How the Gringo Stole Christmas

How the Gringo Stole Christmas is a 2023 holiday comedy about a Latino father’s desire for a traditional Mexican Christmas that goes wrong when his daughter brings home her white boyfriend.

This movie is similar to:

If you have ever watched the movie Father of the Bride starring Steve Martin, then you have the basic premise of this movie. It is similar in the over all theme of a daughter bringing home her boyfriend at Christmas, only to put her overly protective and idealistic father into a frenzy. Beyond that, the two movies are completely different stories.

A filmmakers perspective:

From a filmmakers perspective, the story is solid and easily flows without distraction from beginning to end. That being said, I believe this story could have been written a lot better. As for cinematography the quality is mostly solid with decent framing, though it does have some noticeable lighting issues that apparently were not able to be corrected during post production. It looks a little drab at places.

The acting:

The acting is decent, but could be a lot better, this may be due in part to casting choices. I found the lead actress to come across as stiff at times.

Co-star George Lopez was not very funny and his acting seemed off. If you are a long-time George Lopez fan, you won’t find his best work here.

Content Warning:

For movie watchers who might be concerned about the connotations that the title of this movie may invoke, I think you will find that any concerns are mostly unwarranted. There are mild racial and gender overtones throughout this movie, so if you are sensitive to this kind of tension, you may desire to sit this one out.

Of interests to faith-based movie watchers:

Be aware that this movie contains a gay background character who is portrayed as a friend of the protagonist. This is not immediately revealed and is used to move the story forward while injecting curiosity about the relationship between this...