This movie opens with what I imagine are real live scenes from Lindsay Lohan's actual life. If she's not starting every morning off being served caviar and champagne I don't even know what she's doing with her life. Lindsay (henceforth know interchangeably as Sierra and Sarah) is the daughter of an extremely wealthy hotel magnate who we soon learn has the first name of Beauregard (played by a small screen favorite of mine, Jack Wagner). If the name doesn't give it away, this man has MONEY. With Christmas just a week away, Sierra and Beauregard have both gone to their mountain ski resort where Sierra is set to start her new career in the family business. (Fun fact: I once stayed in this same hotel back in the late 90s and had one of the most traumatic experiences I have ever had with a mouse. I picked up the box that had a bar of soap inside of it, and instead of finding a bar to lather my face, I came face to face with a mouse that I then promptly threw across the bathroom, and ran screaming.)
But I digress. Sierra's charmed life with her obviously terrible boyfriend Tad, is on a direct course to disaster, all thanks to a wish a little girl made on a wishing tree that a man who closely resembles one Santa Clause, appears to grant. You can tell that Tad is awful by the way he acts. But just in case that isn't clear enough, on their way to a photo shoot where they are not to be disturbed, Jingle Bell Rock starts playing on the radio, and I won't spoil it completely, but his reaction is NOT the respect befitting a live performance from Cady Heron, an actual Plastic, singing her biggest hit. He is garbage.
The aforementioned disaster kicks off at the peak of a very isolated mountain peak where Sierra and Tad are the only humans for seemingly miles. An unexpected gust of wind knocks Miss Sierra over the peak, while a sinkhole(?) sends Tad tumbling Chris Farley style down the mountain in the opposite direction. Tad lands somewhat unscathed, while Sierra plows head first into a tree, where she lies lifeless. She looks actually dead, and honestly, I don't know how anyone would survive hitting their head like that. I can only assume the giant fluffy hat she is wearing is the thing that saves her.
Cut-to: local inn owner, widower, and single dad, Jake driving by in his ONE HORSE OPEN SLEIGH with two guests, and they rescue Sierra. At the hospital, where Sierra is looking absolutely flawless with flowing locks of red hair that have touched nary a flake of snow, we learn the bump on the head caused a minor concussion, and she can no longer remember who she is. With no other options, Jake brings Sierra back to the lodge that he runs with his dead wife's mother, where we meet Jake's daughter, the girl who made the wish on the wishing tree.
Antics ensue as newly named Sarah learns the ins-and-outs of basic life skills, such as cooking, making a bed, and cleaning a toilet. We even get a cute montage of the family interacting with Sarah and clearly falling in love with her. At one point they even go skiing together, which seems...ill advised. This woman just suffered a traumatic head injury on a snowy mountain, and they take her back to the scene of the crime. At least she's wearing a helmet this time?
Overall I'd say this movie delivers on exactly what we've come to expect from a small screen Christmas rom-com. Just the right mix of drama, comedy, and romance, with a splash of sexual chemistry (but not too much because this is a family movie). As I mentioned at the beginning, this film is entirely forgettable, but if you've run out of other options for Christmas movies, I'd recommend watching this one. Maybe while you're working on other things like wrapping presents, or playing mindless games on your mobile device.
Falling for Christmas can be streamed on Netflix.
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