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A Make or Break Holiday · Girls Gone Hallmark | Hallmark Movie Reviews

0:02
Speaker 1: This is a bramble jam podcast.
0:22
Speaker 2: Welcome to Girls Gon Hallmark, a Hallmark review podcast. I'm
0:25
Speaker 2: Megan and I'm a longtime Hallmark fan.
0:27
Speaker 3: I'm Wendy.
0:28
Speaker 1: I'm a former Hallmark hater.
0:30
Speaker 2: On today's episode, we are discussing a Make or Break Holiday,
0:34
Speaker 2: which originally aired on Saturday, December twentieth on the Hallmark
0:38
Speaker 2: Channel and is currently available to stream on Hallmark Plus. Hey,
0:43
Speaker 2: hang out with us on Instagram over the holiday season.
0:45
Speaker 2: Keep up with the new episodes that continue to drop
0:48
Speaker 2: on Girls Gone Hallmark throughout the season, and you're going
0:51
Speaker 2: to want to stay tuned for the upcoming countdown to Christmas.
0:54
Speaker 2: Bracket happening writer around the new year.
0:58
Speaker 4: We've forgotten already.
1:00
Speaker 3: No, no, it's the second. We are Girls Gone Hallmark
1:04
Speaker 3: on Instagram.
1:06
Speaker 1: Hey, if you have any thoughts on these movies, our
1:09
Speaker 1: review countdown to Christmas in general.
1:14
Speaker 3: Now that we've kind.
1:15
Speaker 1: Of almost wrapped it up, email us. We are Meganandwindy
1:18
Speaker 1: at gmail dot com. Maybe we'll get a mailbag episode soon.
1:25
Speaker 2: Perhaps, Yes, there will be another mailbag episode coming out
1:29
Speaker 2: this week. And then, just so everybody knows, any emails
1:33
Speaker 2: that come in.
1:34
Speaker 3: Will be on the first mail bag of the New Year.
1:38
Speaker 1: That's right, We're gonna take a little break.
1:42
Speaker 2: But keep them coming, keep them coming, and we will well,
1:47
Speaker 2: we will get to them.
1:48
Speaker 4: We will.
1:48
Speaker 3: We would love to read them.
1:52
Speaker 2: Why don't we kick off our discussion of A Make
1:54
Speaker 2: or Break Holiday with a synopsis.
1:56
Speaker 1: A couple hosting Christmas decides to fake this relationship for
2:00
Speaker 1: their families after choosing to separate, working together for the
2:04
Speaker 1: perfect holiday helps them remember why they fell in love.
2:08
Speaker 1: A Make or Break Holiday was directed by Martin Wood.
2:11
Speaker 1: Although this is not a name we hear often around here,
2:13
Speaker 1: he does have fifty seven directing credits with projects like
2:15
Speaker 1: Sullivan's Crossing and Virgin River. His last few Homemark projects
2:19
Speaker 1: include One Calls the Heart, Holidays and Holiday Road. This
2:24
Speaker 1: screenplay comes from the writing duo of Vanessa Morano and
2:27
Speaker 1: Danielle Morrow. Do these names sound familiar? Both were credited
2:32
Speaker 1: with writing Holiday Touchdown A Bill's Love Story this year
2:36
Speaker 1: as well. Hunter King stars as Live. This marks Hunter's
2:39
Speaker 1: thirty first acting credit. We saw her in a brief
2:42
Speaker 1: cameo during Holiday Touchdown A Bill's Love Story, as well
2:45
Speaker 1: as herself on this season of Finding Mister Christmas. Interesting note,
2:49
Speaker 1: she is in the forthcoming Don't Move, which is a
2:52
Speaker 1: thriller co starring Lindsay Fonseca, and the screenplay was written
2:56
Speaker 1: and directed by McLain Nelson.
2:58
Speaker 3: This project is the very clearly.
3:00
Speaker 1: Not for Hallmark, not for Hallmark at all, but it's
3:03
Speaker 1: so funny, like so many of the players.
3:06
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a good team.
3:08
Speaker 4: I don't even know.
3:08
Speaker 1: If it's like is it a theatrical release, is it
3:11
Speaker 1: a lifetime I don't know. I don't know, but I'm curious,
3:16
Speaker 1: very curious. I know it's not your jam, but thriller
3:19
Speaker 1: is definitely my jam.
3:20
Speaker 4: Yeah.
3:22
Speaker 1: Evan Rodrick plays Daniel. We last saw Evan in Providence
3:25
Speaker 1: Falls as Finn and last year in Leah's Perfect Gift.
3:29
Speaker 1: This movie marks his twenty second acting credit.
3:32
Speaker 4: You know.
3:32
Speaker 1: He also plays Arthur in the reboot of Aurora t.
3:35
Speaker 1: Garden and I wonder what the status of that series is.
3:40
Speaker 2: I think the Hallmarks losers are nervously biting their nails,
3:45
Speaker 2: wondering what's gonna happen to mysteries in the New Year.
3:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, I would love some information because even our January
3:53
Speaker 1: lineup doesn't have one mystery in it, right, noop.
4:00
Speaker 3: Where are those too? Curious Caters.
4:02
Speaker 4: We were promised, where are those.
4:05
Speaker 3: True Justice mysteries that were filmed?
4:07
Speaker 4: That's it. I was like, what's that Ben Ayre's vehicle? Yeah,
4:10
Speaker 4: True Justice yep.
4:12
Speaker 2: Jennifer Juniper Angelo plays Daniel's mom Maya. She has forty
4:16
Speaker 2: nine acting credits and most recently appeared in Sinzeal Delivered
4:19
Speaker 2: A Tale of Three Letters.
