Holiday Movie Reviews

This year has been tough, and the toughness shows no sign of stopping. To try and cheer ourselves up, my sister and I decided to get a head start on the holiday vibes this month by watching some holiday films we've never seen before. And that's actually a good thing because now you get the lowdown BEFORE December starts, meaning you have ample time to watch (or not watch) them all. Here are our official reports: 

1.  Falling for Christmas (Netflix)

I'm sure everyone has heard about this, specifically because it is the first of three Netflix films dedicated to Lindsay Lohan's comeback. In regards to its competition, Falling for Christmas had the advantage of coming out earlier than most of Netflix's other holiday fare, and for the nostalgia boost of the leading lady. 

The official summary is as follows: "A young, newly engaged heiress has a skiing accident in the days before Christmas. After she is diagnosed with amnesia, she finds herself in the care of the handsome cabin owner and his daughter." Basically, it's Overboard with a holiday twist. 

As far as I know, the overall response has been polarizing. Some people love the plot's strict adherence to classic Christmas rom-com tropes (rich fiancee who just not right for you, single dad of a precocious young child, a magical old man that is clearly Santa in disguise, memory loss, dead mom, friendly small town neighbors, physical comedy that involves a lot of tripping/falling/knocking stuff over, etc) while others found it stilted and lacking imagination. 

For me, I've seen movies within the genre that were way worse and ones that were way better, so I felt like my expectations for the overall plot, dialogue and character archetypes were more or less met (although not exceeded). I'm not crazy about the "cute little kid" archetype in general and I thought the Grandma was weirdly invested in folding Lindsay Lohan into their family after like three days, but for the most part the plot was harmless in its predictability. The costuming and set dressing was extremely well done--that Netflix budget works wonders--and the references to Lohan's past works were a fun addition, particularly the "Jingle Bell Rock" moment. Admittedly, I though Lindsay Lohan's performance was just okay. I thought there was some kind of emotional barrier between her and many of the other actors during their scenes together in a way that affected their chemistry, and that she was the most at ease in the scenes with her character's father than anyone else in the film. This is just my speculation, but perhaps after all she has been through in her personal life, those scenes felt more comfortable to her as an actress. Watching a movie that's kind of built to be boring for the sole purpose of being comforting is WAY better when the main couple has chemistry, and she and Chord Overstreet just didn't have any romantic spark whatsoever. (No shade to Overstreet--he portrayed his character as genuine and likable considering he was just there to look pretty and have a child). 

Speaking of romantic spark...am I crazy or was the true love story in this movie between the influencer fiancee with the veneers and ever-shifting accent and the woodsy fisherman who lived in a shack??? There were multiple moments I thought they were going to kiss, only to be disappointed when they dropped the plotline like a hot potato. 

Overall, the movie was solidly okay. I wouldn't say it quite reached the level of "comfort movie" for me personally, but I also wouldn't say I'd never watch it again. 

    2. Christmas with You (Netflix)

I'm still avoiding the last season and a half of Lucifer (I dislike Eve and adore Dan and I think we all know how that's going to work out for me), but when I saw that this film had the actress who played Ella as the lead, I knew we had to watch it. Little did I know her love interest Miguel was played by FREDDIE PRINZE JR., who is part Puerto Rican + fluent in Spanish? I had no idea. 

Here's the movie summary: Angelina (Aimee Garcia), a pop star, escapes from her daily life to grant a young fan's wish in small-town New York, where she not only finds the inspiration to revitalize her career but also a shot at true love." 

Like Falling for Christmas, we have some classic tropes in play: single dad (this time to a teenager who was MUCH more tolerable), dead moms, friendly small town neighbors, an influencer boyfriend who is just not Mr. Right--although at least in this one, their relationship is fake for the benefit of their fanbases. What made this one a little special was that although it is Christmas, it is also Miguel's daughter's quinceanera. I enjoyed that element a lot--I've seen that plot in several shows before but never in a Christmas movie.  

The chemistry between the leads was much better than I was expecting--they seemed very comfortable together and a good amount of screen time was dedicated to them bonding. They had passions in common and I felt like they were one of the more realistic couples I've seen onscreen. The costuming and set dressing was also much nicer than I was expecting--once again, that Netflix budget. Another specific I enjoyed was how they folded the quintessential "best friend/coworker" character into the plot--she had great comedic timing and I liked that she was with us for the majority of the movie instead of just popping in now and again to drop a quick line about the true meaning of Christmas or how "you haven't been this happy since before your mom died" or whatever exposition or message needs to be tossed in last minute. 

