You might be able to tell from the title: Trading Christmas involves a house swap like the theatrical film The Holiday. It's almost a comedy of errors to set up all the swapping, and it's very funny as different characters decide to spontaneously visit other people during the holidays. A woman shows up on her friend's doorstep, only to find she's flown across the country to see her daughter in Boston, who's incidentally run off with her boyfriend.
I really liked this one, and although it took me a while to discover it (I had no idea that it was ten years old when I first watched it last year), I'll look forward to rewatching it this year and in the following years. Tom Cavanagh and Gabrielle Miller have great chemistry and comic timing together. Faith Ford is beautiful and has a very interesting character as she discovers she has a second chance at life and isn't as old and hopeless as she thinks she is. But unfortunately, when she falls in love with her house host's brother (yes, sound familiar?), he comes across as a total creep! Gil Bellows corners Faith alone in her apartment after she's just gotten out of the shower, looks over his shoulder suspiciously, then mumbles, "Do you, uh, know anyone in town?" She doesn't, and he gives a shy smile. "Then there will be no one around to hear you scream!" he shouts before he strangles her - Just kidding!
But it certainly seemed like a plausible buildup. Seriously, he's the creepiest love interest I've ever seen in a Hallmark movie. If I hadn't seen the comic beginning, I would have thought it was a horror movie. That one criticism aside (and once you get past it, you can laugh at it) it's a very enjoyable Christmas comedy. Hopefully you'll understand what I mean when I bestow this compliment: Tom Cavanagh is too good for Hallmark. His comic timing is impeccable, he's clearly focused on his craft, and he treats the scene as though it's going to be broadcast on the big screen instead of the small one. I still would have liked this movie if a different actor had been cast, but definitely not as much. He really elevates this tv comedy a notch above the others.
I really liked this one, and although it took me a while to discover it (I had no idea that it was ten years old when I first watched it last year), I'll look forward to rewatching it this year and in the following years. Tom Cavanagh and Gabrielle Miller have great chemistry and comic timing together. Faith Ford is beautiful and has a very interesting character as she discovers she has a second chance at life and isn't as old and hopeless as she thinks she is. But unfortunately, when she falls in love with her house host's brother (yes, sound familiar?), he comes across as a total creep! Gil Bellows corners Faith alone in her apartment after she's just gotten out of the shower, looks over his shoulder suspiciously, then mumbles, "Do you, uh, know anyone in town?" She doesn't, and he gives a shy smile. "Then there will be no one around to hear you scream!" he shouts before he strangles her - Just kidding!
But it certainly seemed like a plausible buildup. Seriously, he's the creepiest love interest I've ever seen in a Hallmark movie. If I hadn't seen the comic beginning, I would have thought it was a horror movie. That one criticism aside (and once you get past it, you can laugh at it) it's a very enjoyable Christmas comedy. Hopefully you'll understand what I mean when I bestow this compliment: Tom Cavanagh is too good for Hallmark. His comic timing is impeccable, he's clearly focused on his craft, and he treats the scene as though it's going to be broadcast on the big screen instead of the small one. I still would have liked this movie if a different actor had been cast, but definitely not as much. He really elevates this tv comedy a notch above the others.