4:21
Speaker 1: Rourke Critchlow plays lives dad Ed. You might have recognized
4:25
Speaker 1: him from his recent role as the mayor in The
4:27
Speaker 1: Christmas Cup. He also has played the role of doctor
4:30
Speaker 1: Mike Horton in six hundred and thirty five episodes of
4:33
Speaker 1: Days of Our Lives.
4:35
Speaker 2: It's a very familiar face in this house. Marley Walchuck
4:38
Speaker 2: plays lives mom Tracy. She has twenty one acting credits
4:41
Speaker 2: and most recently appeared as Dot in both seasons of
4:45
Speaker 2: The Chicken Sisters.
4:47
Speaker 1: Megan. I was writing these notes and I was like,
4:48
Speaker 1: who TF is Dot.
4:51
Speaker 2: She's just one of the towns ladies. Eh okay, I'm like,
4:55
Speaker 2: I watched season one. I don't remember a Dot at all.
4:58
Speaker 1: Yeah, she would have been at the drop at Shawna's house.
5:04
Speaker 3: You know, she's one of the gossipy ladies.
5:06
Speaker 1: Yeah, sure, but she was in a ton of episodes
5:11
Speaker 1: according to IMDb, so she must have just been in
5:13
Speaker 1: that background quite a bit. Yeah, she's not a plot
5:18
Speaker 1: driving character, got it. Linda Darlowe plays Grandma. Linda has
5:24
Speaker 1: one that's her actual type creditle.
5:28
Speaker 4: Yeah.
5:28
Speaker 1: Grandma Linda has one hundred and twenty seven acting credits
5:32
Speaker 1: with previous Hallmark appearances. And Nellie Knows Mysteries, A fatal
5:35
Speaker 1: engagement mystery on Mistletoe Lane and Hanukkah on Rye.
5:39
Speaker 3: Craig Gagan appears as Liv's brother.
5:41
Speaker 4: Reed.
5:41
Speaker 2: Of course, Craig won this season of Fighting Mister Christmas,
5:44
Speaker 2: but I thought we'd share some of his resume. Craig
5:47
Speaker 2: has eighteen previous acting credits with appearances in Rescue, High Surf,
5:51
Speaker 2: How I Met Your Father, and a Lifetime movie called
5:54
Speaker 2: A Lifeguard's Obsession. Brittany Wilson plays Daniel's sister. Brittany has
6:01
Speaker 2: eighty two acting credits with appearances in several of the
6:04
Speaker 2: morning show mystery series Dater's Handbook, and also worth noting
6:09
Speaker 2: she's the voice of the character Christa on the audible
6:12
Speaker 2: podcast Middle Bridge Mysteries, which is a ken Mistletoe Murders
6:16
Speaker 2: Cooperis Project. Total side note, Can I share?
6:20
Speaker 3: Please?
6:20
Speaker 1: As I was putting this note together, we had talked
6:24
Speaker 1: about Middlebridge Mysteries a while back when we were reviewing
6:28
Speaker 1: Mistletoe Murders.
6:29
Speaker 4: Do you remember at all?
6:32
Speaker 3: I just remember that it's the spinoff of Mistletoe Murders.
6:35
Speaker 1: That's what I did not know. I knew it was
6:38
Speaker 1: a Ken Cooperis project, and I was like, Oh, it
6:40
Speaker 1: would be great if he brought another show to Hallmark.
6:43
Speaker 1: I'm reading the synopsis. It's a spinoff of Mistletoe Murders.
6:47
Speaker 1: Here's the synopsis. Violet Wilner, in her first year of
6:50
Speaker 1: her criminology degree at Middlebridge University, finds herself drawn into
6:56
Speaker 1: mysterious circumstances as she navigates life away from Fletcher's growth.
7:01
Speaker 1: Oh my god, I have to I've been saying for
7:06
Speaker 1: months I'm going to listen to Mistletoe Murders during the
7:09
Speaker 1: holiday break, and I'm like, now I have to listen
7:12
Speaker 1: to this too. My Violet spin off is too much
7:16
Speaker 1: for me to handle.
7:18
Speaker 3: I know, an embarrassment of riches totally.
7:22
Speaker 1: Okay, I'll stop fangirling.
7:25
Speaker 4: We can move on.
7:26
Speaker 2: Let's take a quick break and come right back with
7:28
Speaker 2: our first impressions. Hey, Wendy, what was your first impression
7:41
Speaker 2: of a make or break holiday?
7:44
Speaker 1: WHOA settle down Hallmark? A couple buying a house and
7:47
Speaker 1: living together before marriage progressive.
7:53
Speaker 2: My first impression is this might be the most aggressively
7:56
Speaker 2: meddlesome family homework has ever assembled, and somehow they still
7:59
Speaker 2: managed to make.
8:00
Speaker 3: The couple the problem.
8:02
Speaker 4: Oh.
8:03
Speaker 1: Interesting, interesting, I can't wait to dive in. I agree
8:08
Speaker 1: with you about the family, but the hot take on
8:11
Speaker 1: the couple being the problem, let's talk more about it.
8:13
Speaker 1: I don't think the couple is the problem. I think
8:17
Speaker 1: the family is pointing at the couple being the problem.
8:21
Speaker 4: Got it, got it, got it, got it.
8:23
Speaker 3: I don't think the couple is the problem.
8:25
Speaker 2: This family made me want to rage out on this
8:27
Speaker 2: the nine hundred and seventy fifth day of the Countdown
8:29
Speaker 2: to Christmas season. I have seven hundred things to do and.
8:34
Speaker 3: No time in which to do it.
8:36
Speaker 2: My family is leaving on a staycasion for four days,
8:41
Speaker 2: six days before Christmas. By the time this episode comes out,
8:44
Speaker 2: we'll be home, so you can't rob my house because
8:47
Speaker 2: we'll be back by then.
