Operation Christmas Drop is another supremely bland movie out now on Netflix. I was expecting a rom-com and perhaps a Christmas movie from the title. It isn’t really a rom-com although there a small element there. It isn’t really a Christmas movie either although it is set during Christmas time. Perhaps I didn’t get into that element so much as it eschews the cliche of snow and cold for the blazing sun and heat of the Federated States of Micronesia, which is a collection of 4 island states with ~600 islands in the Pacific Ocean.
We find ourselves in tropical paradise as a hard-nosed congressional aide Erica (Kat Graham) has to go to an army base and write a report that will justify her boss recommending it be closed. She meets Andrew (Alexander Ludwig) who is a Captain and pilot on the base and he uses all his charm to ensure that she sees the beauty of the island and the mission that they are carrying out there, especially the Christmas drop, where they deliver presents to the local islanders. Her boss also comes along to this remote location and sees the errors of her ways.
Almost right from the off, the dedicated workaholic Erica forgets why she is there and goes exploring all over the island with Andrew and she gets more and more convinced of the charm and importance of the place, and of course she starts to have feelings for Andrew!
As you would expect, it all resolves itself nicely (sorry for the spoiler!) It isn’t rubbish, but it did need to be funnier and more romantic. At the end it just didn’t pull at my heart strings and that is getting more easy to do as I get older.
For Streaming Out Loud! 