The Holiday Junkie

There are a lot of the usual Christmas tropes starting with Andie being a professional Christmas decorator. She is decorating a mansion where Mason is the "house manager". They spend a lot of time either decorating the house or other Christmas activities including baking Christmas cookies. There's an event to plan, and then a water-main-break to throw a wrench in it.

One of the things that sets this story apart, and not necessarily in a good way, is highlighted by when 4 of the principal characters are sitting at a table and play a "game" of worst Christmas experiences. By then we already know Andie's mother has passed, but she wins the game because her mom died last Christmas after Andie left town on an interview. Mason's is pretty bad too. Actually all 4 are. Earlier in the movie Darren tells about how Mason wetted himself during a Christmas play. And Andie's bff has another one later. Ho, Ho, Ho. Such a jolly movie that these things set the story apart. It's not that there aren't happy moments too, like the Christmas activities.

Like so many rom/coms, Christmas or not, the two leads inspire each other to follow their dreams. The two come together quickly even going beyond "the kiss" by halfway, but at the same time that creates an emotional wall over expectations.

The acting is OK, but not great. In fact, some of the parts seemed overplayed, but that could have been more a case of too much Drama. Jennifer Love Hewitt writes and directs and her resume there isn't deep. The movie has the polish you would expect given the cast and the production company.