8:48
Speaker 3: My patience is zapped.
8:50
Speaker 1: I'm coming for you A Make or Break family holiday Family.
8:54
Speaker 3: That's not even the title of this movie.
8:57
Speaker 4: I had a feeling while I was watching it.
9:00
Speaker 3: I texted Megan.
9:00
Speaker 4: I was like, are you triggered by this family? I did.
9:04
Speaker 1: I do have a lot of things I liked about
9:06
Speaker 1: this movie, though, So okay.
9:07
Speaker 3: Let's get into that.
9:09
Speaker 2: Let's just start at the beginning. I think Hunter King
9:14
Speaker 2: and Evan Roderick are as cute as Kim Be. They
9:18
Speaker 2: totally are. I love them together. Yeah, that's a really
9:21
Speaker 2: nice pairing. I'm really drawn to Hunter King, I always
9:24
Speaker 2: have been. I like the way she talks. Oh, I
9:28
Speaker 2: find it very charming. But you know, I know you
9:31
Speaker 2: love a little baby Tyler Hines energy from mister Evan Roderick.
9:36
Speaker 4: You know what.
9:37
Speaker 1: You know what's funny is I am drawn to Evan
9:39
Speaker 1: Rodrick and I have always said, oh, he's like a
9:42
Speaker 1: baby Tyler Hines like for me this movie, for some reason,
9:45
Speaker 1: he has stepped into his own I was like, give
9:47
Speaker 1: this man some more leading roles. I don't know if
9:50
Speaker 1: it was providence falls that like really made that turn
9:53
Speaker 1: out of baby brother of Tyler Hines. You know, yeah,
9:57
Speaker 1: tips the scales for you yeah, yeah, yeah. I really
10:03
Speaker 1: enjoyed him in this. I think he's very nice to
10:06
Speaker 1: look at, but actually also think he's a really great actor.
10:10
Speaker 2: I totally agree with you. I thought they had a
10:12
Speaker 2: really nice, like comfortable, lived in couple energy about them.
10:16
Speaker 2: I have so many things to say about their relationship,
10:19
Speaker 2: but I really enjoyed watching them. They were one of
10:23
Speaker 2: the absolute highlights of this movie for me, And in
10:25
Speaker 2: terms of their relationship, some beats that I liked. I
10:29
Speaker 2: liked the opening dating montage with their Instagram style photos yep,
10:36
Speaker 2: telling the story of their relationship, and then really loved
10:40
Speaker 2: the callback to that at the end of the movie,
10:43
Speaker 2: where those photos turned into videos as they were experiencing
10:47
Speaker 2: those memories together while they're trying to like mentally figure
10:51
Speaker 2: out their relationship.
10:52
Speaker 1: You they're great, They're super great together, and I love
10:55
Speaker 1: I love those things too. I thought in terms of
10:59
Speaker 1: their relationship, the newly together growing pains felt very real,
11:04
Speaker 1: and as a woman who has been married nearly twenty
11:08
Speaker 1: five years, like I was taken back to those kind
11:13
Speaker 1: of feelings.
11:15
Speaker 4: I really while watching that.
11:16
Speaker 1: I mean, I thought this movie captured that phase of
11:19
Speaker 1: a relationship when you're still learning about each other and
11:23
Speaker 1: how a person does life, like how they handle stress,
11:25
Speaker 1: how they decorate, how they manage their day to day,
11:28
Speaker 1: like all those like little irritations are super relatable. Yeah,
11:33
Speaker 1: when she walks in and starts rearranging the little Christmas village. Yes, Look,
11:38
Speaker 1: when my husband and I were first married, we were
11:41
Speaker 1: trying to decide where to put our Christmas tree. And
11:44
Speaker 1: I'm telling you, that's the biggest fight we've had in
11:45
Speaker 1: the history of our marriage. And I went to work
11:48
Speaker 1: the next day and I was talking to someone about
11:50
Speaker 1: it and they were like, okay, but seriously, on a
11:52
Speaker 1: scale of one to ten, like how important this is
11:53
Speaker 1: to you, I'm like.
11:54
Speaker 4: It's a ten.
11:55
Speaker 1: This is the I'm not giving in, Like I'm absolutely
11:58
Speaker 1: correct about where they christy, Oh my god, you are
12:01
Speaker 1: a Hallmark movie.
12:03
Speaker 4: We need to happen.
12:03
Speaker 1: Okay, But the idea, whether it's a Christmas tree or
12:07
Speaker 1: something else, I think it's very relatable that we kind
12:10
Speaker 1: of can get locked into those little things early in
12:14
Speaker 1: a relationship, early in living with someone, and now I'm like.
12:18
Speaker 3: Whatever, just put the tree where you want.
12:19
Speaker 4: Okay.
12:21
Speaker 1: Yes, I do have moments too, like well, I mean
12:24
Speaker 1: I am who I am? I like things done a
12:26
Speaker 1: certain way, and when somebody doesn't fall in line and
12:29
Speaker 1: do the things that way, I am not happy about it.
12:33
Speaker 1: It's just who I am. There are some things, as
12:37
Speaker 1: I've gotten older, that I'm like willing to let go,
12:40
Speaker 1: And so it was funny to watch like this young
12:43
Speaker 1: couple and I was like, Oh, they're gonna have to
12:45
Speaker 1: figure out what they're willing to let go if they
12:48
Speaker 1: want to stay together. Oh yeah, yeah, yes, indeed, so
12:54
Speaker 1: I think I think I enjoyed the overall story of
13:00
Speaker 1: that to that part of this movie, I did too.
13:03
Speaker 1: Let's be honest, the sister was the engine of this movie.
