A Merry Holiday

I enjoyed the movie and appreciated that they were trying to bring two cultures together. However, I found it odd that the writers took pains to explain the religious beginnings of the Eight Days of Hanukkah but their explanation of Christmas made no mention the birth of Jesus Christ.

I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did, it had the usual characters, but it was a watchable, feel good movie.

My Lifetime Christmas film viewings over-time have been a very mixed bag. With some surprisingly good hits, where regardless of how predictable they are succeed in being full of charm, warmth and heart so succeeding in being light-hearted and undemanding fun. But also some quite big misses, where the characters are not likeable, everything is forced and shallow with implausibility too in some of the worst cases, the acting and writing being weak and basically with just nothing to them.

'A Merry Holiday' (another title is also listed but this one is much better) is a strong example of the former and left me very surprised, as something who was in all honesty not expecting to like it that much as the concept on paper didn't wow me. As far as the Lifetime films go, 'A Merry Christmas' definitely struck me as one of the best and certainly one of their best from their 2019 output. Am judging it by the way on how it fares on its own terms instead of comparing it to anything or implying that it is on par, worse than or better than anything better known and better regarded.

Production values are slick and never drab or garish, while the story is poignant and brought a lot of warmth to my heart. Enough of the music is also very pleasant and fits quite well, the songs don't feel too many and don't intrude. What's more, they made me smile, they had some emotion at least and a couple stuck in my mind for a while after.

There are a fair share of amusing moments that never felt overdone and an equal amount of never too over-sentimental serious ones. The writing is a long way from perfect, but for Lifetime it's acceptable. Enough of the story is very charming and heart-warming and even if the characters are not meaty they were characters to me that were worth caring for. Kelly Jackle is immensely appealing and she is matched by Jake Epstein, their chemistry is never awkward and is quite adorable. The supporting cast do well.

It is not a perfect or great film though. There is no doubt, with it being the case with all Lifetime Christmas films and being a long way from being a novel premise, that the story is very predictable and quite safe throughout, so there are major plot points and developments that can be seen from a long way away.

Did think that the writing did lack subtlety and some parts did make the toes curl a bit. A little more could have been done with the Hanukkah theme, which could have been delved into more and handled in a more balanced way.

Concluding, not great but a pleasant surprise actually. 7/10

You want different? This is different. Yes there was a movie a few years back with the similarities of blending a Christmas and Hannukah, but it was lame, and there are plenty of differences.

The story has enough different things going on that it does not get boring as it builds up to a great conclusion, even though it is plenty cheesy.

The leads! I loved Kelley Jackle last year in Christmas Harmony. I hope she continues to do Christmas movies. Some might think she is a little over the top cheerful or that her smile is less than sincere. But I love this kind of leading lady and Jackle is definitely growing on me as a favorite. Then there is Jake Epstein. Please let's see more of him in Christmas movies. He did a twofer for Lifetime this year and was great also in A Storybook Christmas. And chemistry, yes. I loved these two together.

Some will like that there is diversity and an educational aspect to this movie. Some will hate at least the latter. I liked it.

BTW: a couple of reviewers penalized the movie for not mentioning Jesus, which I find strange. It is true that Jesus is the reason for the season and this movie stressed family and community instead. But how many Hallmark or Lifetime movies can you name that do mention Jesus as anything more than a baby in a manger, or by singing a religious Christmas song? Even UPtv seems to be careful not to emphasize Jesus too much.

Christy loves Christmas, and she is putting a presentation at work for someone who is Jewish, which she knows nothing about. Jonathan is Jewish and her girlfriend's family celebrates Christmas, which he doesn't known anything about. So, they make a pact to teach each other about their respective holidays.

I love this concept. I really enjoyed the movie. It was quite educational, at least for me, someone who knew NOTHING about Hanukkah, plus add the romance and you have a winner! There are a lot of movies about Christmas out there. I've seen one or two with Jewish theme, but this had both, and it works!

Great chemistry between the leads. I would definitely watch them again in the future. She is cheerful, but not in a cringey way and he is quite charming. I definitely recommend it!