This is a slightly unusual Christmas movie in that the lead couple is already married but experiencing a time of separation. The two kids are freely exchanged between their home where mom is living and grandmother's house where dad is living. This makes for an interesting mix of tone and emotions. There is some serious friction between the couple but they seem to care about each other and neither has reached the point where they really want a divorce. One source of their friction is that each is busy and stressed by their work worlds. We find out fairly deep into the movie the truth about another important source of their friction (although I agree with another reviewer that it doesn't make sense that this was a secret.)

The movie deals with a lot of family issues. The struggle by the kids is an obvious one. Money is another. Enrique's mom is a bit of a meddler. Enrique is helping his mom maintain the family restaurant after the passing of his dad. Rebecca is not used to the tight knit family that Enrique has especially given that he has a strong family loyalty. Opposite sex relationships at work is an issue.

The movie also has some light moments with some humor. The kids get a "magic pen" from Santa. Grandma starts reading their letters to Santa and tries to fulfill some wishes. There are lots of misunderstandings often humorous. Another factor that leads to some of the lighter moments is Rebecca's children's book which she is late delivering and has writer's block. Later in the movie, Rebecca starts to put some of the family's personal experiences into the book and the parallels are interesting.

I like the family tradition where one person can make a statement beginning with "True or False" to confront the true feelings of the other person. Even the kids do it. I would have expected a family with this tradition would resolve many problems before they get serious because of the resulting honesty and openness.

I am an avid Christmas movie fan but I find it easy to get angry at someone or something early or be turned off by a less than jolly tone. Somehow in this movie I avoided both and was able to enjoy a good story.

Yikes, the conservative people who still watch Hallmark despite their contention that they will boycott and only watch GAC Family might actually make good on their threat on this one because Hallmark has produced a film - actually, a very good one - where it's two main characters are separated! And, at the end of the movie (don't act like you don't know how it'll end) they are in bed together. Shock, horror, etc.

'Letters to Santa' shines a light on what it must be like for kids with estranged parents. The storyline is handled sensitively, though there is more realistic conflict than you expect from a Hallmark movie. Albeit with the usual HEA ending.

Rafael de la Fuente & Katie LeClerc are both good actors, and bring their flawed characters to life to great effect.

I enjoyed the originality and there are some good messages to be found in this movie, too.