13:06
Speaker 1: She is the one who was, you know, driving the
13:11
Speaker 1: entire story. In my opinion, yes, she like pushed the
13:15
Speaker 1: plot forward, stirred the pot. She delivered some funny moments
13:19
Speaker 1: when she and Daniel are out in front of the
13:22
Speaker 1: house and he sarcastically says something about like helping cleanup,
13:26
Speaker 1: and She's like, no way, I'm on vacation, bro. I
13:29
Speaker 1: was like, I laughed out loud. I laughed out loud.
13:35
Speaker 1: I did think the script had a lot of like
13:39
Speaker 1: millennial coded dialogue, which I enjoyed as a gen xer.
13:45
Speaker 1: That's what I am right gen excerpt. Yeah, but just
13:47
Speaker 1: like you know, I didn't watch Mary kan and Ashley,
13:50
Speaker 1: but I got the Mary Kate and Ashley references. Sure,
13:53
Speaker 1: I love the multiple Mary Kate and Ashley references. Yeah,
13:56
Speaker 1: there was a Lindsay Lohan reference that I got to.
13:59
Speaker 1: I thought those were all great and that those are
14:01
Speaker 1: our indicators of like our writers.
14:03
Speaker 3: Being fairly young.
14:05
Speaker 1: Yes, made me just curious when they were putting this
14:10
Speaker 1: script together presenting it to Hallmark, does Hallmark ever take
14:13
Speaker 1: pause and go, well, well, our demo might be a
14:15
Speaker 1: little bit older and not pick up these beats.
14:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a good question.
14:20
Speaker 2: But the other question to be asked is is it
14:24
Speaker 2: okay if they don't just for the recognition that you're
14:28
Speaker 2: going to get from your younger crowd, because yeah, you know,
14:31
Speaker 2: they don't take away from the movie.
14:32
Speaker 3: If you don't understand the Mary Kate and Ashley reference.
14:36
Speaker 1: Right, well, you know, you know weird seven degrees of separation.
14:42
Speaker 1: Of course, our writers Vanessa Morano was Abel Nardini on
14:46
Speaker 1: Gilmore Girls. Gilmore is filled with pop culture references of
14:52
Speaker 1: the time and older and when my daughter watches it,
14:57
Speaker 1: a lot of these jokes don't land for her like
15:00
Speaker 1: they do for me. It just is funny how it
15:02
Speaker 1: comes together where the writer once appeared on the show
15:06
Speaker 1: that was heavy in pop culture, and we have these
15:08
Speaker 1: pop culture references in this movie.
15:10
Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure. I was just thinking.
15:12
Speaker 2: About like the millennial coded comment. You know, the oldest
15:15
Speaker 2: millennials are forty five years old this year, so I
15:18
Speaker 2: think sometimes we think like, oh, they're speaking to the youths,
15:23
Speaker 2: but you know they're middle aged, So this is this is.
15:27
Speaker 1: True in my mind, in my old lady mind, I
15:31
Speaker 1: keep thinking millennials are like twenty five and they're not.
15:34
Speaker 3: No, no, they're not. Yeah.
15:38
Speaker 1: I think that may be very much their demo that
15:40
Speaker 1: you know, forty five to sixty crowd. Yeah, yeah, speak, yeah,
15:47
Speaker 1: there it is. Speaking of pop culture references. Did you
15:50
Speaker 1: love the Ross and Rachel conversation? Did I even note
15:53
Speaker 1: the Ross and Rachel conversation? Well, yeah, Daniel and his
15:57
Speaker 1: sister had a whole conversation about Ross and Rachel because
16:00
Speaker 1: they it was not a whole conversation, it was basically
16:04
Speaker 1: defining what we're on a break? Wait does that mean
16:07
Speaker 1: break up or break? It was very much Ross and Rachel.
16:10
Speaker 1: Oh yes, but he was like, wait, you sided with
16:14
Speaker 1: Ross's on a Break. Oh, yes, not Rachel's on a break. Yeah,
16:17
Speaker 1: it just look. I loved it. It was coming fast
16:20
Speaker 1: and furious. This is right in my lane.
16:22
Speaker 3: I loved it. Loved it. Yeah, when they like smoothly
16:26
Speaker 3: sneak that stuff in.
16:28
Speaker 4: Look.
16:28
Speaker 2: I enjoyed Jonathan Bennett's cameo. I know it was silly
16:31
Speaker 2: and goofy and very on the nose, but of course
16:35
Speaker 2: he's going to be in the movie that mister Christmas
16:37
Speaker 2: is in. He has a funny moment yelling about the
16:42
Speaker 2: snow machine and who do you think you are, mister Christmas?
16:45
Speaker 3: He understood the assignment.
16:47
Speaker 4: Yeah, that was great. Let's talk about Craig.
16:50
Speaker 1: Okay, is he in your wishes? Yeah, okay, he's in
16:54
Speaker 1: my wishes too. But I do have some likes. I
16:57
Speaker 1: do think. I do think I wanted more from him,
17:01
Speaker 1: much more than what he got, especially as the winner
17:05
Speaker 1: of the Finding Mister Christmas.
17:07
Speaker 3: I like a whole monologue about it.
17:10
Speaker 4: Yep, we'll talk about it in your wishes.
17:13
Speaker 1: But I do think I do think that he had
17:17
Speaker 1: some lovely comedic beats. Yeah, there were some genuinely cute moments.
17:23
Speaker 1: There a lot of reactions, a lot of like face stuff.
17:26
Speaker 1: There was none of his signature whisper acting, which.
17:29
Speaker 2: No, I did notice even when he has that finally
17:33
Speaker 2: kind of sincere moment with his sister, no whispering.
17:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think he's only gonna get better more time
17:41
Speaker 1: he has on screen, like on projects, He's gonna get better.
17:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I liked Craig. Any of my complaints
17:48
Speaker 2: about what was happening with Craig really aren't related to him,
17:51
Speaker 2: and we'll get into it. I agree with you. I
17:53
Speaker 2: thought he was funny. I thought they had as someone
17:57
Speaker 2: with a younger brother who can sometimes be like hard
18:00
Speaker 2: to like okay, no, now I need you to be
18:03
Speaker 2: serious like my brothers go to is sarcasm in every instance,
18:07
Speaker 2: and so I kind of understood that vibe. And I
18:11
Speaker 2: liked when he finally locked in with her and had
18:15
Speaker 2: a real moment. And I liked his little partnership with Grandma.
18:19
Speaker 2: She adopted him as her little sidekick and shenanigans and
18:23
Speaker 2: that was funny. His little side story about sleeping in
18:27
Speaker 2: the basement that we never see also funny. Oh, sleeping
18:30
Speaker 2: on the couch is an option.
18:32
Speaker 3: It was fun Yeah.
18:33
Speaker 1: Yeah, I have one more like, actually, two more little likes.
18:36
Speaker 1: I loved the family competition game scene. We too. There
18:41
Speaker 1: was a movie There was a movie earlier this year
18:44
Speaker 1: that I was like, oh, that was so cheesy the
18:46
Speaker 1: way they did it. It would have been so much
18:48
Speaker 1: better if they did it like, oh my gosh from
18:50
Speaker 1: my movie last year. And I can't even remember what
18:52
Speaker 1: they are right now, Sorry, guys, my brain is mush.
18:55
Speaker 3: But was the date before Christmas? Was the date before Christmas?
18:59
Speaker 1: But I can't remember remember the movie earlier this.
19:01
Speaker 3: I think it might have been The Christmas Cup.
19:03
Speaker 1: Oh that's what it was, Yes, thank you, that's what
19:06
Speaker 1: it was. This is when it's done right. Yeah.
19:09
Speaker 2: I thought it was really well executed. Time and thought
19:12
Speaker 2: was put into it. Really enjoyed the sliding on the
19:15
Speaker 2: sled underneath the Christmas lights.
19:17
Speaker 1: Me too.
19:18
Speaker 4: Me I.
19:20
Speaker 1: The panic I had picturing me on that while watching
19:24
Speaker 1: that made me.
19:25
Speaker 4: Laugh out loud to me too.
19:27
Speaker 2: But how much would you love They have the tires
19:29
Speaker 2: at the end, and they show the mom like just
19:32
Speaker 2: walking through it. She's just like stepping through the tires,
19:34
Speaker 2: no attempt to hustle through there.
19:37
Speaker 3: I was like, that would be me.
19:39
Speaker 1: But you know what's interesting about that scene. That particular
19:43
Speaker 1: scene is like the mom and dad are kind of
19:45
Speaker 1: bitching at each other a little bit.
19:47
Speaker 4: Yeah, and I feel.
19:48
Speaker 1: Like like Hunter, not Hunter Live. I feel like Live
19:51
Speaker 1: like looked and was like, no, this is not what
19:54
Speaker 1: I want from my relationship. And in like a like
20:00
Speaker 1: one eighty the competition the her teammate Daniel, like there
20:08
Speaker 1: was a rhythm there. They could problem solve and strategize.
20:10
Speaker 1: They were showing up for each other, like it reinforced
20:13
Speaker 1: the idea that they have a solid foundation and others
20:18
Speaker 1: of that.
20:19
Speaker 2: Because I did bump on the dad when the mom
20:23
Speaker 2: came out of the tires, he was like all right,
20:26
Speaker 2: like he was irritated with her, Like it wasn't like
20:28
Speaker 2: a playful irritation. I almost felt like I had that feeling.
20:33
Speaker 2: I didn't project it onto them, which I should have
20:36
Speaker 2: of like, ugh, I don't I understand that that's sometimes
20:40
Speaker 2: the cliche. I've been married forever, were irritated with each other,
20:43
Speaker 2: But love indoors you just stick around through the hard stuff.
20:46
Speaker 2: You just keep on going.
20:47
Speaker 4: Uh.
20:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, that actually reframed a lot of my thoughts on
20:53
Speaker 2: this movie.
20:54
Speaker 1: H good, All right, are you ready to talk wishes?
20:57
Speaker 3: Yeah?
20:59
Speaker 1: Let's get into the crazy of it.
21:00
Speaker 4: I'll go ahead. I'm listening well, and I told.
21:04
Speaker 3: You before we before you had seen the movie.
21:07
Speaker 2: My thoughts are they did not give Craig nearly enough
21:11
Speaker 2: to do all season long of Finding Mister Christmas. People
21:15
Speaker 2: have said, I don't understand we don't have a Christmas
21:18
Speaker 2: movie starring the Winner. We knew that, we knew the
21:20
Speaker 2: leads of every movie, and you and I kind of
21:24
Speaker 2: talked like before we knew what it was gonna be,
21:27
Speaker 2: we thought maybe you thought maybe it would be The
21:29
Speaker 2: Christmas Baby, maybe the winner would play the brother that
21:32
Speaker 2: that would make sense. I'm okay with the winner of
21:37
Speaker 2: the show not being the lead lead of a movie,
21:40
Speaker 2: particularly on the tight turnaround of like the Winner of
21:43
Speaker 2: Finding Mister Christmas. Then you got to produce the movie.
21:46
Speaker 2: That person may not be the perfect fit for that
21:50
Speaker 2: lead role, and then you're like resting all your hopes
21:54
Speaker 2: and dreams on this person making it work. But I
21:59
Speaker 2: was hoping we're gonna get a supporting character in the
22:02
Speaker 2: vein of Danny Pellegrino in Deck the Walls, where he
22:07
Speaker 2: is basically a co star with Wes Brown.
22:10
Speaker 3: In my opinion, he has.
