The Holiday Fix Up

A Christmas TV movie that wasn't very christmasy, but the story was okay, completely unbelievable, but that's to be expected in this genre, the acting was reasonable, but overall I was underwhelmed.

These Hallmark/Lifetime/Whatever films are all fairly similar, and their success of lack of success, whichever the case may be, depends heavily on the lead actors and also the supporting cast.

For that reason, 'The Holiday Fix Up' is a success because Jana Kramer (Sam) and Ryan McPartlin (Coop) have good chemistry and play off each other well, not to mention both being very good looking. You throw in a likeable bunch of supporting characters like have been assembled in this movie, and it's a recipe for success.

TV star Sam returns to her hometown to renovate her uncle's old inn, which has been damaged by a tree in a storm, and is forced to work with Coop, her ex-boyfriend. Their relationship progresses from animosity to a desire to work together as friends and then, of course, something more.

(Through it all, no matter the weather, Coop doesn't seem to wear much more than a light jacket, even when everyone around him is bundled up against the cold. What a superman!)

Typical Christmas fare, but done well. I thought this was a lot of fun. Maybe Hallmark's best 2021 release.

Jana is a HGTV type star who is being pushed aside by an up and comer whose social media presence is better. She is out of work until the new year and is at loose ends until She is asked by Jack to renovate and rebuild his Inn which was demolished by a tree. He asks her ex, Coop, to work with her to restore the building and save Harbor Fest.

I liked the chemistry between Ryan McPartin and Jana Kramer. The conflict in their two styles pushed this a long. Jana, used to taking short cuts and and getting the job done as fast as possible for television and not always using the best materials versus Ryan, who was all in for a quality product. His career was based on reclaiming wood and reusing it. He was all about the craft. He wins her over to his way of thinking.

She films the renovation project for social media, and people love the more personal input and especially like Coop and her together. They seem like a good team. Why did Coop dump her to begin with? When the truth comes out Jana gets even angrier with Coop and I can't say I blame her. Eventually Jana's popularity wins over her bosses and offer her a big opportunity. Coop thinks she was just helping with the renovation to boost her career. Yikes.

Will they ever get this mess straightened out? Not sure I liked the resolution but they seemed happy with it.

Jana Kramer is one of my favorite Christmas movie stars. If I weren't such a fan of hers this would be lucky to get more than 1 star. Her character, Sam, and Ryan McPartlin's Coop spar, no fight, for almost exactly half the movie. And then suddenly, there's a cease fire and the animosity disappears. But even then, I just didn't feel it even when "that moment" occurs. It didn't feel real. The acting in general was less than I'd expect from these actors.

Sam and Coop get thrown together to repair the inn and "save Harbor fest". There's one formula moment after another including she-falls-and-he-catches-her, the preliminary almost-kiss, a snowball fight, the recently passed mentor, the nostalgia moments, the mysterious but cliche of why-we-really-broke-up, and Coop putting his arms around her to help her do something. There is too much use of musical montage. There are scenes of the two just building or decorating together. The story is completely cliche and the rest is filler. Throw in an unnecessary shot of Kramer's chest in a negligee and later a closeup of another woman in a T-shirt.

Even the attempts at sentimentality at the end feel forced.

The whole movie feels like it was written in a couple hours and filmed in a day.

Well they could not have picked two more attractive individuals for this holiday romance...these two are gorgeous! I can see why everyone wants #soop for Christmas, although I am with Coop-whatever that means.

When Rita and Jack moved in to Bel Harbor it was just four walls, it is the people that make it a home.

Sam has a fixer-upper show on something like the DIY network and has been very successful for the last five years. She has avoided going home to Bel Harbor, where it all started, for Christmas by doing an annual Christmas show...which this year they have given to an up and coming fixer upper because her social media presence is off the charts. Then Sam sees that a storm caused damage to her beloved Bel Harbor Inn and she calls her surrogate father to see if he needs help...and indeed he does. Which is how Sam ends up doing a fixer upper in Bel Harbor for Christmas. There she must work with her ex boyfriend Coop and discovers their breakup was not what it seemed five years ago.

This was a fairly run of the mill romance that added both Christmas and a woman doing DIY. If you are in to that...you may enjoy this film. The two leads are very attractive, if that is a draw.