Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story

6.7/10 (Recommend)

While Hallmark films remain cheesy, and sometimes a little unrealistic in their love story capabilities, 2024 has proven to be a wonderful year for Christmas love. "A Chiefs Love Story" continues that trend.

I'm not a fan of football, and I'm a little sick of hearing about the Chiefs, but in complete honesty this film was amazing. It's emotionally driven (I may have teared up a few times) and it has a cast that works really well together. The chemistry between Hunter King and Tyler Hynes was noticeable right off the bat. As soon as they give those twinkle eyes I knew this movie would be good. Hunter especially puts in a spectacular performance. She takes on her role seriously. She gets visually shaken and upset when she needs to which sells the point being driven. Some Hallmark actresses don't do that and so for me she stands out.

The story is fantastic and tells as if it were a real family affair, but given the traditions and superstitions that sports families have, there's no doubt that this situation plays out in private lives year after year. This movie is slightly different in that it focuses on a families love rather two individuals so it makes more personable I find.

Overall, this movie is a must see for those Hallmark movie fans. You don't even have to like sports or football to understand what's going on. You just have to believe that love can show up in mysterious ways, and sometimes those mysterious ways are in the form of superstitions and Christmas magic.

That's it for now. Thanks for taking time to read my review. Happy watching and enjoy the show!

Alana Higman (Hunter King) is a die-hard Kansas City Chiefs fan. Her parents met as kids with their families sitting next to each other at the games. The family even runs a Chiefs shop in their hometown. They are up for the Fan of the Year contest. Director of fan engagement Derrick (Tyler Hynes) is doing the assessment. There is a magic hat.

The most compelling relationship in this movie is the one between Hallmark and the Kansas City Chiefs. The corporate world calls this synergy. I expected more actual Kansas City Chiefs. I was expecting a few high profile players to run into our couple. The players should want that too. As for the couple, I have always liked Hunter King's comedic timing and Tyler Hynes seems perfectly fine although they could try for Niall Cunningham. There are surprisingly a lot of familiar faces in the other roles. I guess everybody needs a paycheck. This is fine Hallmark and maybe more synergy to come.

I will rarely give a Hallmark movie better than a 6, because they're designed to be predictable easy watching. And, that's great. But, as a person that grew up around the KC area, I felt the need to give credit to the writers and filmmakers for their efforts. They made a point, not just to shoot on location, but to include locals and mention major landmarks. I do wish that they'd used native talent, but they were believable Midwesterners, and it did a pretty good job of capturing that spirit. I'm not a football fan, but clearly they included celebrities from the team as well. A must watch for Chiefs fan, just for the cameos.

I have to give the writers and producers some credit here, as they tried for something very different in a Christmas movie story, even if the Christmas did only involve wearing a Chiefs' toboggan any time the team has a game on Christmas day.

So they swung big, but only managed bunt single. Okay, wrong sports reference. Maybe I should say they went for a deep throw and only got pass interference, but not a bomb.

Hunter King and Tyler Hynes had decent chemistry here and we've liked Tyler in a few of these movies. He has a unique style that amuses us.

However, some things about this movie jerked us right out of the story, such as a mother and grandmother practically throwing Hunter into a stranger's lap the instant he walked through the door. Then, the whole trope of how upset Hunter got at the "not believing in the hat" was ridiculous, especially when it was the best the writers could come up with to put some late tension in the romance.

Much of the "best fan" story worked, and Ed Begley, Jr. Managed an emotional performance. Parkinsons has left him looking 15 years older than he should look at 75, and that's a shame, but not his fault.

Some of the movies this year have featured an annoying minor character who overacts in embarrassing fashion, and this movie is among them. The deli owner lady almost made me bag this movie in the first five minutes. Thankfully she only appeared once more, and briefly.

We're not sorry we saw this, despite a few plot issues, but we won't be going back for a repeat.

Many great cast members (not a Hunter King or Chiefs fan) but a really quirky movie that just doesn't come together. Character development is poor, plot murky, and just not fun. The acting is stiff and seems like many actors are just going through the motions. The lone bright spot is Ed Begley Jr as his performance feels real. It seems like Hallmark tried to capitalize on the Chiefs popularity and failed miserably. The on field segment was not believable and the addition of. Jenna Bush Hager was a low point. I'm surprised they didn't try to put Tayor Swift in the movie. (Probably read the script and declined).