Lacey Chabert’s ‘Hot Frosty’ Sizzles in All the Best Ways
There’s only one reigning queen of low(er) budget (sorry, I love them though) Christmas movies in front of the camera this year — Lacey Chabert.
So, when I learned she was moving to Netflix this year for a festive film called Hot Frosty I knew it was the perfect place to start the 2024 Christmas content on The Rolling Byline. I thought the title referred to the name of a magical Christmas jazz club or a seasonal treat like frozen hot chocolate (whatever that is). Then, I read the synopsis.
Hot Frosty is an actual snowman that comes to life — and the human name he picks is Jack (Justin Milligan).
I don’t have the best track record of writing about magical Christmas creatures coming to life and learning about earthly customs. I love my essay on Elf for Business Insider and stand by it, but it made MAGAs on social media mad.
Would I be able to stand another movie about a dumb white man learning how to live and love at Christmastime? The answer is absolutely— because this time the trope is done right.
Chabert plays Kathy, a widow who’s having a difficult time getting her life together after her husband died from cancer. Her house is in disrepair, from leaks in the ceiling to a heating system in disrepair.
She owns a diner in the town of Hope Springs and while she makes it to work every day, one of her neighbors is so concerned about her being alone that she gifts Kathy a magical scarf in hopes thar it will bring her love(a la Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, but not).
Kathy doesn’t think she needs the scarf and gifts it to a snow sculpture of a bare-chested, chiseled man, who comes to life and names himself Jack because of the mechanic’s jumpsuit he steals from a local store after breaking in.
So, it’s a version of Elf without the long-lost father or ableism and with a touch of crime, because Hope Springs’ Sheriff Nathanial Hunter (Craig Robinson)is obsessed with finding the thrift store thief, although no one else in town seems to care, including the store’s owners.
Believe it or not, in a story about a snowman coming to life, Sheriff Hunter is responsible for the most outlandish moments, which is the key to the success of the film.
Jack is not unbearably dumb to the point where his love of Christmas becomes incredibly annoying and his stupidity mocks intellectually disabled people, unlike in films with similar tropes (coughElfcough). He’s a snowman — he doesn’t know anything about being human. But he listens to Kathy and retains the information she tells him.
So, his ignorance and boundless kindness are easier to tolerate. Plus, the connection between him and Kathy is believable.
Mulligan might be a master of playing an actually lovable oaf thanks to his time on Schitt’s Creek — it’s an art that not many men have mastered, although they think they have. Whatever the reason this movie is so tolerable to me that I find it sweet, I’ll take it.
Hot Frosty could be steamier, it’s all very PG, but I appreciate the comedy of elderly women appreciating a young man’s body. Older men objectify women, so why not objectify men in good fun?
At least a little bit of depth is essential for me to enjoy any film, and this one delivers in two ways — Kathy’s resistance to love after the death of her husband and Jack’s medical mystery.
Being a snowman, he can’t tolerate heat for long, which is why Kathy’s icebox for a house is a perfect place for him to stay while hiding out from Sheriff Hunter. But when the sheriff finally finds out he stole from the shop, Jack goes to jail and the heat and stress of being locked up threatens his snowman life.
Everyone in Hope Springs loves Jack except for the sheriff and it’s sweet to see him genuinely bond with the sheriff’s son throughout the movie. Who could help a Grinch grow his heart two sizes faster than his son?
Hot Frosty isn’t winning any Emmys. But it has a Mean Girls reference, a hot man who is shirtless for most of the movie, magic, and, spoiler alert a happy ending.
Kids will love this one and adults will appreciate key moments, especially with a side of hot chocolate in reach.