A Big Fat Family Christmas (2022 TV Movie) User Reviews

The story is more than a simple romance

[Jackbv123 · 7/10 · 4 December 2022]

While there are some echoes of some common Christmas stories, there is a lot that is unique in this one. At the start it is about a photo=journalist who gets assigned to cover a famous Christmas party in the Chinese community without her editor knowing the family giving it is hers. As the story goes on, we learn that she has also had an influence on the development of the party.

Liv reacts strongly to anything that ties her to her family in public. At first I thought Shannon Chan-Kent was overacting with this. By the end of the story her emotion becomes more understandable. This woman brings real energy to the part.

There is a romance between Liv and the writer, Henry, assigned with her. They spend a lot of screen time together, but the romance between them is not as obvious as would be expected from all that screen time. There is Chinese-American history and culture and sights to see.

The conflict begins far earlier than usual but is complex and takes time to really develop. In that, there are some threads associated with racial bullying mixed up with and contributing to Liv's insecurities.

Chan-Kent sings twice in the movie including the climax. I believe the language was Cantonese. Her voice and the song are beautiful.

Ka-Chang!

[rebekahrox · 7/10 · 4 December 2022]

Liv is a photographer for the San Francisco Chronicle who reports to Jack Wagner who plays Charles. She is assigned to work with Henry, a newcomer from Bangkok, to write about the Chang family's famous Christmas party that raises money for the Chinatown community, affectionately called The Changtastic Christmas. It is circus-like, outlandish, and unapologetically over the top. Little do her boss and new partner know, Liv Rose is actually Liv Chang. She has always kept her identity a secret because she has always been embarrassed by her "Crazy Loud Asian" family, especially at Christmas. She prefers quiet elegance and muted tones. It's a tribute to Shannon Chan-Kent's portrayal that her character isn't thoroughly dislikable. It is made clear that other than her blind spot about her family's Christmas traditions, she loves them very much and she has a good heart.

It is not long before Henry, who is thoroughly charmed by the Chang family, finds out Liv's true identity as their beloved daughter. She agrees to help with the story as long as she and her connection to the family are kept out of it. She cares too much about what people think and does not want her connection to her parents (Mom played by Tia Carrere) made public. It is not long before love between the two journalists is on the horizon. Unfortunately, the romance is a weak point in the movie. Henry is very bland and has a very weird accent. For me, the vibe was "friendly colleague" rather than "smitten true love". He is kind of stand-offish with her even at the end. Too bad, I really liked him in The Conjuring.

Henry submits his story to Charles who gives it a thumbs down, saying it needs a more personal connection to the famous Changs. This is where Liv confesses her secret identity to Charles. With her OK, they set about giving the feature a more personal spin and bringing in more about the family. Henry goes with Liv to collect the donations from each family in the community which are hung in red bags on the Christmas tree at the party. (the donations, not the families.) This is where it all goes sideways. Liv (and Henry) lose the big bag of money on the trolley car! This in turn leads to what might be an unhealable and hurtful breach with her family. Words are had.

Luckily, this had a very strong and satisfying ending. We learn about a childhood incident that caused Liv to put up her boundaries in the first place. A depressed and contrite Liv seeks refuge at her local church, the historic Old Saint Mary's Cathedral on Grant Avenue. She is given wise advice and hope from a nice woman who works there. May I digress? I think it's really cool and says a lot for Hallmark that they have retreated from their move towards the more secular and incorporated some religious themes. And they have done it with subtlety, and with sensitivity and discretion. Yes, the shift was probably due to the emergence of GAC (Gack) as another alternative Christmas movie channel and the defection of some of their more prominent old...uh, stars and the attendant publicity. Of course as it turns out, GAC's ratings are not even a blip on the screen compared with Hallmark's mighty numbers. But competition sometimes shakes things up, doesn't it? Anyway, Liv finds a way to make good on the donations, heal the breach with her family, her community, and embrace her culture regardless of "what people think." And it all results in their story being featured on the front page of the newspaper! Ka-ching ka-Chang!

Didn't bowl me over, but very nice

[VetteRanger · 7/10 · 4 December 2022]

First, it's delightful to see Tia Carrera in this film, and she did a great job as the mother of the female lead.

Next, they did a good job with a nice switch to an Oriental themed family, and a MUCH better job than the montage story about the Chinese restaurant (Golden Dragon) closing.

This story is one of growth and acceptance with few stumbling blocks along the way. The two incidents which did arise didn't cause a major crisis either time. The romance really didn't have the normal "How do they get past this?" moment, which also provided a nice change from that cliche.