22:12
Speaker 2: His own storyline. He has his own comedic beats. In
22:16
Speaker 2: this movie. Ninety percent of what Craig was asked to
22:19
Speaker 2: do was react. He was reacting to Grandma, reacting to
22:23
Speaker 2: the sister, reacting to the Sheanigans. React, React, React, React.
22:26
Speaker 2: He has won maybe two moments where he gets to
22:30
Speaker 2: actually engage.
22:32
Speaker 3: And I feel like there's a lot of because the
22:36
Speaker 3: Hallmark fans love to have an opinion.
22:39
Speaker 2: I think there's some contexts. Jewey yes as Dewey, I know,
22:43
Speaker 2: but I feel like some of them are coming from
22:46
Speaker 2: a real negative place. We're posting a lot of footage
22:50
Speaker 2: from some interviews we did on set at the reunion,
22:52
Speaker 2: and everyone's like, h should have been this person.
22:54
Speaker 3: Uh, I don't like this about them. Uh, I don't
22:56
Speaker 3: like be quiet.
22:57
Speaker 2: These are people that you're talking about with eyes and
23:00
Speaker 2: ears anyway, Because people like to have an opinion, I
23:04
Speaker 2: feel like this is just going to add fuel to
23:08
Speaker 2: the fire because most people aren't going to do the
23:12
Speaker 2: additional thinking like, oh, he wasn't given a lot to do.
23:16
Speaker 2: They're just going to think he didn't do a lot.
23:19
Speaker 2: And I just feel like maybe he wasn't as set
23:22
Speaker 2: up for success as he could have been.
23:25
Speaker 1: What do you that's a very neutral take. I think, oh,
23:30
Speaker 1: you're not wrong. I absolutely agree. I do wish they
23:35
Speaker 1: gave him more substance, and especially when you say like
23:37
Speaker 1: he his role was basically to react m Yeah, he
23:42
Speaker 1: didn't get his own lane at all. Yeah, I agree
23:47
Speaker 1: with you. I don't know how I feel. And this
23:51
Speaker 1: is obviously we're not talking about finding mister Christmas, but
23:54
Speaker 1: there has been a lot of confusion about the prize for.
23:58
Speaker 3: Finding mister Christmas.
24:00
Speaker 4: Yes, I'm like, I'm not gonna.
24:01
Speaker 3: Split hair, split hairs.
24:03
Speaker 1: Is it a leading role? Is it a co starring role?
24:05
Speaker 1: Is it a supporting role? To me, this role was
24:09
Speaker 1: a supporting role. Yes, but doesn't matter because, like you said,
24:14
Speaker 1: there's just been so much criticism about, well, these guys
24:18
Speaker 1: aren't ready enough for a leading role. But but why
24:21
Speaker 1: are they promoting that the prize is a lead role?
24:23
Speaker 3: Like does it matter?
24:27
Speaker 1: It might matter to Craig, right, but like does it
24:30
Speaker 1: matter to us the viewing audience?
24:33
Speaker 4: No?
24:34
Speaker 3: No, I think you're right.
24:35
Speaker 2: I don't think it matters, and I don't like, I
24:38
Speaker 2: don't care that it wasn't the leading role. I just
24:40
Speaker 2: feel like I just wish they had given him more
24:43
Speaker 2: to do. I think Craig is capable of more. And
24:45
Speaker 2: when you look at the role that the sister had
24:48
Speaker 2: in this movie, she had a much more significant role,
24:51
Speaker 2: a much more emotionally connected role. I know Craig is
24:57
Speaker 2: the comedy guy, but I just think he could have
25:01
Speaker 2: done more. I was excited to see more from Craig.
25:04
Speaker 2: I actually even DMed him last night and.
25:06
Speaker 4: Was like, I did you Yeah.
25:09
Speaker 2: He did not respond because I said, having seen the movie,
25:13
Speaker 2: I can confidently say they should have given you more
25:16
Speaker 2: to do.
25:16
Speaker 3: Because he was promoting the movie.
25:18
Speaker 1: And I said, hopefully there's a secret, secret movie in
25:21
Speaker 1: the works. I hope there is too. I think he's funny.
25:25
Speaker 1: I think they could have given him something. Meteor Meteor, Yes,
25:32
Speaker 1: it sounded like meteor.
25:35
Speaker 3: I had to pick up what you're putting down there.
25:39
Speaker 4: Anyway you have.
25:40
Speaker 1: Well, I wish this movie didn't feel so contentious the
25:43
Speaker 1: entire time. This is my biggest hang up that we
25:46
Speaker 1: have talked about. The parents were a lot like actually
25:50
Speaker 1: terrible at times. I thought they were rude and dismissive
25:54
Speaker 1: and for me, uncomfortable to watch. Felt like it tipped
26:01
Speaker 1: the tone from regular holiday tension that everybody deals with
26:06
Speaker 1: into why are these adults behaving so badly? We had
26:11
Speaker 1: a movie like this last year or too, I think
26:13
Speaker 1: it was Christmas with the Sings where the parents were
26:17
Speaker 1: so terrible, and I was like, yikes, like this is
26:21
Speaker 1: not you know, I'm always a big proponent of having
26:28
Speaker 1: of wanting like relatable homewark movies.
26:31
Speaker 4: This is the this is what I don't want.
26:34
Speaker 1: I don't want this much relatability.
26:37
Speaker 2: Yes, because some of these storylines, I was like, does
26:42
Speaker 2: Vanessa Morana listen to our podcast and has she heard
26:45
Speaker 2: me complain about people having an opinion on our Christmas dinner?
