- A week before Christmas, a workaholic widower and his 11-year-old son get a shock when their wish unexpectedly comes true.
- Just days before Christmas, an L.A. real-estate lawyer and his 11-year-old son magically swap bodies. As they walk in each other's shoes, from a cutthroat law firm and the frightening days of sixth grade, the father and son rediscover what it means to be family.LOS ANGELES, night. Inside the Taylor residence, 11-year-old Robby sits behind a dimly-lit laptop screen, scrolling through Christmas toys on a shopping website. As he climbs into bed, he hears a loud THUMP. He goes to his front door and looks around, but sees nothing. As he returns inside, a mysterious package is seen on the porch. The package is labeled "Santa's Mystery Emporium." The next morning, life in the Taylor family is complete chaos. Fortysomething Mitch has his cell-phone glued to his ear and pays little attention to Robby. Since Robby's mother died a few years back, it's just the two of them. It's clear that they haven't exactly established a relationship or a daily routine. Robby bugs his father about getting a Christmas tree and presents, but Mitch is too focused on his work. On their way out the door, Mitch discovers the mysterious package and thoughtlessly tosses it in the car with them. At school, Robby's 6th-grade life consists of arithmetic, crushes, and big bully by the name of Francis, whose mother Trish persistently hunts the widowed Mitch like prey. At work, Mitch stresses over an injunction with the firm's biggest client Milton Green, who will be attending the firm's holiday party in just three days, which he is responsible for planning as well. A senior partner at the firm, Harper, ruthlessly threatens to fire Mitch if anything goes wrong. On top of his stress, Mitch's co-worker and secret girlfriend Chloe questions their relationship and his effort to introduce her to Robby. He's one cup of decaf away from a complete mental breakdown.
- A career-oriented single father and his 11-year-old son are forced to see the world through each other's eyes when some Christmas magic switches their bodies. The pair grow closer as they scramble to figure out the secret of the magic that caused their predicament in time for Christmas.
- Eleven-year-old Robbie Taylor is scrolling online for Christmas toy ideas and writes down several ideas. He clicks on a link for a Magical Toys Emporium, briefly looks at the site then closes his computer and lays down to go to sleep after kissing a photo of his mother goodnight. He is immediately awakened by a loud jarring noise that also shakes his room. The next morning as he and his father are leaving there is a package on the porch that contains an old teddy bear, one that looks just like one on the website from the night before. As they are getting into the car Robbie stops to pet some dogs led by a neighbor dog-walker, taking the opportunity to ask his dad for a puppy. Mitchell, his father, says absolutely not. On the way to school as they are stopped at a light, we see Robbie and Mitchell both stare sadly at a closed bakery. The bakery is the one from Robbie's picture of his mom. We learn later in the movie that she died a little more than a year ago.
At school that day we see Robbie is bullied by a bigger kid named Francis as well as trying to navigate what to do about a girl who has a crush on him. Meanwhile we see Mitchell, a real-estate lawyer, has maximum stress at work from his boss Harper who tells him he needs to impress their new potential client, Mr Green, in order to keep climbing the company ladder. We learn he is also tasked with planning the office Christmas party. His girlfriend Chloe, who also works in his office, offers to come over on Christmas Day to visit and he tells her he doesn't think Robbie is ready for that yet. On their way home later that evening, after Robbie pressures Mitchell to get a Christmas tree, they get into an argument with both stating that they think it would be easier to be the other. After they almost simultaneously state "Well I wish you knew what it was like to be me" the toy bear in the backseat lights up and says "Your Christmas wish is my command." Robbie and Mitchell both seem to experience a moment of lightheadedness then they realize their minds have switched bodies. They freak out for a minute and after getting home try to decide why it happened. They figure out that it happened when they made their statements and the bear lit up so then they look the bear over for a clue. They find a company phone number tucked inside the bear and call it and leave a message.
The next day they initially plan to both stay home but MItchell has a deposition that his boss says he better be there to lead and Robbie has skipped so much school that he can't miss anymore or he will fail the semester. The deposition at the office is an absolute disaster since Robbie, as Mitchell, doesn't have the first clue about how to be a lawyer. The potential client Mr Green states his worries about the firm's ability to handle his case which makes Harper threaten Mitchell's job if he blows it. In the meantime Mitchell as Robbie experiences what it's like for Robbie to get bullied, pressured by a grade school crush and feel the stress of having to perform in his grade-school Christmas pageant.
That night Gus, a toy repairman, shows up at their house and tells them that the bear has a broken sprocket and it will take a couple of days to get the part. He tells them not to worry, that things have a way of working out like they are supposed to. The next day Mitchell as Robbie handles the bully by telling him off in front of everyone. Francis is embarrassed and runs away but Mitchell goes to him and using his much-older wisdom proceeds to make friends with him and tells him that if he will stop picking on other kids then he, Mitchell/Robbie, would make sure that Francis makes more friends. Meanwhile at the office Robbie/Mitchell has to respond to the disaster of the Christmas party plans all going off the rails. Robbie/Mitchell considers recent parties he has attended and decides to totally revamp his dad's original plans, which are falling apart anyway, for something drastically different.
Chloe and Robbie/Mitchell go to workout at the gym and have a conversation that helps Robbie realize that Chloe, in addition to liking his dad, is really a nice person and wants Robbie to be happy as well as Mitchell. Later when Robbie is taking advantage of being a grown-up and having a credit card by going on a shopping spree he is accosted in the mall by a single mom from his school who thinks Mitchell is hot. When she aggressively kisses Robbie/Mitchell he is grossed out by it and plainly tells her so then sees that Chloe saw the kiss. He realizes that was bad and hurries after her to explain. She is clearly upset and Robbie has a hard time making the true nature of the situation clear but does manage to get out how much Robbie misses his mom as well as how much Mitchell likes Chloe before he gives up and runs away. At home that night Robbie and Mitchell have a good conversation about how much they both miss wife/mom but agree how important it is to try to understand each other better.
The next morning Mitchell/Robbie goes to school and Robbie/Mitchell goes to the office party. The party is a decidedly more kid-friendly atmosphere than Harper wanted and she is on the verge of firing Mitchell when Mr Green arrives. He expresses his appreciation of the nature of the party since he brought his 6 year old son with him and then informs them he will be using their firm to handle his legal real-estate needs. Robbie/Mitchell then gets a call from Gus the toy repairman and he rushes home to meet him and get the bear repaired. Robbie/Mitchell is driving with the bear to the school pageant and arrives just as Mitchell/Robbie is about to go onstage for his part. Just as he arrives the bear lights up again, they both have the same lightheaded experience then they are switched back to normal. That night Mitchell puts the bear back into the box and places him on the porch just like Gus instructed him. Just as he closes the door the house experiences another bump/jarring noise like before. He immediately opens the door and the package is already gone.
The next morning as Robbie and Mitchell exchange presents Chloe arrives. Mitchell is surprised but when she says "You asked me to come. Did you change your mind?", he realizes Robbie had done it as him which meant that he was wrong and Robbie was ready to accept her into their lives. He welcomes her warmly and she hands him a large box, telling him she got the present he asked her to pick up. Mitchell is again confused then realizes when Robbie pulls a puppy out of the box that Robbie had used his opportunity as Mitchell to get the puppy he'd been wanting.
The next morning
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