Holiday Date

Really enjoyed this movie. It is not often that I laugh out loud during a Hallmark movie, but this was a fun movie. Brittany Bristow should have been a lead long before now.

First, let me admit I'm not Jewish so I can't truly understand the objections some would have to this movie. I'm guessing many Gentile families might go overboard to celebrate Hanukkah if they wanted to make their daughter's "boyfriend" feel at home. Yet, based on the comments of a local radio host, a guy who is Jewish and loves family-friendly Hallmark movies, he loved the humor in this movie. Like him, I laughed out loud more than once. I thought the chemistry between the two leading actors was believable. I loved Bruce Boxleitner's "Walter" and his harrumphs of disapproval. Look for the humor in the story; a step above the stereotype. The cast is charming.

'Holiday Date' did intrigue me in a way, as the advertising was colourful and put me in a good mood, the concept while far from original was a decent one and it did interest me seeing a film that didn't have Brittany Bristow in a supporting role but instead take centre stage. Have said quite a few times too about loving Christmas and finding enough of the Hallmark festive films pleasant, inoffensive watches (though there are some mediocre at best and even downright bad ones too).

For me, 'Holiday Date' is one of those pleasant, inoffensive sort of films. From personal opinion, as others hold it in higher regard, it isn't a masterpiece and is a bit uneven. As far as 2019 Hallmark festive films go it is in the better category. Having suffered through 'A Cheerful Christmas', also from 2019 and for me among the worst Hallmark Christmas films, straight before watching 'Holiday Date', it was a relief to see something above average and have a lot of good things.

Visually, 'Holiday Date' looks as if it was made with a lot of care and love. The film is beautifully photographed, never looking too stolid or claustrophobic while not resorting to gimmicks or trying to do too much that it swamps what's going on. The scenery captivates and is full of vibrancy, the decor is not subtle but has so much colour and beauty anyway. Some of the soundtrack is nostalgic and easy to listen to, with a sense of the Christmas period.

Script-wise, 'Holiday Date' has a good deal of laugh out loud moments and also genuinely sweet but not too cutesy ones too. The dialogue isn't too corny and flows naturally. A good deal of the storytelling warms the heart and charms, the second half is more involving and more entertaining than the first in my view but to me 'Holiday Date' didn't strike me as dull. Some actors that tend to be in support that transition to lead don't always fare successfully, where their personality goes and they seem ill at ease or over-compensate. Bristow was appealing and didn't make her character sugary or obnoxious. Matt Cohen is amusing and easy to like, once the goofball quality to Joel's character is toned down in the writing, and Teryl Rothery is classy support.

It's not a perfect film by all means. The early portions are not immediately easy to get into, with the story being fairly thin on the ground and needing more life and variety. Thank goodness it gets better later on. Some of the goofiness is overdone at times, especially early on.

At times too, the imposter plotting gets a little too over-complicated as a result of the film trying to cram too much in in too short a space of time. There could have been more variety, as there are a lot of typical for Hallmark elements and it is a bit stale.

Overall, decent but didn't make me go wow. 6/10

This movie doesn't get an award for originality of premise -- we've seen two other movies where the female lead takes on an impostor as her boyfriend or fiance.

In this one, her boyfriend breaks up with her just before they are supposed to travel to her family home for the holidays. Having given him a big build-up to her Christmas-devoted family, she winds up taking an actor home with her to pose as "Ethan", her erstwhile boyfriend.

There is a twist here. The other "imposter boyfriend" movies had the "imposter" reluctant to take on the task. In this one, the "impostor" is an actor who is eager to experience a small town, family Christmas to prepare for a possible role he auditioned for, and he takes on the opportunity with relish.

Of course, complications ensue. The writers did a good job of keeping the complications interesting and amusing, and the actors did a fine job of taking the "funny parts" off the page and making them funny on the screen -- which doesn't happen from some scripts.

We got quite a few chuckles out of this one, and that makes any movie worth watching.

Hallmark scores high with Holiday Date. The entire cast makes the movie a joy to watch. Lots of fun, laughter and a greater understanding that the season has lots to celebrate.

Make sure you put this movie on your to watch list. Leaves you smiling.