26:48
Speaker 2: Because when they were like, well, if it's not the
26:50
Speaker 2: Gobbler Farms turkey, Christmas is ruined. I in that moment,
26:56
Speaker 2: as I'm watching this movie, my husband is getting a
26:58
Speaker 2: phone call from a family member of about what we're
27:00
Speaker 2: serving for Christmas, and that person is having an opinion
27:03
Speaker 2: about what we're serving for Christmas and offering some suggestions,
27:06
Speaker 2: and I was like, are you kidding me right now?
27:10
Speaker 2: So when they were doing that, I was like, back off,
27:13
Speaker 2: mom and dad, it's not your plays, Like would you
27:17
Speaker 2: ever presume to show up to someone's house on Christmas?
27:20
Speaker 2: And suggest that they.
27:21
Speaker 3: Were doing it wrong.
27:23
Speaker 4: No, no, talk.
27:25
Speaker 2: To your husband about it privately, fine, but getting in
27:28
Speaker 2: someone's face and suggest no it It sent me to
27:33
Speaker 2: the moon.
27:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, I bet, I bet. I have a couple more wishes.
27:37
Speaker 1: Can I get to them?
27:38
Speaker 3: Hm?
27:38
Speaker 1: I wish this synopsis better match the actual trope that
27:42
Speaker 1: we got going into this movie. To me, I thought
27:45
Speaker 1: they were fake dating, which is a trope I love,
27:48
Speaker 1: give me a fake date, right, But here we got
27:51
Speaker 1: instead like a couple who is gritting their teeth and
27:55
Speaker 1: trying to survive the holiday that they have committed to you.
27:59
Speaker 3: And that's just different.
28:01
Speaker 1: Yeah.
28:02
Speaker 2: There's no cute moments when you have with dating where
28:04
Speaker 2: you're like, oh, let's hold hands to try and you know,
28:07
Speaker 2: let's have this fake romantic moment that leads to a
28:09
Speaker 2: real romantic moment.
28:10
Speaker 4: There's not a yess yeah yeah.
28:13
Speaker 1: And to me, obviously, I'm watching it and I was like, look,
28:16
Speaker 1: these two could have like cleared this up super early on.
28:22
Speaker 1: All they needed was a conversation.
28:24
Speaker 2: That feeds into one of my biggest wishes is as
28:28
Speaker 2: I was about fifteen minutes from the end of the movie,
28:30
Speaker 2: I was kind of unclear about how they were realistically
28:33
Speaker 2: going to end up together because it just felt like
28:36
Speaker 2: they failed to communicate this entire time. And while I
28:39
Speaker 2: did find the resolution satisfactory, I felt like what they
28:43
Speaker 2: were saying made sense when they finally figured it out,
28:46
Speaker 2: when they finally had a conversation, I was in on
28:49
Speaker 2: them staying together. It felt to me like there was
28:53
Speaker 2: something here worth saving. They just couldn't get on the
28:57
Speaker 2: same page. And once they realized, like, we just need
28:59
Speaker 2: to talk to each other, I'm good. But to me,
29:03
Speaker 2: like you said, I think it took a little bit
29:06
Speaker 2: too long for them to acknowledge what the problems were
29:10
Speaker 2: and name their own flaws, so to speak.
29:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, I thought there were two roles that were tailor
29:17
Speaker 1: made for some finding. Mister Christmas cameos, Oh uh, there's
29:23
Speaker 1: a delivery the delivery guy, and there was a waiter
29:26
Speaker 1: at a restaurant. I said, these would have been perfect
29:29
Speaker 1: and a nice little wink and nod to your finding
29:32
Speaker 1: mister Christmas audience.
29:33
Speaker 4: Uh huh.
29:34
Speaker 1: You know, especially like even some dudes from last year
29:37
Speaker 1: would have been great to like pop up in here,
29:40
Speaker 1: or you know, maybe our runners up from this year.
29:43
Speaker 1: It would have been great.
29:45
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a great point. In fact, the delivery guy.
29:47
Speaker 2: They focused on his face so much that I actually
29:50
Speaker 2: looked up who he was to see if it was
29:53
Speaker 2: interconnected in this universe. I mean, he's an actor, but
29:56
Speaker 2: it wasn't significant to this group of people.
30:00
Speaker 1: Yeah, I thought so too. Especially I was like, why
30:03
Speaker 1: are they showing him so much? And I was like, wait,
30:05
Speaker 1: is that somebody I need to know?
30:06
Speaker 4: Yeah?
30:06
Speaker 1: And then my thought process was, well, if it's just
30:09
Speaker 1: a regular actor, this would have been so fun.
30:12
Speaker 3: Yeah, maybe they rest in our angel.
30:15
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, would have been amazing. Amazing. Anyway, I
30:18
Speaker 2: have one more wish. At the accidental proposal, when Grandma
30:22
Speaker 2: pulls the gift out of the closet, Daniel needed to
30:25
Speaker 2: grow a pair and say no, no, we're not doing
30:29
Speaker 2: that right now, that's for later.
30:30
Speaker 3: That's all you needed to do.
30:32
Speaker 1: And they got bullied into giving the gift.
30:34
Speaker 4: Yeah, and it.
30:35
Speaker 2: Puts Live in a really uncomfortable position to have that reveal.
30:41
Speaker 2: He has so many opportunities to stop it. I get that,
30:45
Speaker 2: then the movie doesn't drive forward. But when she's going
30:48
Speaker 2: through that and opens up the engagement ring at a
30:50
Speaker 2: place in their relationship with her, I just felt like
30:53
Speaker 2: that was a.
30:53
Speaker 3: Real gut punch of a move.
30:55
Speaker 4: Yeah, I agree.
30:56
Speaker 1: Hey, let's talk to you to see that. I have
30:59
Speaker 1: several let's hear them. First of all, the Hallmark pillows
31:04
Speaker 1: that they had on their couch, those are the same
31:06
Speaker 1: pillows I have on my couch, and I love them
31:08
Speaker 1: so very much. It's a little house and a dog.
