To Have and to Holiday

6.3 stars.

I have this nagging feeling that I'm supposed to like this movie. It's almost as if I'm not in the mood today. Should I hold off and watch it later? Anyways, I am getting through it slowly but surely. Slow and steady wins the race. Right now I'm not anticipating finishing it.

Pastor dad puts on the pressure, various gaslighting, bullying and guilt trip sessions later, the story improves somewhat, but not enough to sway my final opinion. This movie is not completely capturing my affections. I'd usually say something is missing, but in fact many somethings are missing.

There are good moments strew about, but insufficient to save it.

I continue plodding along...skipped to the last 15 minutes, it gets a lot better, too late to save it. Not my cup of tea.

Given my limited interest in Christmas movies in general, of course I was not familiar with the existence of this movie, prior to stumbling upon it by chance. And as I was sitting through a month of sappy Christmas movies this year, I opted to add it to the list of movies to watch.

The storyline in the movie sort of felt like a "Meet the Parents" or "Father of the Bride" movie rip-off, just dressed up in a neat and shiny Christmas outfit. But that doesn't necessarily mean that it was a bad movie, because I found it to actually be enjoyable and a fun watch. So writers Grant Levy and Dominik Rothbard managed to churn out something that proved entertaining. And it was nice to have a Christmas movie that deviated from the archetypical over-the-top-sappy Christmas movies out there; yeah, I'm looking at you Hallmark.

Of the entire cast ensemble, I was only familiar with actor Eric Close, and he really spruced up the movie as Mark Palmer, the father and pastor out to see his daughter not rush into a marriage. I can't claim that I was particularly impressed with leading actress Madeleine Arthur, sure she acted okay, but she just didn't have that particular charisma that many leading actresses have in sappy Christmas movies.

The movie is definitely not a Christmas classic for me. In fact, I will never return to watch it a second time. But it was an enjoyable enough watch the first time around.

I am sure that fans of the sappy Christmas movies will enjoy this movie, and thus should give it a chance.

My rating of director Stacey N. Harding's 2024 movie "To Have and to Holiday" lands on a six out of ten stars.

To Have and to Holiday was just ok. It's basically a Christmas version of Father of the Bride (I really liked that movie). The movie started out pretty good. In flashbacks to when Celeste was younger you could see that her dad (Pastor Mark) wanted his old life back when his daughter was younger. Pastor Mark was unlikeable. For a man of the cloth he wasn't very nice. He spent 3/4 of the movie trying to sabotage his daughter's upcoming wedding. In Hallmark fashion he had a turnabout the last 15 minutes of the movie. The acting was good and the leads had chemistry. This won't be one that I would watch again.

When deciding to propose marriage, doing so as a grand gesture, with no forethought is not a good sign for things to come. Sure, let's call it romantic, but we can also call it being swept up in the moment with no plan. To Have and to Holiday doesn't address this significant flaw, but rather focuses on the rightfully annoyed and suspicious father of the proposed bride.

Maybe because I'm a father of daughters I had a hard time not cheering nearly every decision our unapproving father made. Obviously, we're supposed to not like him. Sorry. He's my dude.

Our lead is Celeste (Madeleine Arthur), who gets a quick proposal-before the first commercial break-from Jason (Robert Bazzicchi). For historical reasons, they need to get married in less than three weeks. Yikes. Celeste's dad Mark (Eric Close) is a pastor and plans to officiate the wedding. Turns out Pastor Mark runs every couple he marries through a Marriage Bootcamp and he does not hold back on our fledgling couple.

Side note: Every engaged couple might benefit from some type of bootcamp. Test those relationships before untangling them becomes too painful and difficult. It's not to teach them how to be married, but rather to see the other person as they will be for your relationship, not just until you say "I do" and you're stuck with them. It's worth exploring, young people.

Pastor Mark says, "If it turns out they're not right for each other, I won't marry them." Hmm, it seems like the couple should be the one deciding if it's right, after going through the bootcamp, not a third-party, deciding on their behalf. But Pastor Mark is a pretty opinionated fella.

To have and to Holiday is not a great deal of fun, but it's a mildly realistic scenario that rarely gets explored in these Christmas movies. We see one kiss and the credits roll. This movie looks at what happens next and I appreciate that. It's worth a watch.

Cast Kudos: Eric Close as Pastor Mark. Be strong dad.

Measuring Christmas Magic: No magic, but it's a Christmas movie.

Alternative titles: Christmas Bootcamp; Wedding Bells Bootcamp; Pastor Mark's Bootcamp for Christmas.

I fully agree with the idea of marriage counseling. And the pastor is trying to teach some great principles. But he is clearly biased and his judgment isn't giving the best results. If nothing else, he is building a wall with his future son-in-law. Pastor says family has to be built, but that takes both of them. As the adult, and the pastor, he should be taking the lead in building a good relationship and not antagonizing Jason. Resentment is easy to create and hard to break down. Being constantly judged while in an unfamiliar setting is too much. Jason asks "Does your father like me?"

Jason isn't exactly helping. His pride is in the way. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Is his dander up because of how he is being treated, or is he being treated badly because of his arrogance?

And yes 3 months is pretty quick. I'm a Boomer so I think it is too quick.

None of this makes a bad movie. In fact it is building a pretty good story with some great opportunities, even if maybe being a bit predictable. The friction that Bootcamp brings out is real. There are also some funny moments.

I really like Madeleine Arthur's Celeste. She is upbeat and nice. As I already said, Robert Bazzocchi's Jason is not as likeable, but that's partially because he is meant to look a little bad especially in front of Mark. Jason has some great qualities. Mark is a caring dad. His concerns are legitimate but a little too enthusiastic. And of course he is meant to look bad to the viewer, at least in part. One of Mark's worst moments is over the lights.

My star ratings are usually based on my personal enjoyment. This movie is well done. It has some good themes. But there was too much negativity even past the last commercial. I did enjoy the very lad scene.