A Cowboy Christmas Romance | 2023 Christmas Movies

Lifetime’s A Cowboy Christmas Romance has blown up the internet. It is the first cable Christmas movie with a sex scene. Well, OK, it’s not really a sex SCENE but the main couple definitely has sex. It’s a spicy, spicy Christmas movie!

Lexie (Jana Kramer) is a real estate agent who is good at closing sales. She lands a job back in her Arizona hometown convincing the cowboy next door to sell his ranch to a developer. But coming home also opens up some deep family drama that has been stewing for over a decade.

First things first - If you are looking for a Christmassy Christmas movie, this isn’t it. There are a few mentions of the holiday but it doesn’t mean anything to the plot. Now, talking about the plot. This was actually a really good movie. It was written by Sarah Drew, who we have seen in some Christmas movies before. All of the characters felt like real people doing real things and saying things that real people say. That is a rarity for a Christmas movie. And most of these people already had relationships with each other before the movie started so we didn’t need to try to figure out why the woman suddenly fell in love with a man she just met. These are people that have been apart for a long time due to past traumas and are now reconnecting. It made for a really good story.

Rating: Ride this cowboy

Steppin' Into The Holiday | 2022 Christmas Movies

I didn’t realize how much I missed Cheri Oteri’s comedy until I watched Steppin’ Into The Holiday. She may not be the lead of the movie but she is definitely the best part.

Billy Holliday (Mario Lopez) is a former Broadway star who just got fired from his hit TV show, “Celebrity Dance Off.” As he returns home, he reconnects with Rae (Jana Kramer), the daughter of his former dance teacher. Rae now runs the local studio and is running into problems trying to organize her winter recital. Billy steps in to help and the two fall in love.

To be honest, there were only a couple of times I found myself interested in Steppin’ Into The Holiday. One: The scenes with Billy’s manager, Dallas, (Cheri Oteri), and her dog, Shakira. Two: The scenes where the kids were dancing. Sorry, Mario, you looked ridiculous in most of your dance scenes. Even Billy’s nephew, Junior (Enzo Rodriguez), didn’t look great in the dance scenes. I’m talking about the kids that were dancing during the recital. There were some good dancers in there.

Other than those couple of times, I found the movie to be the same middle of the road fare we always get. It wasn’t terrible. Mario Lopez is rather charismatic so that helps. But it wasn’t great either. It always feels like he’s trying not to overact, which makes him overact. Jana Kramer is fine but she isn’t really given any room to be present. She’s there to dance and make googly eyes at Mario Lopez. Shrug.

If you decide to watch it, and I’m not telling you not to watch it, do it for Cheri Oteri and Shakira. They seriously are the best parts of the movie, even if they only have like three scenes.

The Holiday Fix Up | 2021 Christmas Movies

What? Women can do home renovations too? Why didn’t anyone tell me?

Sam (Jana Kramer) is a designer on a home renovation show. When she doesn’t nab the coveted Christmas special spot on the network, she goes back home to renovate an inn that was damaged in a recent storm. Jack (Steve Vinovich), the owner of the inn, pairs her up with her ex-boyfriend, Coop (Ryan McPartlin), to get the work done before the Christmas Eve Harborfest.

The Holiday Fix Up is yet another movie that is perfectly fine. Neither of the lead actors are amazing. They aren’t terrible though Kramer is dull and McPartlin is a bit wooden. I wish that there was some sort of magic that happened between them…but there isn’t. They aren’t quite the most unlikely couple in this year’s Christmas haul. But they are close.

Unfortunately, there isn’t anything in the movie that saves. it. There is a weird slow-motion snowball fight that maybe somebody somewhere likes. Personally, I don’t understand it. They could have just let the actors go and filmed that. It might have made it more interesting.

Should you watch it? Probably not. But you aren’t going to be mad if you do. You might wonder what exactly happened in the 90 minutes it took to watch (assuming you don’t count commercials) but I doubt you’ll get mad about the lost time. It’s a good procrastination movie. You know - “Oh, I should do the dishes but this movie is on….”

A Welcome Home Christmas | 2020 Christmas Movies

Recently, I’ve complained about how military life has been shoehorned into a bunch of Christmas movies this year. There always seems to be a “My distant relative is in the military” or a random “I was a military brat” that has no bearing on the actual plot of the movie. A Welcome Home Christmas is different. And I’m happy about that.

Chloe (Jana Kramer) is an Army counselor that helps returning soldiers adapt to civilian life. Michael (Brandon Quinn) is one of her assignments. When she over-commits to volunteering for charities, she puts Michael in charge of Operation Santa Claus - a charity to give military children the best Christmas possible.

On one hand, the characters are actual military members. Chloe was in the Army before she became a counselor, Michael recently left active duty, Chloe’s sister is still in the Army. On the other hand, I’m not sure how realistic the Army is in this. I’m not familiar with Army life but they all seem to be civilians that occasionally wear uniforms. We literally never see Chloe’s sister in uniform but she claims that General O’Toole (Tim Reid) is her commanding officer. We don’t even see her ‘snap to attention’ or anything when he approaches the family. If you’re in a military family, could you please let me know if this is something that happens or is this Lifetime taking liberties?

A Welcome Home Christmas is one of those movies that isn’t good but it isn’t bad either. It isn’t particularly boring, like most of the Christmas fare thrust upon us. There is just something about it that makes it watchable. I’m not sure exactly what that is. Maybe it’s LondonRose Sellars as Savannah. She isn’t the main character but she is a darn good actress. I hope to see good things from her in the future.

Anyway, if you like Christmas movies or movies about the military or movies about charity, you might enjoy this one. It’s at least good enough for one sit-through.