The Heist Before Christmas (2023) User Reviews

The Heist Before Christmas

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 25 December 2023]

The Heist Before Christmas wants to be a festive movie for the haves not. The ones that will get nothing on Christmas day because their parents cannot afford to buy presents.

Set in the working class area of Belfast. Mikey is an antisocial kid who gets into trouble at school, is well known to the police and a tearaway at home. Mikey not wanting to acknowledge that they are poor.

His mother leaves Mikey to look after his younger brother, while she works in a shop, being micromanaged by her bullying boss. He makes Scrooge look like a pussycat.

What should be a working class Christmas story gets silly. James Nesbitt's bad santa goes on the run aftering robbing a bank. Mikey decides to help him escape in exchange for the share of the £80,000 he robbed. The police are out in Belfast stopping every male dressed as Father Christmas at gunpoint.

Mikey then encounters an old man in the woods, Timothy Spall who claims to be the real santa claus.

Tonally the film is all over the place. James Nesbitt increasingly gets involved in some Home Alone hijinx.

Mikey's mother manages to find her boss cheating on the raffle draw.

There is no comeuppance here, no warm endings. It was like the story strands remained unfinished.

Forgettable, low-budget, Northern Irish tv-standard Xmas romp

[danieljfarthing · 5/10 · 27 December 2023]

In director Edward Hall's low-budget, Northern Irish tv-standard Xmas romp "The Heist Before Christmas" ne'er-do-well pre-teen scrote Bamber Todd follows mean santa-suited bank robber James Nesbitt to his woodland hideout, hoping to score some of his loot... but also there in the woods is the similarly santa-suited Timothy Spall, claiming to be the ACTUAL Santa, fallen from his sleigh. Todd's bro Joshua McLees, struggling single-mum Laura Donnelly, & the po-po led by Bronagh Waugh all get pulled into a 1hr 12min tale that writer Ronan Blaney admirably avoids some big clichés in, but in so doing so leaves some holes & questions. It's not terrible, but is sadly forgettable.

More suited to Cbeebies

[justinhorton-38896 · 4/10 · 24 December 2023]

Really wanted to like this but what a disappointment. Very tame storyline, unbelievable acting and cringe attempts at humour. Nesbitt gets surprisingly little screen time and Spall is poorly cast. The two exceptions were the young boys who had a big role and have big futures.

I'd say that this film is best suited to Cbeebies and doesn't warrant a prime time adult slot. It was basic, boring and poorly written.

The scenery was depressing and bleak, I know that was partly the point of it, but it was such a stereotypical view of Northern Ireland. If I lived there I'd be livid that this lottery funded film portrayed my country in this way.

Yawn!

Horrendous

[dmolineux · 1/10 · 24 December 2023]

This is without question the worst film I've seen in a very long time. The main character is a badly behaved kid that I guess is supposed to have a redemption arc storyline. That doesn't happen however, he just remains a horrible character throughout. The various bits of the story don't work at all together either. The mother's story in the shop is rubbish, again, it just highlights a horrible character and doesn't really add to the overall narrative. There are some really good actors involved and it's a real shame to see them so badly used. It's really terrible. An hour and a half if my life I'll never get back.

Not likely to become a Christmas classic in our house

[chambeap · 3/10 · 24 December 2023]

For such a short fipm it really dragged on a bit! With such great actors as James Nesbit and Timothy Spall my expectations were perhaps set a bit too high for something that turned out to be a bit of a flaccid cracker pull.

The film started off with a not common portrayal of families struggling at Christmas and actually set the scene pretty well for the main character. Unfortunately it all went down hill a bit from there. It was unclear what the film was trying to be; touching on mental health, desperation of parents at Christmas and corruption. This mixed up with slapstick comedy chase sequences to a backdrop of music that did not help the story telling and some questionable acting.

This might appeal to some, but was a mixed bag for me.

Beyond disappointing

[garryberryman · 3/10 · 25 December 2023]

This is advertised and portrayed as a family comedy with a few decent stars in nesbitt and spall. In reality it's a low budget children's tv movie with a terrible plot-line.

Looks like it was made with no budget, shocking acting and I mean shocking and where they were used rubbish special effects, no real message (shoplifting is cool) and the closing Santa scene had no conclusion I mean he stayed in hospital? Did the money run out? - Honestly terrible had waited all Christmas Day to watch and was glad there were adverts so I'd have something else to watch, one of the kids fell asleep it was so boring.

