The Holiday Junkie

I loved this movie. I haven't found too many newer. Christmas movies that I can honestly say that about. Granted it is a little slow paced at times but overall so heartfelt and genuine. Realistic and beautiful sets. The actors seemed to have chemistry which came through on screen. A lot of today's Christmas movies come across "cheesy" but I really didn't get that from this one at all. I was a bit teary eyed near the end and after the credits ran and it was all over with. I won't say why, you will have to watch to find out. It's a nice movie you can sit down and enjoy watching with your family.

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.

There is a need for holiday films dealing with real life issues. Love Hewitt's idea about a Christmas film that incorporates the grief, trauma and stress that MANY people experience during holiday season had potential to be very relatable, in particular to people who don't have the cookie cutter families that most Hallmark formulaic holiday films showcase. Unfortunately, the script came off like an unpolished first draft, some of the casting included actors who wouldn't even get cast as actors with any lines in a Hallmark holiday film (and that's a very low bar), and some of the props and production were sub-par, which another Xmas film might get away with, but which was glaring in the context of a story featuring a supposed professional Xmas designer. It's a pleasure to see Brian Hallisay; feels like he hasn't worked in forever and a day, and it's cute seeing him on screen again with Love Hewitt, but...she should have hired some seasoned professionals. A script editor, props, costume, director's assistant - if she wanted to break into this scene, she should have given her production a boost by hiring people who have pulled off significant successes for her first outing. Now...I wonder if a studio would give her a budget to try again, since she clearly did not do that. An unfortunate miss.

I watched this as a guilty "pleasure " and because Jennifer Love Hewitt is in it..What can I say? It looks really nice and Christmassy. The two leads are very enjoyable. The peripheral characters are okay, I guess. My main problem is with the writing which tends to be kind of slowish and repetitive, in my opinion. The script could have benefited from some editing. I would say that what makes this a rather unique Christmas movie is the underlying theme of grief, which is kind of hard hitting. In a way, it's appropriate, as Christmas can be a time of sorrow as well as joy. My granddad died on Christmas when my mom was a young teen, so it was always a bittersweet time of year for her. If you don't mind the plot which kind of meanders (again, that's my opinion), this movie is probably worth checking out, especially if you enjoy watching the always delightful Jennifer Love Hewitt.

The same applies to the rest of the cast and crew! This is not a typical Christmas movie, though. There's a lot of discussions about sad things and one humiliating thing that happened to the characters around the holidays.

But there were just as many happy and proud things that happened as well. I don't want to give too much away, but Jennifer Love Hewitt and Brian Hallisay and their three kids are in this movie.

The youngest, Aidan Hallisay, is in the movie for five seconds in a scene with fun in the snow. The older two kids, Autumn and Atticus Hallisay, are in the movie for a total of five minutes.

I highly recommend this movie to fans of the cast, which I personally am-and proud of it!