Starring Lyndsy Fonseca, Chris McNally, Daniella Monet, and Jag Bal
***SPOILER ALERT***
Due to a panic attack, Toni (Fonseca), once a law student, never passed the bar exam. Now she and her best friend, Bri (Monet), work in a printing and gift store, which gives them access to invitations to swanky parties. At Bri’s urging, they begin crashing Christmas events. They give phony names and occupations to party guests, including Justin (McNally), the CEO of an investment company. Bri meets Vinny (Bal), a valet, and they immediately hit it off. Justin is led to believe by a colleague that Toni’s a lawyer, and she doesn’t disabuse him of this notion. Attracted to her, he invites her (and Bri) to a corporate retreat in Vermont, ostensibly to persuade Toni to provide him with legal services, as he wants to acquire a company called Skyline Motors and needs advice. Sparks fly between them. But when Justin learns Toni’s not a real lawyer, he gives her the cold shoulder.
PROS
Frivolity. Toni and Bri had a blast pretending to be anyone other than the underachievers they felt themselves to be. Toni masqueraded as a doula and could be seen coaching pregnant women at one party. At another, she posed as a ski instructor. Bri claimed to be a race car driver at one party and a manufacturer of crash test dummies at another. When they were called out for fibbing, they had to be quick on their feet and concoct believable explanations for their fake names and careers. A goofy scene had Toni telling Justin and an acquaintance, Doug (Andy Nez), that she’d be skiing a more difficult course than they were. This was an excuse to avoid revealing the truth—that she could barely stand up on skis. Later, Toni sprinkled herself with snow so they’d believe she’d gone skiing when she’d actually spent the time napping in her vehicle. The women’s adventures were fun to watch.
Two romances. While Hallmark movies often have a primary romance and a secondary one, what distinguished Holiday Crashers from other films was that both love affairs had nearly equal prominence. The actors were good in their roles and imbued each couple’s relationship with chemistry.
Fonseca, so likeable in The Magic of Lemon Drops (2024), exuded charm at times but uneasiness when her character, Toni, was conscious of lying. I liked McNally, who had a gentle, down-to-earth presence. As Justin, he was always honest with Toni regarding his feelings for her. A picturesque scene showed them taking a winter walk; they strolled along a pathway, and overhead were branches strewn with twinkling lights. This added a very Christmassy feel. And though I found the dramatic crisis scene somewhat flawed (see Cons), Fonseca and McNally were effective in it. In the scene, Toni visited Justin’s office to disclose her findings about Skyline. Her father (Keith MacKechnie), an accident lawyer who made tacky ads to promote his business, had been working on a class action lawsuit against Skyline for defective seat belts, and Toni had uncovered clear evidence of the company’s guilt. She advised Justin not to acquire Skyline. But Justin had learned she wasn’t a genuine lawyer and wouldn’t discuss the matter. He told her to leave. Her sad parting line was “You know it wasn’t all a lie,” meaning that at least her feelings for him were real. Fortunately, their reconciliation (in which he crashed Bri and Vinny’s wedding) was sweet.
Bri and Vinny’s relationship began flirtatiously, and their feelings rapidly intensified. Getting to know each other, they attended a cute puppet show and wandered through a festive Christmas market. Bri trusted Vinny implicitly and told him what she and Toni had been up to. She was crushed when he admitted that he owned his own business; insecure about her own lack of accomplishments, she wondered what she could possibly offer Vinny and ghosted him. He confronted her at her workplace, wanting another chance. As Bri, Monet was vivacious and bold. She and Bal were a delightful pair, and their Bollywood-style wedding dance was a treat.
CONS
Arrested development. The party scenes were entertaining, but I was conscious that Toni and Bri, in crashing events and lying about their identities, were acting more like flighty high schoolers than women in their thirties. Though I could understand the need for an escape from the reality of their lackluster lives, it seemed unlikely that women that age would pursue such a course.
The prolonged lie and Justin’s anger. Unfortunately, this film didn’t manage to avoid the cliché of the lie that went on for too long. Toni knew that Justin couldn’t tolerate lying—based on past experience, he described it as a deal-breaker—yet she continued to maintain the fiction that she was a lawyer. And while it made sense that he was ticked off with her for lying, what I didn’t understand was his saying that she’d put his company and his reputation in jeopardy. Here’s the thing: he hadn’t actually hired her as a lawyer—they’d never even negotiated a fee—so no real harm had been done to him professionally.
My grade for Holiday Crashers: B
Caroline Kaiser is a professional book editor who specializes in fiction and memoirs, and she’s been guiding writers toward publication since 2007. Caroline is also the author of two ghostly mystery novels, Virginia’s Ghost and The Spirits of South Drive. Before she embarked on an editing and writing career, she spent many years working in a Toronto auction house as an antiques appraiser. Apart from curling up on the couch and drinking tea as she watches Hallmark movies, Caroline enjoys baking and exploring London, Ontario, the picturesque city she now calls home. Her website is www.carolinekaisereditor.com.
