lovers bringing out the best in you. But Raul’s problems cannot be solved by the power of Paula’s positivity. At least she doesn’t dedicate her life to solving his issues.
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1000 Miles From Christmas has a predictable plot and you know what’s going to happen from the moment it starts. After the initial annoyance, the movie is entertaining in some places and funny in some others. After Raul stops being such an insufferable jerk, his redeemable qualities come forth that makes this almost pleasant. It shows what change can come around in a person when they are surrounded by nice people and they accept the good vibes as well.
Tamar Novas is great as Raul, the insufferable Grinch who has a change of heart. You will be annoyed with him at first, but sympathy will slowly creep into your outlook as Raul is double-crossed by those around him.
Summing up: 1000 Miles from Christmas
1000 Miles From Christmas turns from an insufferable and predictable Christmas movie to a predictable and heartwarming Christmas movie. It’s not the brightest bulb out there but it sure is warm.
1000 Miles From Christmas is streaming on Netflix.
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