Adam & Alison Watch Christmas Movies: JOY TO THE WORLD

 by Adam Thas & Alison Thas

Guess who's back? Back again.


Alison: Joy to the World looked to have the makings of a good movie: a unique twist on your typical holiday movie plot and recognizable lead actors. Just as we were about the press play, Adam asked, “How much do you want to bet that the lead character’s name is Joy?” And that should have been my first clue that this movie was going to be a dooz-a-roo.

Joy Edwards (Emmanuelle Chriqui) has been so busy building her lifestyle influencer career that she forgot to actually have a life. When a surprise Christmas Eve episode is set to film with her (nonexistent) family, Joy jumps into action and enlists the help of friends and neighbors. Thankfully, her childhood best friend, Max (played by Chad Michael Murray), is there to help her pull off the impossible.

The plot itself works. I was invested in the movie…until it became quite apparent that the movie’s budget was not spent on set design. I can’t even begin to imagine the engineering and thought that goes behind creating a snowy scene in a television show or movie. I do know that throwing down a giant piece of white felt in hopes of making a believable snow-covered front yard does not work. Worse, have a snowball fight with obvious yarn snowballs on top of the giant piece of felt would only make things worse. Yet, that is exactly what happens in Joy to the World.

At this point in the movie, Adam and I start musing where the money went in making the movie. I certainly hope it didn’t all go to Chad Michael Murray. Ugh. He is supposed to be madly in love with Joy – so in love with her that he creates reason after reason to live in her guest house. Yet nothing in his acting would show you this. ‘Show, don’t tell’ is a writing technique I work on with my second graders. His acting in this film is the epitome of tell, not show. I found myself rooting more for the supporting cast’s budding romances than that of our lead actors. I really wished this movie would have been better, but sadly, it is a huge miss.

Adam: Here I am watching my second Chad Michael Murray (previously starring in Merry Gentleman) in less than a year and questioning how this happened? Not just how I’m watching the movie but how did Chad Michael Murray become a “thing” in these holiday rom-coms? Joy to the World is a weird one because I actually like the underlying theme and overall story. An author and influencer being put in a position to expose all of her bullshit is interesting -- actually a lot more interesting than the likely tiny budget would allow. On top of an interesting theme, Joy to the World is paced out nicely. They could have had the climax happen a bit earlier, but I liked that they pushed it back a few minutes compared to the pacing we are used to in this genre.

My beef comes with a few things. First, it was sloppy. I get they don’t have the budget to do dozens of takes in a scene, but there were a few spots where the camera visibly goes out of focus. It’s only briefly, but it happened enough that it began to take me out of the movie. Obviously technical problems aside, let’s talk about the cast in this one. Most of the time in these movies you get the actors out of the proverbial “Dollar Bin,” Sometimes you get lucky with someone you have never heard of (Ansley Gordon from A Perfect Christmas Pairing comes to mind), but more recently a lot of these lead actors and actresses you find in these holiday rom-coms are actors or actresses who were previously in something they were successful in, and for whatever reason their career stalled. When you get these type of leads, they usually fall into the “Working their ass off” or the “Phoning it in” categories. This is on full display in Joy to the World.

On the one hand, you have Emmanuelle Chriqui, who has quietly had a solid career and is good in Joy to the World. She’s convincing and professional in what she brings to the movie and you can tell she’s someone who has spent a long time in Hollywood doing the job asked of her. She’s joined by a bunch of other actors and actresses who are fine and trying their best to put together a good performance. Then there is Chad Michael Murray. I don’t know if Chad Michael Murray was never a good actor or if he just doesn’t give a shit, but he comes off as the “Phoning it in” poster child. I’ve now seen him in two of these holiday rom-coms and, while I am certainly jealous of his abs, he’s awful. He seems to be a one-note, sentient piece of wood. Lucky for him, though, he has enough name recognition and a pretty enough stubble-covered face that he’s likely going to have a home in these types of movies for a while.

Overall, Joy to the World was enjoyable. Yes, it was sloppy in places, but it was also made for pennies. My suggestion to the producer is to maybe spend a bit less money on a Chad Michael Murray and spend that money on a better cameraman and set designer.

Adam’s List:

1) Holidate (2020, Netflix)

2) Love Hard (2021, Netflix)

3) Your Christmas or Mine (2022, Amazon)

4) Hot Frosty (2024, Netflix)

5) Holiday Calendar (2018, Netflix)

6) Snowed Inn (2017, Hallmark)

7) Christmas in the Spotlight (2024, Lifetime)

8) The Princess Switch (2018, Netflix)

9) Falling for Christmas (2022, Netflix)

10) The Knight Before Christmas (2019, Netflix)

11)  EXmas (2023, Amazon/Freevee)

12) Midnight at the Magnolia (2020, Netflix)

13) The Christmas Train (2017, Hallmark)

14) Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story (2024, Hallmark)

15) Joy to the World (2025, Hulu)

16) Holiday in the Vineyard (2023, Netflix)

17) Meet Me Next Christmas (2024, Netflix

18) Christmas Under Wraps (2014, Hallmark)

19) Reporting for Christmas (2023, Hulu)

20) The Princess Switch 2: Switched Again (2020, Netflix)

21) A Christmas Vintage (2023, Amazon)

22) Merry Gentlemen (2024, Netflix) 

23) The Noel Diary (2022, Netflix)

24) The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star (2021, Netflix)

25) One Royal Holiday (2020, Hallmark)

26) Christmas on the Farm (2022, Hulu)

27) Holiday in the Wild (2019, Netflix)

28) Pride, Prejudice, and Mistletoe (2018, Hallmark)

29)  A Perfect Christmas Pairing (2023, Amazon)

30) Three Wise Men and a Baby (2022, Hallmark)

31) Christmas on the Ranch (2024, Hulu)

32) Best. Christmas. Ever. (2023, Netflix)

Alison’s List:

1) The Princess Switch (2018, Netflix)

2) Your Christmas or Mine (2022, Amazon)

3) Love Hard (2021, Netflix)

4) Holiday Calendar (2018, Netflix)

5) Falling for Christmas (2022, Netflix)

6) Holidate (2020, Netflix)

7) The Christmas Train (2017, Hallmark)

8) The Knight Before Christmas (2019, Netflix)

9) Holiday in the Vineyards (2023, Netflix)

10) Meet Me Next Christmas (2024, Netflix)

11) Midnight at the Magnolia (2020, Netflix)

12) Hot Frosty (2024, Netflix)

13) Christmas Under Wraps (2014, Hallmark)

14) Pride, Prejudice, and Mistletoe (2018, Hallmark)

15) The Princess Switch 2: Switched Again (2020, Netflix)

16) EXmas (2023, Amazon/Freevee)

17) Snowed Inn (2017, Hallmark)

18) Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story (2024, Hallmark)

19) Reporting for Christmas (2023, Hulu)

20) The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star (2021, Netflix)

21) One Royal Holiday (2020, Hallmark)

22) The Noel Diary (2022, Netflix)

23) Three Wise Men and a Baby (2022, Hallmark)

24) A Christmas Vintage (2023, Amazon)

25) A Perfect Christmas Pairing (2023, Amazon)

26) Christmas in the Spotlight (2024, Lifetime)

27) Joy to the World (2024, Hulu)

28) Christmas on the Farm (2022, Hulu)

29) Holiday in the Wild (2019, Netflix)

30) Merry Gentlemen (2024, Netflix)

31) Best. Christmas. Ever. (2023, Netflix)

32) Christmas on the Ranch (2024, Hulu)