I enjoyed the movie, and I can recommend it to Hallmark fans.

Chang-tastick holiday-different Christmas story

[Saving21 · 7/10 · 14 December 2022]

This was one of the classic tales of hallmark Christmas movies. A women or a man who doesn't like part of his/her family connecting to Christmas finds out that it's actually the best. But in this variation the story is very different. And is much bigger than Christmas. This story is about a Chinese American female photographer from San Francisco who her Chinese family is hosting one of the biggest Christmas parties in the block. She doesn't feel comfortable with it and tries to hide it from her co workers. But when new reporter shows up and wants to do Christmas article about it she is trying to hide it but in the end after lots of missteps she reconnects to her family and kiss the guy.

The story looks very generic but it's not, the movie is much bigger than that when you find out that the main character tried to hide from her Chinese family party , it was because she was bullied as a child and that trauma made her try to protect her identity. This is about being Chinese American in USA or maybe any immigrant in USA. It's about racism and bullying and fitting in. I thought it was nicely done I loved the story & the actors were great. I also liked that they added some Chinese theme music to the soundtrack and had scenes in Chinese. Today it's hard showing social issues in tv, because most of the times the writers are preaching to us and not showing us the real issues. This movie was different it showed us in a beautiful way about Chinese Americans and dealt with today issues but not in a preaching way.

With a little help, girl embraces her heritage and her loving family.

[cgvsluis · 7/10 · 22 November 2023]

I loved seeing Tia Carrera and all the little bits of San Francisco history...including how and by who Chinatown was built.

This is the story of a daughter, ashamed of her crazy mixed-Asian family. When she gets assigned as the staff photographer to a new to the chronicle reporter who wants to do a front page story on the Chang's Big Christmas party, she doesn't tell him that she is a Chang.

This is less of a romance and more of a daughter finding her way back to being proud of her family and her community.

I really enjoyed this hallmark Holliday film. I think anyone with family will appreciate and enjoy this film. It is a recommendation from me.

Worth watching

[dizzylou818 · 9/10 · 5 December 2022]

This was overall a really good Christmas movie. Reminiscent of a Wonderful Life when certain things go wrong. Also, the love shown among family and neighbors was wonderful. It was different from so many Hallmark movies because it just wasn't about the romance and regular holiday activities . It was very interesting to hear about Chinese culture and traditions. It was especially nice to hear Liv sing at the end of the show at the Christmas party in Cantonese. She did a beautiful job and it was very I thought all the characters were likable and interacted well with each other. I like that love of God, family and one another was the objective of the story.

Fluff and chatter

[MickyG333 · 7/10 · 8 November 2023]

6.7 stars.

Not sure my thoughts align with any of the other reviewers thus far. I was looking for someone in agreement with my sentiments, but my search has been fruitless. First of all, 'A Big Fat Family Christmas' is not about Christmas, it's about a woman who is ashamed of being what she is because of some trauma she endured as a youngster. The story only takes place during the holidays, but it's coincidental as far as the theme is concerned. What a clever insertion of Christmas in order to get this film put into the Hallmark lineup (otherwise this story never makes it onto your TV screen).

We are led on a circuitous route and eventually transported to the crux, anticipated by all, but overly delayed. I don't see any point other than a testament of the feelings of a young American woman ashamed of her Chinese and Filipino descent. No romance and no feel-good Hallmark appeal is found as we witness two young Asians traipsing about San Francisco sharing their prolonged emotional and existential diatribes.

I cannot empathize with these likeable people because I've not experienced anything similar, but I have many Asian friends who have and I sympathize.

Loved this!

[FrankWButterfield · 10/10 · 3 December 2022]

I really loved this movie. The two MCs were engaging and the supporting characters brought a lot to the story. All of the actors were good to excellent. The two Shannons (Shannon Kook is the male lead and Shannon Chan-Kent is the female lead) were really great in their roles. Kook's South African accent comes in handy.

The use of the word "fat" in the title is an excellent choice because of its meaning in Cantonese ("happy") as well as how it alludes to a certain Greek wedding.

The production was well-done. I know that filming the whole movie in San Francisco isn't feasible, but the exterior shots in the City were well-done and well-placed. I also loved that Cantonese was used in the dialog. It definitely made it feel real.

Really enjoyable and fun to watch

[DeeLoLats · 9/10 · 6 December 2022]

I liked this story. Scratch that. I loved it! It had the feel of Fat Greek Wedding movies, as the title gave the impression would be.

