I had a lot of fun with this one.

I've seen Luke McFarlane play a lawyer, a tutor, a stuffy businessman and a tree farmer, but now all of a sudden he's Santa Claus' son. He plays this over the top (the New Yo-uk) accent was inspired) and provides laughs all through.

I've never seen Italia Ricci play anything, but she was the perfect choice as they had excellent chemistry and bounced zingers off each other throughout.

The plot involves a news anchor on the eve of her big break, who believes she is capturing the Santa Claus burglar, a local criminal who has been in the news, but in reality she's captured the son of Santa Claus during his first night taking over for dad. His pleas fall on deaf ears until she realizes things don't add up, and the two determine to solve the mystery before sunup.

This is a well-written, well thought out story, fun for teens and up. There's some bad guys that might scare little kids.

This will make a nice addition to the Hallmark lineup in the next few years.

Thankful that Hallmark has gotten back to what made them so good and the agenda has been dialed way back this year, although the commercials....

A Hallmark movie that doesn't really look or feel like a Hallmark movie.

Hallmark veteran Luke Macfarlane and the gorgeous Italia Ricci are fantastic as, respectively, the son of Santa Claus (Chris, of course) taking over the family business, so to speak, and Avery, an aspiring TV local host at Channel 71 in Dayton, Ohio, who is looking for her one big break. Turns out, she thinks she has caught the so-called Santa Crook breaking into her house - the scenes where Chris has to do his present delivery thing with his hands tied together are some of the best in the movie. It's a case of mistaken identity, though, which soon gets cleared up and what starts as an uneasy alliance becomes something much more. There were some twists and turns I just didn't expect to find in a Hallmark movie - very refreshing.

The chemistry between Ricci and Macfarlane is fantastic, and a well-written script that is actually funny (unlike, say, Haul Out the Holly or it's sequel) and suits the comedic chops of both actors. The best Hallmark work for both actors, if you ask me.

Fun stuff.