A Merry Holiday

Not sure which movie title this film is using..I saw it as Mistletoe and Menorahs on Lifetime Channel and was absolutely enchanted! The premise of the story is politically so relevant in today's culture. The two leading characters come from different religious backgrounds and each needs to learn about the other's religious traditions in order to impress someone in their life. Bravo to Lifetime for addressing the reality that there are different religions celebrating this season! The female lead needs to learn about Hanukkah and the male lead needs to learn about Christmas. Of course, we know that no matter how this adventure unfolds, it will end happily with a kiss. But on its way to that ending, the lessons learned are portrayed beautifully and respectfully, with both religions being learned about with joy and warm emotions. There is an abundance of historical meaning explained regarding both religions and their traditions. The leading couple are two of the most attractive to be featured a holiday movie in a very long time. The heroine is not only beautiful, but is portrayed as intelligent, serious, not frivolous and giggling as so many holiday movie heroines are portrayed. Her smile is dazzling! The leading man is a new face for this viewer, handsome, with sparkling eyes and a really attractive personality. One wishes to see a great deal more of this actor. The movie also ventures into yet another new territory, in that it portrays a gay marriage between two of the male characters..The relationship is presented with love, dignity and maturity. There is not one second of any inappropriate dialogue or characterization. Bravo to Lifetime for bringing its viewers into the 21st century! The only characterization in the film that was a bit over the top was that of the Jewish grandmother, whose mannerisms and intonations were a bit of a caricature. She was lovely looking but somewhat excessively portrayed. Other than that, this is a glorious holiday film for everyone, and should be on a 'must see' list for this season. It is also appropriate for children to watch as the lessons it teaches about religions other than ones own are beautifully taught. I will watch it again.

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.

In general it was a movie with a good message, but it didn't have enough balance. I would have preferred that the Christmas celebration also mentioned the religious part of how and why Christians celebrate CHRISTmas. I work in an international school and we learn to appreciate different cultures and faiths. In my classroom parents were invited to share about theirs in special occasions: Diwali, Christmas, Hanukkah, Eid, also Carnival in the nice child's version. We also said not everyone had a religion and that also needed to be respected and accepted. So I would have liked to see the balance here as well. We say Happy Holidays but are sometimes constricted about saying Merry Christmas because it's 'religious'. Why?

Congratulations Lifetime, Kelley Jakle, Jake Epstein and cast and crew for making a beautiful story about Hannakuh, Christmas, showing how traditions are different. but the love of family is still the same. I really enjoyed this movie.