''Ho Ho Ho'' is a

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

-themed

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comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

starring Romanian music and TV icon Ştefan Bănică, Jr., directed by Jesus del Cerro, and produced by MediaPro Pictures as the first Romanian comedy film about Christmas.

Background

Filming took place over a 4-week period in June and July 2009, at the Băneasa Shopping City Mall in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

and at MediaPro Studios in Buftea and in Bucharest.

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

director Jesus del Cerro also worked in Romania on the TV series ''One Step Ahead'' and on the television films ''The Countdown'' and ''The Countdown 2: No Escape''.

Plot

Horaţiu (Bogdan Iancu) is an 8-year-old boy who still believes in

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

. As a Christmas gift, his mother (Alina Chivulescu) takes him to the mall to buy him a gift. What might otherwise have been a normal day becomes an adventure when Horaţiu gets lost. He meets Ion ( Ştefan Bănică, Jr.), a thief disguised as Santa Claus who is there to steal a diamond for Vandame (Valentin Teodosiu) and his gang of fake Santas. Out of character for Santa Claus, Ion is rude and doesn't seem to like kids. However, the boy believes he is the real Santa and decides to stay with him despite Ion's attempts to abandon the boy. As the day goes on, the two enter a series of dangerous yet funny misadventures. By the end of the day they become great friends, both learning something from each other. And because it is Christmas and miracles do happen, everyone gets their wish.

Main characters

Ion (Santa Claus)

Ion is a different type of Santa. Although, at first, he desperately tries to get rid of the kid, he eventually grows fond of Horaţiu as the boy is the only one who finds something good in him. Moreover, the boy helps him rediscover the magic of Christmas and makes him realize how much he misses his son and wife, who live in Italy.

Horaţiu

Despite being only 8 years old, Horaţiu is extremely smart for his age: he speaks English, has a passion for origami and rewrites all the books his mother bought for him. He is clever and always manages to find a creative way out of difficult situations. Raised only by his mother, Horaţiu is very optimistic and keeps on trusting Ion whom he believes is the real Santa. At the end of the day, Horaţiu discovers in Ion the friend he never had.

Carmen

She is a young, beautiful and intelligent woman who dedicated herself to raising Horaţiu. After noticing that Horaţiu is missing, she does everything within her power to find him. When she needs help the most, fate brings Marin into her life. Even though her first impression of him isn't one of the best, Carmen finds Marin to be a good man, a good friend and... more.

Marin

He is a mall bodyguard and the type of person that has seen too many B-rated action flicks. He falls head over heels for Carmen and wastes no effort in trying to help her find Horaţiu. By the end, Carmen gets to know his true personality and the two share a love story. Caring and big-hearted, Marin proves to have what it takes to be a father for Horaţiu.

Partial cast

* Ştefan Bănică, Jr. as Ion / Mos Craciun * Alina Chivulescu as Carmen * Bogdan Iancu as Horaţiu * Pavel Bartoș as Marin * Valentin Teodosiu as Vandame * Costin Gabriel as Calistrat * Daniel Popescu as Sămânţă *Iulia Lazăr as Gora *Raluca Aprodu as Irina *David Vasile as Ion's son *

Cătălin Măruță Cătălin Constantin Măruță (born 27 January 1978) is a Romanian television host. Career He currently presents the "''La Măruță''" show on Pro TV. Since June 2002, he has been the host of the ''Tonomatul DP2'' show on TVR 2. In 2005, he wo ...

as TV host * Emil Hossu as Ion's father

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 1576688
''Ho Ho Ho'' Official website
2009 films 2000s Romanian-language films 2000s Christmas comedy films Romanian Christmas comedy films Films set in Romania