No ho ho ho here

[gurumaggie · 3/10 · 29 December 2023]

The standard mum in a tracksuit tied back hair poverty images that are so cliché are rife here, the popular badly behaved kid runs amuck while mum struggles on bravely.

The initial charm wears thin when the one dimensional baddies v goodies showdown happens, the horrendous accent of Tim Spall grates eventually, James Nesbit has an actual ball to himself being mean and bad and funny, he's the best thing in it.

It reminds me of a Korean drama where if someone actually spoke to you like that you would probably slap them( I'm not condoning violence it's a metaphorical slap) there was no happy ending no resolution and hee haw joy in this and I'm disappointed.

Need to believe

[xjwtfmrn · 8/10 · 26 December 2023]

It is a movie about good people with their backs against the wall. Don't except lots of guns, dead bodies, car crashes, explosions. You would have to have a cold heart not to enjoy this movie. It is an Amazing movie if you believe that all people have problems of one kind or another in life. We all struggle with personal problems. People who still have a little bit of child left in their hearts will enjoy this moment of Christmas. If you enjoy a different slant on a Christmas movie then I recommend the movie for a laugh and a cry with some heart felt moments along the way. Wishing you all a very merry Christmas.

Great rare gem of a movie

[raytonydunne · 10/10 · 25 December 2023]

Great Christmas movie. Soleful with no cheese. Fabulous cast and two great young actors. James Nesbit is just enough and does not take over. Its very witty and well directed. It just shows that you dont need cgi or a massive budget to make a good heartfelt movie. Good chemistery between actors, good actors a good storyline and even some corney christmas cracker jokes works a treat. This is a nice one to watch on Christmas day for all the family while you are waiting for the turkey to cook. It is not too much or not too little just a little gem of a movie that you dont come accross all too often.

Heartwarming Northern Irish movie

[hkjxvtghpf · 9/10 · 27 December 2023]

Really enjoyed watching this movie. The child actors are the absolute stars of the show. The film is set in Northern Ireland and focuses on a socially deprived family. We weren't expecting much but had lots of laughs as a family watching this on Christmas Day. It's a breath of fresh air to not watch a film about precocious wealthy children being spoiled rotten during the festive season. The true spirit of Christmas comes through by the end of the movie. There is also a bit of Home Alone style action which my kids absolutely loved to watch. The adults had quite a few laughs too. Well done Jimmy Nesbitt!

A heartwarming and very emotionally real if sometimes silly Christmas movie

[laurawaltje · 10/10 · 25 December 2023]

I love how this Christmas movie managed to balance both the joy and the challenges and sometimes outright heartbreak of the Christmas season for working class families.

The movie does not shy away from some difficult subject matter, including the disappointments of having the same Christmas wish on your list for many years in a row and the conflict between an older sibling who has to grow upo to quickly and a mother trying to do the best she can for her two sons. However, the action packed car chase scenes, stunts, and heartwarming performance of Timothy Spall and the two children make this a movie well worth watching with the entire family.

Some people maybe put off by the conjunction of serious and silly, but I think it captures the duality of the Christmas season and all its joys and challenges well in a story that will speak to both adults and children.

Disclaimer: My sister was involved with the production.

Not an other a reworking of the Dickens classic this time

[peter-richardson79 · 8/10 · 26 December 2023]

For once this year sky didn't offer up your normal a reworking of the Dickens classic, Spoiler free

This year, we have a triumph in The Heist Before Christmas, a tale of two sancta's and a test of faith in the true magic of the festive period, 1 brother who has had to grow up too fast and too poor to have much love for Christmas, and an other with faith in all that is every ounce a true believer along with their mother, who shows us with a passion the love she has for her boys, as Christmas continues to crumble around her. The ending is unfortunately is a bit of a meh hence the 8 star. The main star is not the named saint nicks but young Bamber Todd who portrays Mikey he looks like going on to be a shining star.

Love it

[sallydoug-53719 · 10/10 · 8 January 2024]

A great feel good movie. A heart warming account of the reality of Christmas for many who lack money for even the basics such as food. This film rekindles that spirit and magic of christmas which is not about material goods but love and kindness.. For many children the magic of christmas is disappearing as materialism takes hold and this creates phenomenal stress on parents or carers to fulfill impossible expectations. Society needs to rediscover family and community values. This film helps to explore this.

Great to see such talent from NI both at writer, actor/actress and filming level. Well done to all involved.