Falling for Christmas review

There’s only so many possible variations of a Christmas theme rom com and it’s pretty impossible to come up with an original idea with networks cranking out new films daily for the next month. The best option was to get ahead of the holiday movie avalanche like Falling for Christmas.

Sure, a lot of elements will still seem familiar, but it’s not going to feel like the same movie you’ve already seen countless times by mid-December. It also doesn’t hurt to feature a nice (don’t call it a) comeback vehicle for star Lindsay Lohan.

Lohan likely was never going to be a regular during film awards season but was a likable presence in the early 2000s that had her primed to be a welcome fixture on the Netflix/Lifetime/Hallmark circuit. Her career took a few detours, but Lohan seems happy, content and comfortable as the featured star in this Netflix original film.

The script, by Jeff Bonnett and Shane Oliver, doesn’t offer many surprises and it’s not hard to see where the film is going as subplots rolls off the rom com assembly line.

Lohan stars as Sierra Belmont, the pampered daughter of wealthy tycoon Beauregard Belmont (Jack Wagner). Sierra is so privileged she has a staff to feed her caviar and champagne for breakfast.

While her father has a cushy made-up position at his luxury ski resort all set for her, Sierra wants to strike out on her own. Doing what? That’s a concern for another time, more caviar, Jeeves.

One thing Sierra is locked in on is her influencer boyfriend, Tad (George Young). Young plays Tad up as a highly functional influencer caricature, which works best in smaller doses.

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Tad takes Sierra to a dangerously high mountaintop to propose, and a gusty wind sends them toppling over in opposite directions. Sierra ends up with amnesia as she’s rescued by Jake (Chord Overstreet), the owner of a quaint lodge that needs a successful Christmas to stay operational.

Jake is an earnest and hardworking widower trying to keep the family lodge and all of its decades of memories intact for his daughter, Avy (Olivia Perez, In the Heights). Helping Jake keep everything together is his mother-in-law, Alejandra (Alejandra Flores), who realizes he needs to move on from the memory of her late daughter. Maybe the amnesiac stranger can help out beyond just being a pal for Avy and another worker at the lodge?

Lohan is terrific easily shifting from the pampered princess to a warm, endearing essentially blank slate who actually cares about others more than the pursuit of fame. If nothing else comes from Falling for Christmas, hopefully this will spark Lohan being an annual presence for Netflix holiday movies.

Director Janeen Damian inserts a good mix of physical comedy and assured, patient relationship building not just with Sierra and Jake, but with Avy and Alejandra as well. Overstreet understands he’s the co-star and doesn’t try to take the spotlight from his co-stars, instead providing the steady, likeable presence so you want to see Jake and Sierra end up together. Perez could easily come off as too cute and precocious, but she makes Avy effortlessly sweet.

Some of the scenes — particularly the mountaintop sequences — peel the curtain back on the film’s modest budget, which is better utilized with staging elaborate Christmas decoration heavy sets. CGI all the random action shots necessary so long as the Christmas lights, garland, trees, etc. look exquisite.

Falling for Christmas isn’t that surprise gift you didn’t see coming, but the familiar beats and themes play just as well as a Christmas song remixed for the 30th time thanks to Lohan’s engaging energy and enthusiasm.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Photo Credit: Netflix

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