Now let's get the negatives out of the way: the songs in the opener and the baile sorpresa were catchy, but the *song* about 75% of the way through (you know, the song that brings the leads together and is supposed to show the magic between them) did not sound great. I'm not sure if Garcia was sick the day they recorded it or if it needed to be in a different key or something, but it was a bit of a let-down for me. However, Freddie Prinze Jr. was cute as a button playing the piano so I'll mostly forgive it. Mostly. 

Overall, I liked Christmas with You slightly better than Falling for Christmas and would probably watch it another time. Once again though, I don't think it qualifies as a "comfort movie" for me. 

    3. Mistletoe and Menorahs (Lifetime)

I almost never see Hanukkah-centric movies available during the holidays, so when I found this one I decided to try it.

Summary: "When a determined toy company executive, Christy, must learn about Hanukkah in a hurry in order to land a big account, she enlists the help of her co-worker's friend Jonathan, who happens to also be in desperate need of turning his bachelor pad into a Christmas Wonderland to impress his girlfriend's father."

So here's the thing. I'm Christian so I don't have a ton of knowledge about Hanukkah, although I have several Jewish friends so I'm not totally unfamiliar. But the way the characters in this movie talked, it was like they thought Jewish people were aliens or something. I lost count of how many times the leading lady's response to learning something new was "that's so random" or "that's so weird." Like, no it's not. Just because you've never heard of it doesn't mean it's weird. He's also doing you a massive favor so maybe don't insult his culture, idk? 

Despite the Jewish male lead rightfully complaining about how his culture was practically erased from pop culture during the holidays and Christmas movies were all he saw on TV, he was still SO clueless about Christmas somehow that he needed her help figuring out how to decorate a tree and eat a fruitcake. It was wild to watch them equate these fun, but not necessarily religious Christmas traditions with historically significant and religious Hanukkah rituals like lighting the menorah and singing the maoz tzur. I assume that this was because the writers didn't want to get too deep into the religious divide: after learning from him the historical and religious importance of Hanukkah, when it was the leading lady's turn to "teach" the male lead about Christmas, she completely left out the religious significance of Jesus's birth. But then the religious aspect is brought back into the story when at the end of the movie the character is working on a set of "Bible character action figure toys", which includes the Maccabes as well as figures like King David??? I don't know, it felt like maybe they should have left out the Christmas part entirely so the movie could focus entirely on Hanukkah, or gone whole hog and had the discussion about how these holidays relate to their religions. The characters could easily have ended the film as a couple respecting each other's faith practices and associated holidays. I know that's probably a little "serious" for Lifetime, but it's not like the movie was on Hallmark or something. 

Needless to say, probably wouldn't watch this one again. 

    4. The Christmas Setup (Lifetime)

I told my sister I'd try to find her an LGBTQ Christmas movie that wasn't terrible (she hated both A New York Christmas Wedding and Happiest Season) and this is me delivering on that promise. 

Summary: "New York lawyer Hugo heads to Milwaukee with his best friend Madelyn to spend the holidays with his mom Kate, who is in charge of the local Christmas celebrations. Ever the matchmaker, Kate arranges for Hugo to run into Patrick, Hugo’s high school friend and secret crush, who has recently returned after a successful stint in Silicon Valley. As they enjoy the local holiday festivities together, Hugo and Patrick’s attraction to each other is undeniable and it looks as though Kate’s Santa-style matchmaking is a success. But as Hugo receives word of a big promotion requiring a move to London, he must decide what is most important to him." 

This was a delightful surprise. The plot balanced holiday fluff with realistic conflicts, and the chemistry between the male leads as well as Hugo and his best friend Madelyn, Hugo and his brother, and Hugo and his mom all felt natural and was entertaining to watch. Fran Drescher played the mom, which was an added bonus. Although the summary sounds pretty cliche (and in some ways it is), misunderstandings were handled in a fairly mature manner, which I found refreshing. The subplot also includes a fun little historical mystery and at one point they go to a drag bar! Although as someone who has never been to a drag bar but has seen three episodes of RuPaul's drag race, the performances seemed a bit tame...but maybe that's just Wisconsin?

Regardless, I thought it was cute and would definitely add it to the holiday movie list.