Let It Snow Review
6:03 PM
It's that time of year. The time where everyone gets swept up in the festive, holiday spirit, which includes getting cozy and watching allll the holiday movies and TV specials. I can personally include myself in that category, as I recently had a cozy weekend of decorating, making christmas cookies, and watching some of my favorite christmas movies. But one that I didn't think would be on my list... is Let It Snow. But don't you worry—I watched it, so you don't have to.
I first heard about this Netflix original from my coworker, and as she was describing the plot, it donned on me that Let It Snow is based on the holiday YA novel of the same title... the one that I read every year. That Let It Snow. As cheesy and fluffy as it is, I adore the book Let It Snow. It's the perfect christmasy book to read around the holiday season, and while it definitely has its faults, it also has a lot of heart... not to mention all the snowy-themed antics that ensue! It's a book that's near and dear to my heart, so when I heard my coworker talking about the movie, my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to see how the adaptation compared.
And hoo boy, let me first of all warn those who are like me and are also fans of the book: The Netflix movie is basically very, very loosely based on the book. When the movie started, I was SO confused at first because I didn't recognize any of the various storylines that were montaging across the screen. Who's that guy? Wait, I don't recognize her, was she in the book..? Have I seriously forgotten that much? But no, it wasn't just me, because as I soon started to piece everything together, I realized that all three storylines we follow in this movie were pretty drastically altered from how they were written in the book.
So let's go over a few of these changes!
This was the first immediate difference I noticed and the most jarring one by far. In the book, the first story follows Jubilee and Stuart, who cross paths after Jubilee's train gets stuck in the snow and she's forced to disembark on foot. Stuart is very much your all-around, boy-next-door. When he meets Jubilee, he invites her to stay at his house while she sorts things out, and it's there where Jubilee is swept up in Stuart's cozy home, including his adorable and incredible caring mother who basically dotes on Jubilee as if she were her own daughter. Everything about Stuart is perfectly and unequivocally normal.
By comparison, Stuart in the movie is the complete opposite of normal. A chart-topping music artist, he can't go anywhere without someone recognizing him, despite how much he sometimes wishes he could just be a regular person *groan* While on his tour, he makes an unexpected stop, where he meets Jubilee. As they spend the day together, they find themselves learning more and more about each other and the worlds they both live in.
Okay, this was by far my least favorite storyline, just because of how drastically it was changed from the book... and for what? So we could get the most cliche trope in its place?? Fun fact: I detest the trope of a celebrity meeting a "normal person" by twist of fate and the two of them gradually falling in love. Can't. Stand it. It's been done SO many times, so at this point it just feels like one giant cliche and lacking any kind of originality. Not only that, but it feels like the story loses so much authenticity by Stuart not being just an average guy with a sweet, caring mother who loves Christmas, and instead being a pop sensation who everyone fawns over. That, combined with the overly fluffy romantic scenes and unnecessary giggling during a sleigh ride, this whole storyline was like something out of a Hallmark movie.
Side note: there's a part of me that's sliiiightly uncomfy about the fact that the actress playing Jubilee also recently played, er, Dora the Explorer? And despite being 18 (baaarely legal...) she still looks very, very young, whereas the actor who plays Stuart is 24 and looks a lot older than her? The age difference just throws me off, and it just comes across as a twenty-something dude putting the moves on a twelve-year old...
2. JP: From Best Friend to Dreamboat
The second story also gets a major makeover in the adaptation, but it's almost more comical than anything—because JP goes from being Tobin's goofy best friend to this insanely attractive guy who looks like he just stepped out of an Abercrombie & Fitch catalog. Even better, he's now "the other guy," there to playfully flirt with The Duke and make Tobin jealous since he himself secretly has feelings for her. I feel like if Book JP were real, he would be dying over this... and also approve at being portrayed by such a good-looking actor, seeing as how the two are different in virtually every way. In the book, JP is just an average guy who cracks joke left and right, acts like he's a smooth-talking ladies man when we all know he's not, yet has a certain confidence to him that's almost admirable. He basically has the same personality as Keon in the movie.
My big hangup is that I really don't get why they had to change JP into this hot guy to create tension and make Tobin jealous when the original from the book would've still been a good story. Three friends whose movie marathon night gets pushed aside in favor of driving through a snowstorm across town to the local waffle house in pursuit of glorious hashbrowns? How much more wholesome can you get?! So knowing who JP is in the book, I couldn't take any of this seriously the whole time watching. Plus there's this painfully cheesy moment where Tobin and the Duke spontaneously break into a tender duet on piano, until JP randomly bursts into the middle of it, swoops The Duke up, and starts twirling her?? No! This is all wrong! JP and The Duke are supposed to be BROS. Ride or die friends! Not sweet and romantic!
