Hot Frosty – For Those With a Holiday Soft Spot (Early Review)

Hot Frosty is yet the latest addition to Netflix’s 2024 holiday catalogue. Two years after losing her husband, Kathy (Chabert) magically brings a handsome snowman (Milligan) to life. Through his naivete, the snowman, who goes by Jack, starts to help Kathy laugh, feel, and love again for the first time in years. From there, the two begin to fall for each just in time for Christmas and hopefully, before he melts. With a premise that may seem on the ridiculous side, at least on paper, and a title that may appear as a little odd, the final product is a lot better than what one may expect, making for a perfectly watchable and harmless little Christmas romcom.

First things first, the best part of Hot Frosty is Chabert who excels in what has become her wheelhouse as of late, delivering a good performance as Kathy. Chabert’s charm and sweet nature make her instantly endearing, as she is a fun protagonist to follow over the course of the film’s 92-minutes runtime. Meanwhile, Milligan is decent as Jack/The Snowman but he’s let down by a script that makes him come off as annoying and simple minded, despite that clearly being the point. However, the quieter and less showy moments are where he truly shines as his decent chemistry with Chabert make their building romance enough to become invested. While the furthest thing from a laugh-a-minute type of comedy, it still featured some decent chuckles throughout mainly courtesy of the paiting of Robinson and Joe Lo Truglio, and has a good heart.

In the end, most of the issues with Hot Frosty are among the common issues found in countless holiday comedies. Though they may present as part of their charm for some, others will see them as a big red flag depending on which side of the issue audiences fall on. As a film, it has about every cliché and trope in the book, and every single part of the story is as predictable as they come. Light in terms of plot, every time it attempts to bring up a conflict or an issue that its characters need to overcome, it falls flat and devises such simple solutions that every conflict feels pointless by the end.

Speaking of Robinson and Truglio, not to discredit them and their work here, but what were they doing? Their contributions in this film are mostly to pad the film to its final 90+ minute running time. When it comes to Robinson, he has consistently been one of the funniest and most popular comedic actors working today. That being said, it is just a shame that he and his talents have being wasted in a steady stream of thankless roles as of late like this one, a role that could be played by literally anyone. However, Truglio at least looks like he is having fun but still, he is far above this kind of pure schmaltz.

At the end of the day, Hot Frosty is the textbook definition of an okay streaming title. For audiences who are generally turned off by most Netflix holiday fare, this one is unlikely to change any minds as they will surely struggle to make it through the first 10-minutes. Those who have a soft spot for films like these, on the other hand, will more than likely find some warmth in it this Holiday season. As someone with no particular affinity for these types of films, it is middle.

still courtesy of Netflix

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Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/