Steppin' Into the Holiday

Mario Lopez - is he basically Lifetime's equivalent of Andrew Walker over on Hallmark? - stars as Billy Holiday (not to be confused with Billie Holliday, of course) who is a host of 'Celebrity Dance-Off', a show that seems very similar to 'Dancing With the Stars'. Until he isn't, fired, because the network doesn't like the chemistry with his now-ex girlfriend. So Billy gets the hook, and decides to return home for the holidays, because he won't be needed for the Christmas special.

Enter Ray (Jana Kramer, who is very good) the teacher at his hometown's dance studio, where Billy's nephew dances. She is fundraising via a dance recital to take her class to Broadway on New York City. And she has a backstory in professional dancing.

Kramer and Lopez were well-cast and have good chemistry and their dance scenes are very well choreographed. Says someone who knows absolutely nothing about dancing. I particularly liked the side plot centered on Billy's family, though a lot of his nephew's lines were over-acted. Same for Billy's manager in LA.

Nonetheless, a good story - the dance scenes sets it apart from any other movie in this genre where someone returns to their hometown after a career setback - with a nice ending. Jana Kramer gets better with each movie. Mario Lopez is good, definitely believable. This is a winner for Lifetime, though not quite as good as Kramer's 2021's outing 'The Holiday Fix-Up' .