3. They Should've. Gotten. Together!
I was never a big fan of this story in the book, but out of all three stories, this is the one where I think I actually prefer the movie version! Basically, we follow Addie, who's worried that her boyfriend, Jeb, is going to break up with. After an encounter at the waffle house where it's clear that Jeb is a crappy boyfriend who really doesn't care about Addie as much as she cares about him, over the course of the day Addie comes to realize what matters most to her is her best friend, Dorrie. Which brings me to my next point...
ADDIE AND DORRIE SHOULD'VE GOTTEN TOGETHER. I will scream this from the rooftops... just like Addie said she would about how awesome Dorrie is! No, really. From the get-go, there was so much chemistry between these two characters. As their story begins and Addie is worried that Jeb is going to break up with her, Dorrie insists that someone would have to be out of their mind to break up with her. It totally mirrors the beginning of every friends-to-lovers trope, where there are two friends who clearly have hidden feelings for each other, and over the course of the story both realize their true feelings and how perfectly they complete each other. I felt like there were so many moments like this in Dorrie and Addie's story—quick but longing glances at each other when they aren't looking, Dorrie insistently telling Addie that she has to stop chasing after people who don't deserve her when there are other people out there who would love to be with her (*cough hint, perhaps?), and of course, the true sign: a heated argument between both parties which results in them going their separate ways, only for both to slowly realize how much they truly need each other and race back to each other to profess their feelings.
I mean, come ON. Addie and Dorrie's story checked every box, and it would've been SUCH a good ending: for Addie to ditch Jeb and realize her true feelings for her best friend, who's a super confident, out lesbian? Not only would this have totally spun the hetero rom-com trope on its head in a new and queer-positive way, but it also would've provided awesome bisexual representation! Sadly, this is not how the story ends, and while I'm still glad for the celebration of girl friendships, it was very anticlimactic for Dorrie, ironically, to end up with a closeted girl who ignores her for the entire movie and who doesn't deserve her nearly as much as Addie.
What I Liked . . .
Tin Foil Lady
I feel like this is also an indicator of how bad this movie was that my favorite character in the entire movie is Tin Foil Lady.... but you know what, Tin Foil Lady rocks! Joan Cusack nailed her character. She's very eccentric and sort of just this presence who transverses across all three stories and acts as a guiding light for the characters when they most need it, popping in at just the right moment to give them a ride or share her own words of wisdom. And you gotta give her credit for owning her fashion choice while also not feeling the need to explain or justify herself to anyone (thus why she emphatically refuses to answer when every character attempts to ask why she wears tin foil). Tin Foil Lady was the star of this movie and she deserves more recognition!
Not Like Other Girls, You Say? Pfft, Forget That.
One change from book to movie that I actually really appreciated is the slight tweak in the character Angie ("The Duke"), who in the book is notoriously "not like other girls" and is even shown to be pretty misogynistic. One of the ways this comes through is the way she repeatedly puts down cheerleaders by calling them sluts. Fortunately, none of these negative qualities made it into the adaptation, and The Duke is still able to be an awesome chick all her own, without the need to bash other girls. In fact, there's not a single moment of slut shaming toward cheerleaders at any point in this movie. Score!
LGBTQ+ Representation!
I know, I know... but while I wasn't the biggest fan of how Dorrie's story ended, I still gotta give major props to Let It Snow for featuring a queer romantic storyline, something that's always lacking in mainstream media but especially in warm, cozy holiday movies. And just from watching Let It Snow, it makes me yearn for even more queer-centered movies during the holiday season—because everyone should be represented during this cheery, magical time of year! (I'm throwing this out into the universe... You hear that, Hallmark?)
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My overall thoughts on Let It Snow: Was it a festive holiday movie that got me into the christmas spirit? Sure. Did it completely win my heart? Ehhh. No. This was definitely more on the side of cheesy teen movies in the world of holiday flicks and sort of just reminded me of something that would be produced by Freeform. It also bummed me out how drastically this adaptation was altered from the book, to the point where all three of the stories were basically unrecognizable from their original. There was definitely a lot of heart to it and certain things that I did quite enjoy from it, and I also appreciate how this makes the effort to be a diverse and modern holiday movie, with multiple queer and POC characters at its center. But ultimately, I was pretty underwhelmed and don't foresee myself watching this again in the future.
What did you think about Let It Snow? Let me know down below, I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Until next time!
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