31:11
Speaker 3: It's so cute.
31:12
Speaker 4: Love them, love them, love them.
31:14
Speaker 1: I was so afraid that my own dogs were going
31:17
Speaker 1: to think those were like chew toys, and they have
31:19
Speaker 1: not so excellent. Yeah, I love those little pillows right
31:24
Speaker 1: out the gate. Nutella, my gosh, they don't even way
31:28
Speaker 1: to beat. No, I know, I know. I was like, geez, Louise, Okay,
31:33
Speaker 1: we get it, but you know it. At least it
31:37
Speaker 1: wasn't like m King's Hawaiian like they're not like talking
31:42
Speaker 1: about it. You know, it's just there. But it's like that,
31:45
Speaker 1: you know. The money shot of the Nutella is like.
31:48
Speaker 4: Okay, here we go. Indeed we go.
31:52
Speaker 1: My other couple digit see that are the candy game,
31:56
Speaker 1: the candy passing game. As they read that book, I've
31:59
Speaker 1: never seen a game like that before.
32:01
Speaker 3: Oh I have that's fun.
32:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've seen it done differently, not everyone has something
32:10
Speaker 2: like you're passing like maybe one or two things, so
32:12
Speaker 2: like you might not end up with something, oh like
32:15
Speaker 2: hot potato.
32:17
Speaker 3: Yeah.
32:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've seen different versions of that. Yes, we've My
32:21
Speaker 2: mother in law brought that to play one year.
32:23
Speaker 4: I think that's fun.
32:24
Speaker 3: I think that's super fun.
32:26
Speaker 2: Back to the ring, If you notice the way that
32:29
Speaker 2: box was wrapped, that's what we call a soap upper
32:31
Speaker 2: box in our house, where either like the lid in
32:34
Speaker 2: the box are wrapped separately, or in this case, it's
32:38
Speaker 2: not even sealed, Like the flaps are completely wrapped so
32:40
Speaker 2: that you don't need to tear the paper to open it.
32:42
Speaker 2: I don't know if you noticed, but the wrapping remains intact.
32:47
Speaker 3: I just find it amusing.
32:49
Speaker 2: You often see it in television shows where rather than
32:51
Speaker 2: ripping the paper, like the lid of the box and
32:53
Speaker 2: the bottom of the box are wrapped separately, so you
32:55
Speaker 2: just take the lid up.
32:56
Speaker 4: Oh gotcha, Yeah takes Yeah.
32:59
Speaker 2: We talked about some of the pop culture references, but
33:01
Speaker 2: there are so many Grandma references. The Fast and the
33:04
Speaker 2: Furious franchise. Yes, they reference.
33:07
Speaker 3: The e on the van Zant podcast, which I thought
33:11
Speaker 3: was hilarious.
33:12
Speaker 4: Oh I didn't catch that at all.
33:13
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, Craig as Reid says, yeah, Grandma subscribe me
33:17
Speaker 2: to the E on the vun Zant podcast. When she's
33:21
Speaker 2: she's like, oh, that was really emotionally immature. Daniel says,
33:24
Speaker 2: you'd be amazed what you can find on offer up
33:25
Speaker 2: at three am. And I loved the Leah's Perfect Gift
33:31
Speaker 2: callback on the TV Guide when they're looking for something
33:34
Speaker 2: to watch. It's right there, and that's.
33:36
Speaker 4: A I did not see it.
33:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, just they're on the TV and there's Leah's Perfect
33:42
Speaker 2: Gift another Evan Rodrick joint the the Hallmark Multi Versus
33:45
Speaker 2: Alive and well in.
33:46
Speaker 3: That moment, love that.
33:49
Speaker 2: And then just back to your first impression, we really
33:53
Speaker 2: got to acknowledge that they had an unmarried, unengaged, even
33:58
Speaker 2: couple living together sharing a room. Although I find it
34:03
Speaker 2: hilarious that he sleeps on the floor as they're broken up.
34:07
Speaker 3: Why because just share the bed.
34:10
Speaker 1: My gosh, but they're mad at each other. I know
34:13
Speaker 1: it be in the same bed, I don't know.
34:16
Speaker 2: I would also like to point out that when they
34:17
Speaker 2: do the mistletoe wreath in the beginning, that's not mistletoe, mistletoe.
34:20
Speaker 3: Berries are white? Holly berries are red?
34:23
Speaker 4: Always? Always?
34:25
Speaker 3: Do they just do it so people have something to
34:26
Speaker 3: talk about?
34:27
Speaker 4: Perhaps? Perhaps?
34:29
Speaker 1: Oh?
34:30
Speaker 3: Also there's a Real Housewives reference in this movie.
34:32
Speaker 4: Ah, yes there is.
34:33
Speaker 3: Games never go well, trust me, I watch the Real Housewives.
34:36
Speaker 3: Give me more, give me the just feed me the
34:39
Speaker 3: pop culture references. Well, what did you rate a Make
34:42
Speaker 3: or Break Holiday? I gave it three point seven five stars. Oh,
34:46
Speaker 3: I gave it three point five stars. Thank you for
34:49
Speaker 3: listening to this episode of Girls Clwn Homework, a Bramble
34:52
Speaker 3: Jam podcast.
34:53
Speaker 2: If you love this podcast, we absolutely love your five
34:57
Speaker 2: star ratings and reviews. Drop them in the Apple Podcast
35:01
Speaker 2: app and we'll be back next time with more homemark reviews.
35:04
Speaker 2: Goodbye bye. All right friends, before we go, just a
35:19
Speaker 2: quick heads up. You're about to hear some ads. These
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Speaker 2: Grab a snack, hit the skip button, or maybe just
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Speaker 4: Bye