Saving Christmas (also known asKirk Cameron's Saving Christmas) is a 2014 Americanfaith-basedChristmascomedy film. It was directed byDarren Doane and written by Doane and Cheston Hervey, based on an original story byKirk Cameron. The movie stars Cameron as a fictionalized version of himself, as he tries to convince his fictional brother-in-law, played by the film's director, that Christmas is still a Christian holiday.
It was theatrically released bySamuel Goldwyn Films on November 14, 2014.[5][6]Saving Christmas was universally panned, earning arare 0% rating onRotten Tomatoes, becoming the lowest rated film of all time onIMDB within a month of its theatrical release,[7] and being widely consideredone of the worst films ever made. The film would win four of its six nominations at the35th Golden Raspberry Awards, includingWorst Picture. Cameron would respond negatively to the film's scathing reception, falsely claiming that the unfavorable reviews were part of anatheist smear campaign onReddit, and plead with users to improve the film's reception on multiple review sites, which ultimately sparked further criticism.[8]
In aframing sequence,Kirk Cameron—as himself—addresses the audience from beside a fireplace, explaining his love of Christmas. Cameron goes on to express his views on the contemporary celebration of Christmas, which include his beliefs that atheists have tried to "take the holiday away" and thatSanta Claus is a Christian. Cameron also criticizesfundamentalist Christians who have politicized the holiday by tying the celebration toPagan traditions and making accusations that the holiday has become too tied tomaterialism.
The film switches to its main narrative, in which Cameron attends a Christmas party at his sister's house. There, he notices that his brother-in-law, Christian, is not celebrating like the other guests. When asked why, Christian tells Cameron that he feels the holiday has become too commercialized andconsumerist, and that he feels uncomfortable with what he believes are Pagan elements of contemporary Christmas celebration. Cameron tells Christian that he is wrong and recites the story ofthe Nativity, which is depicted in cartoon form. Meanwhile, two guests at the party discussconspiracy theories.
Christian complains that several elements of Christmas, most notablyChristmas trees, are not biblical in origin. Cameron tells him that Christmas trees were God's idea since God created trees. He also says that each tree represents aChristian cross;breaking the fourth wall, Cameron encourages the audience to visualize a cross every time they see a Christmas tree. Cameron further addresses several other concerns Christian has about the historicity of the holiday, including its date and the role of theThree Wise Men. Cameron ties the Nativity directly to thecrucifixion, saying that baby Jesus' swaddling cloth was a foreshadowing of his burial shroud, and claims that the gifts offrankincense andmyrrh were used to treat dead bodies in a form of primitiveembalming. Cameron encourages Christian and the audience to placenutcracker dolls around Nativity sets to representHerod's soldiers during theMassacre of the Innocents.
Christian is convinced by the arguments, but then complains that Santa has replaced Jesus as the figurehead of the holiday; he further expresses discomfort over the fact that "Santa" is ananagram of "Satan". Cameron tells Christian the story ofSaint Nicholas, including a reenactment of theFirst Council of Nicaea in which Nicholas had supposedly violently assaultedArius for heresy. Cameron claims that, after the council, Nicholas went out and began beating other heretics for teaching false doctrine, and that "Nicholas was 'bad', in a good way". Cameron explains that St. Nicholas was the basis for Santa Claus, who was a byproduct of Nicholas' story being diluted bysecular culture. With this knowledge, Christian joyously declares that "Santa is the man".
Reassured of Christmas' Christian roots, Cameron and Christian return to the party. Cameron criticizes people who feel that the holiday is too commercial, saying that because God took on material form, it is appropriate to celebrate using material things through the giving of expensive gifts. Cameron explains that presents representJerusalem, and that Christmas is "doing what God does", as God has given humanity many gifts. Cameron then issues a plea to the audience to make Christmas an overtly religious holiday again, "for our children". Christian, as a gift to his wife, organizes ahip hop dance to symbolize his love of Christmas, set to "Angels We Have Heard on High". Cameron, Christian, and all the party guestsbreakdance in an extended musical sequence. Cameron then tells everyone to feast and suggests the audience organize the best dinner possible for Christmas, but not to forget it is a celebration of God.
Saving Christmas was released onDVD on November 3, 2015.[9] The film was also made available onHulu in March 2016, although it has since been removed from the site.[10]
On its first weekend, the film came in fifteenth place with ticket sales of $992,087, with a per-screen average of $2,420. In its six-week run, the film grossed $2.7 million at the box office against a $500,000 budget.[4][3]
Saving Christmas was universally panned by critics, and is often considered to be one of theworst films ever made. On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes,0% of 19 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 2.4/10.[12]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 18 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike".[13]
New York Times film critic Ben Kenigsberg said that Cameron's acting "sounds so forced you half-expect the camera to pull back to reveal hostage takers".[14] In 2016 theBillings Gazette named it the worst Christmas movie of all time,[15] and Will Nicol ofDigital Trends included it on his list of the ten worst movies ever made.[16]Christy Lemire pickedSaving Christmas as the worst film she has ever reviewed.[17]
InThe Christian Post, anevangelical Christian newspaper, Emma Koonse wrote, "[Kirk Cameron] dismisses theories that Christmas is derived in [sic] the pagan celebration ofWinter Solstice inSaving Christmas, offering viewers a Biblical reference to items such as the Christmas tree instead. Furthermore, the film reveals Cameron's take on Santa Claus, the three wise men, and why Christmas is celebrated on Dec. 25 each year... Although Cameron attempts to defend Christmas traditions inSaving Christmas, many Christians remain divided over what the Bible says about celebrating Christ's birth as well as where the varied Christmas traditions originated and what the customs mean in reference to Jesus."[18]
On November 20, 2014, Cameron responded to the negative reviews by posting on hisFacebook page.[19] He wrote, "Help me storm the gates of Rotten Tomatoes. All of you who loveSaving Christmas – go rate it at Rotten Tomatoes right now and send the message to all the critics that WE decide what movies we want our families to see."[20] The attempt backfired, causing Internet users to visit the Rotten Tomatoes website and further condemn the film.[21]
Three weeks after the film's release, the film gained additional notoriety when it became the lowest-rated film onIMDb's bottom 100 list.[22][23] Cameron later responded to the low rating, saying that it was due to a campaign onReddit by "haters and atheists" to purposely lower the film's ratings.[8][24]
Steve Baker,Ricky Blitt, Will Carlough, Tobias Carlson, Jacob Fleisher, Patrik Forsberg, Will Graham,James Gunn, Claes Kjellstrom, Jack Kukoda,Bob Odenkirk, Bill O'Malley, Matthew Alec Portenoy,Greg Pritikin, Rocky Russo,Olle Sarri, Elizabeth Wright Shapiro,Jeremy Sosenko, Jonathan van Tulleken, and Jonas Wittenmark (2013)
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