The asians are really good at comedy. I don't know the stars at all but Shannon, who, at first seemed long in the tooth to play the daughter, ended up being the biggest surprise for me.

She sold her character. She played it so beautifully that her age didn't matter to me anymore and I even managed to convince myself she was supposed to play a mid 30s single daughter. What a singing voice!! Wow!!

I have watched Tia grow up on TV and in movies, so it was kinda cool to see her play the mom in this one.

Give it a watch. I think you'll enjoy it too.

Fusion of Cultures & Cute Celebrations

[HallmarkJenny · 9/10 · 5 December 2022]

I learned so much about how other communities and cultures celebrate Christmas! I absolutely loved the over-the-top Christmas decorations and the unexpected Christmas magic of San Francisco. The entire story line is refreshing and cheerful in all aspects!

Summary: Liv is an up-and-coming photojournalist at the San Francisco Chronicle when she gets the lead cover story covering the Chang's Christmas Party with Henry, a new co-worker at the paper. Liv is embarrassed that she is The Chang's daughter as she believes they 'over-do' Christmas, fuse together too many cultures, and should keep the Holiday simple.

"Christmas symbolizes a time of community's coming together and a refuge for those who need it." -Old Saint Mary's cathedral caretaker.

MeetCute: Liv spots Henry at the San Francisco Chronicle as she makes coffee and enjoys a gingerbread cookie. She snaps a picture of him and he notices! She tells him it was too beautiful not to photograph. They later are assigned to cover the Chang's Christmas Party together, Henry writing and Liv capturing pictures of the Christmas magic.

The Chang's Christmas Party Henry and Liv are asked to showcase a story about The Chang's Christmas Party that is a fusion of cultures with lots of decorations, food, and the community. The Chinese neighborhood are very close as a result of this party, that brings them together. Henry documents all of this as Liv is embarrassed about the spectacle of the party, preferring to stay low-key and behind the camera as Henry chronicles all of her family's party traditions. We learn that Liv was bullied as a young teenager when bullies at school recorded her singing in Chinese and sent it around the immature middle schoolers who embarrassed Liv. She realizes she is embarrassed for being ashamed of her culture all these years.

The Chang's host a tradition of collecting money in lucky red envelopes, displaying the red envelopes on the tree with one lucky winner giving all the donated money to the local community center that sponsors extracurricular activities. Liv is asked to collect all the red envelopes full of money; Liv and Henry hang off a trolly shouting "Merry Christmas!" and the bag falls out of Liv's hands, they lose all the money! This leads to a giant fight between Liv and her parents.

Liv posts a video to her followers explaining that her real last name is Chang and she is proud of her heritage. Her followers donate and then some, before a good Samaritan returns the lost bag of donations!

The party is over-the-top fantastic with the whole neighborhood coming and lots of yummy Asian-fusion food. Liv triumphantly sings "Oh Holy Night" in Chinese for the party's crowd!

Ending Kiss: Liv tells Henry that they make a great team and she would love to cover more stories together. She then tells him she wants to be more than friends and they kiss at the party!

Liv takes a family selfie with Henry, then they dance and enjoy the party.

Henry and Liv flash-forward to their article titled 'The Prodigal Daughter and Her Changtastic Chrsitmas!' that hangs on the wall at Liv's place. Liv gives Henry a gift, it is the Chinese Mistletoe! Henry holds it up and the new couple finally kisses under the Chinese Mistletoe.

Kevin kisses Kyra right on the agility course and tells her he loves her! They kiss while the crowd watches and claps as Sam comes in between them!

Liv Rose Chang (Shannon Chan-Kent)

[aab874 · 10/10 · 29 December 2022]

Favorite scene with

Liv Rose Chang (Shannon Chan-Kent) - Admitting to Everyone at the Party that she had been Embarrassed by her Roots and the Party and had Lost the Money, Getting the Money Returned by Someone who had Found it, and Singing "O Holy Night" in Chinese. Wow!!! So Very Beautiful!!! BTW #1, I Loved, Loved, Loved this Movie! BTW #2, I Love Henry (Shannon Kook)! He is So Dang Charming and So Dang Hot!!! BTW #3, I Love Ivy (Tia Carrere)! She is So Dang Hilarious!!! BTW #4, Please Make a Sequel!!!

Set in California. I Can't Believe that I Have Never Been to San Francisco!!! I Loved how Henry (Shannon Kook) brought up the History of how Chinatown came to be due to the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.