T&K's XMas (2020) Advent Calendar: Day 2 - The Road to Christmas

Yeah, we are doing it again. Muah hah hah hah hah hah !! 

The Draw: Apparently this is Marmy's sister's go to holiday movie. We do Love Actually she does a 2006 TV movie with Jennifer Grey and Clark Gregg, a full two years before he became forever more Coulson. So, no judgies, just eagerness to see it.

Jennifer Grey is Claire, a Big City (Toronto pretending to be Chicago) fashion photographer. Its near Xmas and she is doing her last big shoot before heading to Aspen to marry her Italian beau Lorenzo. Lorenzo is Italian with thick accent, cheezey big suits (it is 2006 but he look very 1998) and a flip phone. Wait, were they still using terrible flip phones in 2006 ? I guess they were. Anywayz, insincere love loves made on the phone where we get the hint that he might not be such a great guy.

There is the crux of the movie, wherein All of Chicago tries to convince her that Italians are Not to Be Trusted. Even the tall, thin black model afraid to eat more than two olives neggs on Rudolpho Lorenzo, garnering some light protestations from Claire, "Isn't that like someone assuming you would like watermelon!"  Somehow I don't think that line would fly in 2020.

Meanwhile, Clark is Tom, a rough and tumble everyman convincing his teenage daughter that the drive from Chicago to rural Colorado will be a blast. I admit, I wasn't entirely paying attention to this bit, but typical setup, with one little bit of connection, wherein daughter Hilly sees Claire on the steps of her office and they make eye contact. Thus begins a trope.

Claire's trip doesn't go so well. The flight is diverted and the airline makes zero effort to reconnect her. They barely do anything to assist, generating nothing but frowns from me -- you know me and bad customer service. But this sets Claire up, as everything goes wrong. Plane becomes bus ride to connecting city, again, customer service is shitty and sends her to a city that cannot connect her back to flying to Aspen. Then Nice Indian Man offers her a ride to another town where she can again attempt to connect on he path. But Nice Indian Man is actually Creepy Indian Man and packs her into the back of a truck with two redneck creepos, who eventually just dump her on the side of the road.

At this point, I was yelling GrandaMa-like at the screen, "Why is everyone being so fucking mean to Claire ?!?!" She was not a nasty Big City Girl, just a sheltered urbanite who really never stepped off first class to ride the back-roads of America. But seriously, every fucking person she meets is just plain rude to her, including Tom. But Hilly, who has been making eye contact with her in weird ways as they inadverdently traverse the same path, convinces dad to help Claire out, and drive her to Aspen. Turns out they are going to Grandma's house, which is just outside Aspen.

This is where the romance begins, as the two begin to get to know each other, initially being rather abrupt to each other. To be fair, Tom deserves whatever he gets, as he's a bit of a jerk, and Claire is getting more and more stressed that she will not get to Aspen in time to marry Fabio Lorenzo. I mean, she fell into a fucking hole and all they did was laugh at her!

Eventually they make it to Grandma's and this is where the actual potential romance begins to shine through. Claire discovers that Tom was once a rising star in the art world, who gave it up after his wife died. They both share a love of art photography, and she is beginning to realize that marrying Luigi Lorenzo might not be the right thing, especially after they share a sudden unexpected kiss. But no, Tom is a Good Guy now, and gets her to the fancy house in Aspen. 

To be honest, I don't know what Aspen should look like, but I am thinking... more mountains? Rural Ontario wasn't cutting it. This movie is sooooo Canadian. So many familiar Canadian faces popping in here and there, with nary an Americanism but for well placed blue mailboxes. 

But, Aspen, big house, and ... Giovanni Lorenzo in bed with Michele the ... wedding planner? Cannot remember. P.S. Michele's a man. Lorenzo is gay, or at least open sexually. May this was to lessen the impact that the two were not meant for each other, but it was a weird choice. But it does open Claire's eye up and the two real love birds get to kiss, for realz.

The Formulae: "Widower father. Single woman with a professional career that complicates things." I just copied that directly from Kent's starting post for this year. Yup.

Unformulae: There is no small town, no over-powering Christmas celebrations or fairs or really, any town at all. All of the movie takes place on the road. Also, there is actually very little Christmas in this movie, but for a brief scene of them decorating a tree, and probably one of the most real Xmas morning scenes I have seen in a movie -- the floor under the tree strewn with torn wrapping paper and the dog happily diving into the mess.

True Calling? Well, Tom and Hilly are driving to celebrate Xmas with Grandma, so... yes? But its not like the actual Xmas day is a key point in the plot, but for the fact it ends the movie. The day, that is, not the celebration of event.

The Rewind: Nothing, but a brief pause to make note that the Tom's house scene was south of College just west of Kensington Market.

The Regulars: No real Lifetime or Hallmarky regulars, but the Canadian faces like Lorne Cardinal, Tantoo Cardinal, Thom Allison, and Pat Thornton were fun.

How does it Hallmark? Someone, but without the entirely painful, forced elements of many Hallmarky movies. In fact, I rather enjoyed the two leads as they were both rather charismatic and I liked them as characters. I would have liked both of them as real people, even if Tom was a bit of an ass to Claire.

How does it movie? Well, the pacing is pretty decent, and despite the weak attempt to nod at the Polka van from Home Alone (but creepy hunters instead of amusing polka players) the road aspects are rather well played. Its not like I would rush out to watch this movie again, but if it came on TV while I was reading stuff on my phone, I would leave it on.