[Spoilers for the entire movie from this point forward.]
In the first twenty minutes of Falling for Christmas, we meet our main characters Sierra Belmont (Lindsay Lohan), daughter of hotel magnate Beauregard Belmont (Jack Wagner); her influencer boyfriend Tad (George Young); and your everyman bed and breakfast owner Jake Russell (Chord Overstreet). Sierra has just been made “vice president of atmosphere” of her father’s super mega deluxe ski resort in Aspen, but doesn’t know if she wants to go into the hotel business. Meanwhile, Jake, in need of money to keep his humble lodge running, makes a pitch to Sierra’s father for funding. Denied help from Beauregard, Jake literally runs into Sierra in the lobby of the ski resort. After this scene, contrived for Sierra and Jake to sort of meet, Tad takes Sierra on a trip to snap some Instagram photos and proposes to her on top of a mountain. Immediately after the proposal, Sierra falls down the mountain, is discovered by Jake, who doesn’t recognize her, and is taken to a hospital where it’s revealed she’s lost her phone, any kind of ID, and her memory. We also find out that Jake is a widower with a daughter, Avy, and that his mother-in-law Alejandra is helping to raise his child and run the lodge.
With that summarized, let’s make some predictions:
At the hospital, Jake offers to have Sierra stay at his lodge since she doesn’t know where else she could go. At this point, it’s obvious that Jake and Sierra will fall in love as Sierra tries to figure out who she is while being charmed by Jake’s incredibly enchanting but slightly decrepit bed and breakfast, his sweet and adorable daughter, and his very kind mother-in-law. After declaring their love for each other, Sierra will regain her memory at the most horribly inconvenient time, such as while Jake is proposing to her. However, Sierra and Jake will still end up together, with Sierra discovering her passion for quaint small businesses and helping Jake to save his lodge.
What happens to Tad isn’t immediately clear. He also seems to fall somewhere, but into a hole rather than down the mountain to be rescued by his true love. This hole will lead to Santa’s workshop, where the elves hold Tad captive until Sierra gets her memory back and she and Jake show up on his sleigh (because of course his delightful little lodge has a sleigh) to rescue him. When he sees how happy Sierra is with Jake, he relinquishes her to him. He’s not heartbroken because he realizes he’s secretly in love with Terry, the head of Sierra’s glam squad (or whatever it’s called). After confessing his love, they end up together and drive off into the sunset in Tad’s expensive car.
I’m undecided on who Jake’s mother-in-law should end up with. It’s either Sierra’s father or the creepy Santa. Beauregard would give the story a certain amount of symmetry – he, like Jake, is a widower, but I’m going with Santa, just for the fun of it.
After that, I actually had to watch the rest of the movie. Here’s what happened:
As expected, Sierra jumps into life at the lodge, learning to be a person who can do things like make eggs and do laundry while also bringing healing to Jake’s family by showing them that they can find love again. Within three days, Sierra and Jake are in love. While this is happening, Tad is in the middle of the Coloradoan wilderness with no cell signal and anyway, his phone is dead. He stumbles upon an ice fishing hut owned by a cellphone hater named Ralph. Ralph’s truck is also (conveniently) dead, so they have to walk two days back to the road. Eventually, the sheriff finds Ralph and Tad, and brings them in to the station, where Beauregard, back from a business trip, is trying to locate his daughter. (Terry and crew thought Sierra and Tad were off on a trip together and so weren’t looking for the happy couple.) In this lovely small town, the sheriff knows exactly where Sierra is, and they all head off to find her. At the lodge, Jake, at Sierra’s request, is holding a shockingly successful fundraising party to save his bed and breakfast. Former guests have all managed to show up with something like one day’s notice, bringing with them heartwarming stories about the lodge, and, more importantly, their checkbooks. Tad and Beauregard burst onto this uplifting scene to take Sierra away.
To close things out, Sierra declares to her father that she wants to find her own job, not just work for him, and breaks up with Tad. Jake, encouraged by Avy, shows up on his sleigh (because of course he does), and declares his love to Sierra. Both families heartily approve, and Christmas is saved. And Tad and Terry drive off in a limo to spend New Year’s together. Sadly, no love for Alejandra, but don’t worry, her heart is filled by the prospect of having a new daughter in Sierra.
So what I got right was:
- Jake and Sierra
- sweet and charming daughter and mother-in-law duo
- Sierra saves Jake’s lodge
- Sierra’s memory returns inconveniently, in the middle of the big party, as Jake and Sierra are about to share a touching moment
- Sierra doesn’t end up working for her father
- Tad and Terry, driving off together
What I missed:
- Ralph, so no elves, and Sierra doesn’t need to go rescue Tad
- Jake doesn’t propose to Sierra (thankfully; he’s known the woman for four days)
- Creepy Santa apparently just pops up periodically to imbue Christmas spirit into the movie and has no other role
- No love for Alejandra
Overall, this was not a great movie. As you can see above, I predicted enough of the major plot points that I was at no moment surprised by anything that happened. The acting was passable to pretty bad, though the casting at least made an effort to be more diverse. There were several black characters, most of whom even got to speak, and Alejandra is Latina/Hispanic, but it took over an hour before I saw one extra who might have been Asian. But the overarching problem for me was that the script was filled with glurge, so I would not have watched this movie if I hadn’t been preparing this post. Would not recommend; what should I watch next?
