User Reviews

Hunky FBI agent Jake Cunningham(Shawn Christian) must protect witness Brandi(Jamie Gertz)until her indicted boyfriend,shifty Scott Shift(ha,ha) goes to trial on a investments scam. When his mother(Tyne Daly)tries to bring Jake back home for Christmas, telling him his wealthy estranged father has had a heart attack,Jake has this bright idea to hide Brandi in his parent's house,trying to pass her as his girlfriend, until the trial after Christmas.

Viewers already suspect what's gonna happen between Brandi and Jake eventually. Still, dramatic tension is created by differences between fake Jake fiancée Brandi and the upper class Cunninghams, including Jake's sister, husband and cute preteen niece.Jamie Gertz as Brandi sparkles in a kind of cleaned-up, gangster's moll role which Barbara Stanwick made perfect.She delightfully offends socially, then makes amends, eventually winning over the family(Jake too), and especially the niece, who finds Brandi especially cool and authentic. For the occasion of the grand Cunningham Christmas party,the girls gang up to give Brandi a My Fair Lady makeover. And Miss Gertz is appropriately stunning in her party appearance, Cinderella and Pretty Woman all rolled into one.

Then the battle of the hunks develop, when shifty boyfriend Scott(Cameron Bancroft)secretly appears trying to enamor Brandi and get her not to testify against him.Will she be loyal to her old flame or will she heed Jake's advice to be true to her conscience, and to him?Stay tuned.

Tyne Daly, who is too fine an actress for this vehicle, is cast against type as the suffering noble matriarch, trying to bring the family together in spite of her judge husband's(Winston Reckert) tyrannical ways.As usual,feisty Ms.Daly delivers a high quality performance in the unlikely role of gracious Mrs. Cunningham. One wishes she would be cast in meatier roles,like the type Kathy Bates is getting plenty of.

The plot is logical, but credibility is stretched to the limit.Some white washing of typical plot lines has been done, like the gangster has been promoted to a white collar criminal, and the moll is now a lower middle class girlfriend from a broken home. No matter how much we want to believe,in the end we feel like we've been taken for a ride. However the ride is very pleasant and entertaining,all the performers are interesting and very attractive, and at least two performances are outstanding.Miss Gertz shines, Miss Daly is compelling as always, and the viewer is left asking for more of this heady Christmas punch.

Is this film "Gone With The Wind" or "Its A Wonderful Life"? No it is not. Spoilers ahead: But "Undercover Christmas" a film with heart, where gangster moll Brandi O'Neill (Jami Gertz), is deciding if she should testify against her b/f investment fraudster Scott Shift (His name about says it all), and ends up spending Christmas with FBI Agent Jake Cunningfam (Shawn Christian), who pretends she is his g/f to his wealthy but very dysfunctional family (He had not spent Christmas with the family because of a disagreement with his dad). Perhaps my favorite scene is where she learns to bake from her Jake's mom Anne (Dyne Daly, and she starts to settle in and become accepted by the Cunninghams and in particular Jake. The ending of the film (After they find out the truth about Brandi) is when Anne, and her husband go to the court, and their encouragement was the final bush that Brandi needed to testify. The film ends with Jake getting to meet Brandi's mom, and she is happy to meet him. The underlining message is when he works(He works in Chicago) is her mom's home will be their home, and when he is free, they will go to his parents house. The highlight of the film is the relationship between Brandi and Anne (She is the most stable one in the film), and how Anne helps Brandi grow, and Brandi fulfills Anne's wish to bring Jake back into the family. I give it 8/10 stars. Mostly for Jami & Tyne.

I seen this on TV a few nights ago over on True Christmas and surprisingly I actually thought it wasn't bad. Its about this FBI agent named Jake who meets up with this cocktail waitress(played by The Boyfriend School star Jami Genz) who wants to testify her former boyfriend who cheated tax. So Jake decides to bring the cocktail waitress over to his parents house for the Christmas season as his girlfriend but will romance blossoms between the two?

The story has been done to death so many times before and the film to its credit is very predictable(like a lot of romantic films are) but if I had to pick something bad about this film has to be the score,as they play the same music all the time throughout the film and it can get a bit annoying but still its a sweet film to watch this holiday season.

5.9/10.

Undercover Christmas is one of my favorite "guilty pleasures". While the plot is somewhat predictable, the acting and writing are well done. Jamie Gertz is perfect as Brandy, the brash and outspoken yet likeable and vulnerable cocktail waitress in protective custody until she testifies against her crooked boyfriend. In contrast, Shawn Christian as Jake, the F. B. I. Agent guarding her, is repressed and tense. When the agent is called home on an emergency, he's forced to take Brandy home with him to his wealthy family. Since he can't divulge her real identity, he introduces her as his date. Tyne Daly is outstanding as Jake's straight-laced mother. At first she fears that Brandy is a "predator" out to cash in on their wealth. It's touching to watch as she gradually wins over the family, also well-cast in their roles.

After seeing the movie several years ago, I was disappointed that it seemed to disappear for several years. After failing to find any airing this Christmas season, I tried to purchase the movie. I was disappointed to learn that it has never been released for purchase. The three sources offering "burner" copies for a wide range of prices all received very negative consumer ratings. Fortunately, I was able to view it online, and I was not disappointed. I found that the positive reviews on IMDb were well-deserved, and the criticisms seemed to be petty or miss the point of the movie. The well-developed script effectively shows how the family realized that they had prejudged Brandy unfairly. To some the happy ending may seem contrived, but I feel that it was a logical conclusion to gradual changes in the characters' perceptions and attitudes. With all the other Christmas movies available, why has this gem not been released for the public to purchase?

I like this film. It is a good, simple film. The cast and script are very good. I wish they would show this every Christmas. They used to but they don't anymore. It is a funny film. Tyne is great. She acts so nervous throughout the the film. Well worth watching!

I don't plan on giving any spoilers, but I always mark it just in case. Besides, it's pretty rare that Christmas/holiday-themed movies are unpredictable. Anyway, this movie is like the TV version of Pretty Woman/The Bodyguard. Woman is dating a crook, she's scheduled to testify, and an FBI agent is assigned to protect her. His mom lies to get him home for Christmas, so he's got to take her w/him and they put up the charade that they are together (because he can't reveal details of the case). Brandi (Jami G) is a fish far out of water, and starts off offending Jake's upper crust dysfunctional family. You can imagine the story from here.

The movie was an OK passing of the time. I like Jami Gertz as an actress, but and this is meant as a compliment, she can't pull off "trashy" or "uncouth" very well. I feel like they edited some scenes out that would have helped certain parts make sense. I thought it was funny that Brandi's crook boyfriend was in trouble for taxes yet she needed to be protected. I guess the FBI angle was thrown in to make it interesting, but the movie never showed her life threatened or anything.