Another almost-forgotten star from the ‘90s stars in 2004’s A Boyfriend for Christmas, with hunky Starship Troopers star Patrick Muldoon making the ladies swoon. In this light-hearted romp, Kelli Williams is Holly, a single, brassy Christmas-hating social worker who opens her door on Christmas morning to find a sexy man (Muldoon) there with a bow round him and a card saying “As promised – one boyfriend for Christmas!”
It's a smart set-up for silly shenanigans as Holly, assuming this is a joke present from her pals, drags Doug along to meet her crazy family for the holidays, hoping this’ll keep her matchmaking relatives off her back. Inevitably, they all warm to this handsome, mysterious, but totally winging-it stranger. It’s a well-worn romantic movie trope, the ‘fake couple,’ who of course end up falling in love anyway, but when it’s done well, it can be enjoyable.
I find this one actually has more dramatic substance than anything I’ve seen so far and it’s a classic concept, albeit one wrapped up in festive wrapping paper. Doug turns out to actually be called Ryan and has his own secret reasons for going along with Holly’s plan. He’s doing Holly a solid, as he’s really a lawyer who inadvertently messed up a case she was working on, ruining a family’s Christmas. He’s trying to make up for it but is too cowardly to admit what he’s done.
There’s something tantalising about a film where everyone is lying and the whole web of deceit must inevitably come crashing down. However, this one introduces an unnecessary, bonkers mystical element where it transpires Ryan has actually been sent to her by flippin Santa Claus to grant a wish she made when she was a kid. Yes, really.
However, it’s a surprisingly breezy, pleasant affair with some laughs and it moves along at a decent pace. Muldoon is a bit creaky, but charming, doing well to make us root for a douchey fibber. It's daft, but totally watchable.
I’m back to work after the holidays today and this is ideal viewing as I pretend to catch up on dull, pointless emails. Today, we actually woke up to some snow, so my spirits have already been raised by little 3-year-old Amelia’s excited squeals. Impromptu early morning snowball battles ensue before the drudgery of work.
Already I’m amazed that I’m genuinely digging the Hallmark efforts, finding they’re warming my heart a little and making these dreary days more bearable. On a day when the news tells me that a record number of Covid cases have been recorded in the UK, Patrick bloody Muldoon gives me reason to smile. What the hell’s happening to me?
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