In the first twenty minutes of Falling for Christmas, we meet our main characters Sierra Belmont (Lindsay Lohan), daughter of hotel magnate Beauregard Belmont (Jack Wagner); her influencer boyfriend Tad (George Young); and your everyman bed and breakfast owner Jake Russell (Chord Overstreet). Sierra has just been made “vice president of atmosphere” of her father’s super mega deluxe ski resort in Aspen, but doesn’t know if she wants to go into the hotel business. Meanwhile, Jake, in need of money to keep his humble lodge running, makes a pitch to Sierra’s father for funding. Denied help from Beauregard, Jake literally runs into Sierra in the lobby of the ski resort. After this scene, contrived for Sierra and Jake to sort of meet, Tad takes Sierra on a trip to snap some Instagram photos and proposes to her on top of a mountain. Immediately after the proposal, Sierra falls down the mountain, is discovered by Jake, who doesn’t recognize her, and is taken to a hospital where it’s revealed she’s lost her phone, any kind of ID, and her memory. We also find out that Jake is a widower with a daughter, Avy, and that his mother-in-law Alejandra is helping to raise his child and run the lodge.
With that summarized, let’s make some predictions:
At the hospital, Jake offers to have Sierra stay at his lodge since she doesn’t know where else she could go. At this point, it’s obvious that Jake and Sierra will fall in love as Sierra tries to figure out who she is while being charmed by Jake’s incredibly enchanting but slightly decrepit bed and breakfast, his sweet and adorable daughter, and his very kind mother-in-law. After declaring their love for each other, Sierra will regain her memory at the most horribly inconvenient time, such as while Jake is proposing to her. However, Sierra and Jake will still end up together, with Sierra discovering her passion for quaint small businesses and helping Jake to save his lodge.
What happens to Tad isn’t immediately clear. He also seems to fall somewhere, but into a hole rather than down the mountain to be rescued by his true love. This hole will lead to Santa’s workshop, where the elves hold Tad captive until Sierra gets her memory back and she and Jake show up on his sleigh (because of course his delightful little lodge has a sleigh) to rescue him. When he sees how happy Sierra is with Jake, he relinquishes her to him. He’s not heartbroken because he realizes he’s secretly in love with Terry, the head of Sierra’s glam squad (or whatever it’s called). After confessing his love, they end up together and drive off into the sunset in Tad’s expensive car.
I’m undecided on who Jake’s mother-in-law should end up with. It’s either Sierra’s father or the creepy Santa. Beauregard would give the story a certain amount of symmetry – he, like Jake, is a widower, but I’m going with Santa, just for the fun of it.
After that, I actually had to watch the rest of the movie. Here’s what happened:
As expected, Sierra jumps into life at the lodge, learning to be a person who can do things like make eggs and do laundry while also bringing healing to Jake’s family by showing them that they can find love again. Within three days, Sierra and Jake are in love. While this is happening, Tad is in the middle of the Coloradoan wilderness with no cell signal and anyway, his phone is dead. He stumbles upon an ice fishing hut owned by a cellphone hater named Ralph. Ralph’s truck is also (conveniently) dead, so they have to walk two days back to the road. Eventually, the sheriff finds Ralph and Tad, and brings them in to the station, where Beauregard, back from a business trip, is trying to locate his daughter. (Terry and crew thought Sierra and Tad were off on a trip together and so weren’t looking for the happy couple.) In this lovely small town, the sheriff knows exactly where Sierra is, and they all head off to find her. At the lodge, Jake, at Sierra’s request, is holding a shockingly successful fundraising party to save his bed and breakfast. Former guests have all managed to show up with something like one day’s notice, bringing with them heartwarming stories about the lodge, and, more importantly, their checkbooks. Tad and Beauregard burst onto this uplifting scene to take Sierra away.
To close things out, Sierra declares to her father that she wants to find her own job, not just work for him, and breaks up with Tad. Jake, encouraged by Avy, shows up on his sleigh (because of course he does), and declares his love to Sierra. Both families heartily approve, and Christmas is saved. And Tad and Terry drive off in a limo to spend New Year’s together. Sadly, no love for Alejandra, but don’t worry, her heart is filled by the prospect of having a new daughter in Sierra.
So what I got right was:
- Jake and Sierra
- sweet and charming daughter and mother-in-law duo
- Sierra saves Jake’s lodge
- Sierra’s memory returns inconveniently, in the middle of the big party, as Jake and Sierra are about to share a touching moment
- Sierra doesn’t end up working for her father
- Tad and Terry, driving off together
What I missed:
- Ralph, so no elves, and Sierra doesn’t need to go rescue Tad
- Jake doesn’t propose to Sierra (thankfully; he’s known the woman for four days)
- Creepy Santa apparently just pops up periodically to imbue Christmas spirit into the movie and has no other role
- No love for Alejandra
Overall, this was not a great movie. As you can see above, I predicted enough of the major plot points that I was at no moment surprised by anything that happened. The acting was passable to pretty bad, though the casting at least made an effort to be more diverse. There were several black characters, most of whom even got to speak, and Alejandra is Latina/Hispanic, but it took over an hour before I saw one extra who might have been Asian. But the overarching problem for me was that the script was filled with glurge, so I would not have watched this movie if I hadn’t been preparing this post. Would not recommend; what should I watch next?
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