Holiday Mismatch

7.5 stars.

I would usually be down to watch something like this again in 5-10 years, that's my initial feeling, thus i would rate it a 7.3 stars. But I changed my mind and raised it a smidge, so I can give it another opportunity to entertain, sooner.

It's a bit of a slow starter. That's the main problem. I really want to give this a higher rating but it's tough to think about me really being energized to see it again anytime soon. However, upon brief reflection as I'm just finishing it, there were many really good parts.

I love this new-ish actress who plays the daughter, who is fake dating the lead male; she's got a lot of personality and I like her face. And the guy he's great too. I've seen him in a couple of movies, but I don't recall if those were primary roles.

The two well-known older women, both are well known in the Hollywood Arena. They both do Hallmark and various other things. Their parts were somewhat insidious to watch, it reduced the value of this film overall. It's a shame, because they are essential to the narrative. So again, this is why I am conflicted, on the fence,!about my rating. I want to see this movie again, I'm gonna rate it at 7.5 and hope that I like it better next time.

I normally don't like stories with overbearing and meddling parents, especially when their personalities are so annoying. These two are a little over the top, or at least Kath is. Somehow the viewer almost grows to like the two moms. Meanwhile, the young couple are appealing characters.

I've never seen Maxine Denis before, but I hope she becomes a regular for Hallmark. Lauren's character is a little uncertain of herself, but makes up for it. She and John McLaren have chemistry.

The premise of fake dating is fairly common, but I can't remember it being done by focusing on the meddling moms as much as the couple themselves. Of course you know the moms are going to screw things up, but for a while everything they do goes the opposite of their intentions to sabotage the relationship. I thought the way the story finally threw in the monkey wrench was a little clumsy, but I often do with the obstacle in the story.

The movie was fun.

Newly retired bookkeeper Barbara (Beth Broderick) takes a volunteer job at the community center and is assigned to a committee run by the bohemian Kath (Caroline Rhea). Kath and Barbara clash from the moment they meet, but both love their kids...and end up unintentionally setting them up with each other on an app as a blind date. Their kids, Shane and Lauren, meet as a blind date, then they make a pact to fake date through the holidays to get their mom's off their backs. When the Kath and Barbara figure out that they have set their child up with the other's, they immediately team up to break them up, assuming that they can't be right for each other...only they are.

I love both Caroline Rhea and Beth Broderick, who are the heart of this film. The message is really about how people are different, and yet often those differences are complimentary. Kath and Barb were not the romantic leads...but they could have been, they held this hallmark holiday film together so well. (I did like the two kids, aka the romantic leads, but really you should watch it for Rhea and Broderick.)

Needless to say that I was, of course, not familiar with the 2024 Hallmark Christmas movie "Holiday Mismatch" prior to sitting down to watch it as part of my 2024 December Christmas movie marathon. But while I was unfamiliar with the movie, I have to say that seeing Caroline Rhea and Beth Broderick on the movie's cover, it did instill some sense of expectation to Hallmark to deliver something worthwhile.

Writer Sarah Wise did indeed rise to the challenge and she did deliver an enjoyable and entertaining script and storyline. I have to say that I was genuinely entertained throughout the course of the 84 minutes that the movie ran for.

The acting performances in "Holiday Mismatch" were good, and there were some familiar faces on the cast list, with the likes of Caroline Rhea, Beth Broderick and Jon McLaren. It certainly was nice to see actresses Caroline Rhea and Beth Broderick reunited on the screen again. I've always enjoyed seeing them as the aunties in the "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" series from back in the mid-1990s.

If you enjoy sappy Christmas movies, then you should take the time to sit down and watch director Caroline Labrèche's 2024 movie. It was a nice movie.

My rating of "Holiday Mismatch" lands on a six out of ten stars.

It was good for what it is, a hallmark type of holiday movie. The two young leads are fine... not the best actors, but fine enough. The two mothers, played by the aunts from Sabrina the Teenage Witch (which are the selling point in the ads and previews for this movie) are of course great. Without them this would be a hard pass. Caroline Rhea in particular is really funny and a great actress. She definitely saved this movie. If you like rom coms, you'll like this. If you like Hallmark movies, you'll like this. If you like the more or less wholesome type of Christmas movies, you'll like this. Worth a view!