The Holiday Exchange

I watched this Christmas movie in the beginning of July and loved every second of it. It's not trying to do or be anything other than what it is. The story is typical RomCom kind of stuff with the Christmas cheer thrown in for good measure. The actors all play their parts well , no exaggeration, no campy or crude jokes. This is genuinely a sweet movie , in the very best way possible. I loved it. It's beautifully filmed and the music is pleasant and unintrusive unlike a lot of it's gay themed predecessors. Anybody who doesn't have a problem with the idea of male couples should enjoy this movie as much as I did. Ten Stars.

This is essentially a retelling of The Holiday (with Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet), which is one of my favorite Christmas movies. I'm not going to lie, this is not the movie to win awards or whatever and if you go in with high expectations (like some of the other reviewers must have) you're just going to disappoint yourself. That being said it's cute, lighthearted, and fun! I had read some of the reviews here and immediately thought I was making a mistake but honestly I don't understand the atrocious reviews. Sure, it's cheesy and maybe it's not actually filmed in Europe - so what?

In my opinion, if you enjoy the occasional Hallmark Christmas movie, this is worth giving a watch.

Admittedly I only started this movie because it's a gay Christmas movie. In the end I really enjoyed it. The beginning was rough and the cheesiest part, but I got into it after the first act. I liked all the main characters and their diversity (the actors and their storylines). The secondary characters were all somewhat forgettable. I'm surprised Kyle Richards is at the center of the poster as she's barely in it. Overall it was predictable, but pretty good acting and a little more depth than the average Hallmark-type movie. I'm not a big movie person and tend to only watch around the holidays (mostly classics like Home Alone, A Christmas Story, etc) but this was a worthy watch.

This is simply bad, really,really bad! The acting is amateurish and coupled to a nonsensical script, the outcome is nauseating. It's like some kind of fantasy or fairytale that has no connection to reality. The European setting looks suspiciously American, and becomes distracting. The script seems to have been written by a child. The movie goes from one painfully bad scene to another, all with the aim of creating a world of complete fantasy and silliness. While the aim might have been to produce a gay film with a happy feel and ending to it, turning it into some silly childish fantasy is clearly not the answer.

Overall a decent, albeit cliche, film. What makes it nearly unbearable is the acting from the lead. It's stilted, unconvincing, and just feels one note - always annoyed. Certainly not a protagonist you root for.

The real star is the lead's mom played by Kyle Richards. I knew she was a Real Housewife but didn't realize she had an acting background.

May still be worth watching if you can make a drinking game out of it. However, if you're looking to see some romantic chemistry and to feel that "butterflies" feeling, the lack of connection between the main couple will likely leave you disappointed.