Some people may be spending time this Christmas season chipping away at their backlog of holiday films. The movie “Falling for Christmas” directed by Janeen Damian and starring Lindsay Lohan is certain to be among them. This movie keeps close with the formula seen amongst other festive romance comedies. However, it doesn’t seem like it brings anything new to the tinsel lined table.
This story Follows Sierra Belmont played by Lohan, who is the stereotypical comically rich daddy’s girl. It opens with her waking up in her lofty bed and starting her day by having her entourage of assistants get her ready for the day. The dynamic of this group presents my first complaint about this movie, the “comedy” part. Oftentimes I would stare blankly at the screen after something that is supposed to be comedic happens followed by a realization that whatever just happened was supposed to be funny.
To progress the story, Sierra begins trying to meet up with her boyfriend Tad Fairchild, played by George Young. This character is supposed to be a famous influencer who can’t resist posting any moment he has. Herein lies my biggest issue. Tad is such a flat character he makes a blank sheet of paper seem like the Rockies. This is a problem made on purpose in order for him to contrast the other love interest of the main character. That part is what I am annoyed by. Instead of fleshing him out to give the audience reasons to dislike him, he is simply unlikeable to be unlikeable.
That “other love interest” I mentioned has not even been fully introduced yet but is just shown bumping into Sierra and getting coffee on her dress. From that alone, I was able to know his entire role in the story. Shortly after, we got to know more about him. His name is Jake Russel and honestly, much with the other characters in this story, there isn’t much. His job is to take people on sleighrides on mountain trails at a winter lodge. Other than that, he is just the token honest and hard-working guy to juxtapose Tad.
The last event that I will be going over to avoid spoilers is how Sierra gets injured during an avalanche and is saved by (surprising nobody) Jake himself. When she wakes up it is learned that she has amnesia. This causes her to even forget her own name. But because the plot demands it, not her regalness. This exemplifies itself when Jake takes care of her back at the lodge, and she adapts to her new lower-class lifestyle. Here is where I will leave off for anyone who wants to see the story progress for themselves.
“Falling for Christmas” is not many things. It isn’t unique to the genre and is painfully unfunny. However, I believe I have found the appeal. Some stories exist just for the fun of it and without a lifelong lesson to be learned. Through all these harsh criticisms, the thing this movie does perfect is being okay with being okay.