Holiday Crashers
Wedding Holiday Party Crashers
Filmed in Canada (obvs), this marks the 2024 return of future Hallstar Lyndsy Fonseca of Next Stop, Christmas fame, as Toni.
As the title suggests, this is the female-led, PG-rated, holiday season version of Wedding Crashers . In this case, we have two best friends dealing with some early midlife crises by crashing holiday parties.
And as could be expected, the game works… right until someone recognizes Toni. And wouldn’t you know it, the handsome man, Justin, she’s bumped into at a number of events turns out to be business mogul in need of legal support, and Toni just so happens to be a law school grad. Some questionable ethical aside, this is a classic tale of mistaken/false identify allowing the protagonists an opportunity to close the deal (not a euphemism in this case).
To make it more interesting, Justin doesn’t just need legal advice, but legal advice provided while partaking in the corporate retreat at a British Columbia Vermont ski hotel, with her best friend and fellow crasher, Bri, along for the ride.
Perhaps the most intriguing part of this was the random appearances of the same parking valet at multiple events, including the hotel… And while the valet squiring around the best friend was plausible, I was not expecting a multicultural Christmas-themed Indian wedding in the third act! I mean, I guess the original IP climaxed in a wedding day declaration of love, but this one still caught me a bit off-guard. Touché, Hallmark, you are doing more for inclusivity and perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised. Oh, and - spoiler alert - the valet was actually a secretly wealthy business owner himself.
I can hear Oprah now - "YOU get a CEO! YOU get a CEO! Everyone gets a CEO!”
Decentyly enjoyable, I find it hard to classify this as a “Christmas movie,” but rather a movie that happens to take place at Christmas.
You’ll like this if…
You enjoy a retelling of an existing story with a fun premise.
