Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story
Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story
Starring Hunter King, Tyler Hynes, Ed Begley Jr., Diedrich Bader
Directed by John Putch
Alana Higman (Hunter King) and her family are diehard Kansas City Chiefs fans, as according to her she wouldn't be there without them - her grandparents met at a Chiefs game, as did her parents, and the family runs a Chiefs fan store in the city. They also have their beloved hat, and when it's worn on Christmas their team wins the Super Bowl, but one time they didn't wear it the Chiefs lost. They're entered into a contest that could name them the Fan of the Year, and Chiefs Director of Fan Engagement Derrick Taylor (Tyler Hynes) visits the family to learn more about their story. He instantly connects with Alana and doesn't tell her why he's really there, but once he reveals his true intentions their connection grows deeper - until he scoffs at the idea of a "magical" hat, enraging Alana and threatening their budding romance.
I was very thankful this wasn't the wall-to-wall romance story that Hallmark is known for, otherwise I would've thrown up my Peppermint shake - but I gotta hand it to them, they know their audience and continually gives them what they want, no matter how much they're made fun of for it. "Holiday Touchdown" is no different, as although it's wrapped in the Chiefs wrapping paper, the main focus is a love story that you know fully the outcome of - and the pitfalls that come along the way.
In this case, it's the fandom that really takes center stage. A fanatic is defined as "
a person filled with excessive and single-minded zeal, especially for an extreme religious or political cause," and you can throw in "extreme sports cause" into the mix and it'll still work, especially here. The Higman family are full of Chiefs fanatics, and show it with their encyclopedic knowledge of the team and their direct moneymaking business - operating a Chiefs fan store. They eat, sleep, drink, and bleed Chiefs and its obvious that they'll win the Fan of the Year award (not really a spoiler considering Hallmark isn't known for their inventive, shocking twists).
I'm not a sports fan whatsoever, and the only reason I know the Chiefs is because of Taylor Swift, which is probably why the NFL joined with Hallmark for a Chiefs-centric story, knowing they'll bring in the viewers because anything even remotely around Swift's field of influence reaps the monetary rewards. Throw in some second-string Chiefs players (surprisingly not Patrick Mahomes or Travis "Mr. Taylor Swift" Kelce - but there is a cameo by his mother, who has about as much acting ability as I do football ability) and you've got a film that doesn't lean too heavily on the sportsball and also not too heavily on the romantic either, but stays perfectly balanced, as Thanos said all things should be.
There's some unintentionally hilarious moments in the movie, such as the obviously CGI-laden snow falling on green grass (Hallmark doesn't even care anymore about crafting outside sets to look like winter wonderlands, as green grass and fully leaved trees are abundant) and the odd green-screen moment when Alana and Derrick visit the Chiefs stadium (even more baffling because they were actually there, but when they're sitting on the bleachers the field looks totally green-screened). These moments would throw you out of the movie if you weren't already disconnected due to the nature of it being a Hallmark movie in the first place, so they just serve as humorous asides.
Hunter King and Tyler Hynes have as much chemistry as oil and water, due to Hunter's Alana being obsessed with that darn "magical" hat. On more than one occasion she blasts Derrick for his doubts, and after the first time I would've sent her back to December and begin again in Carolina as I waited for a cruel summer to write my dear John letter telling her to don't blame me that my eyes opened and everything has changed (see what I did there?). Alana is irritating and annoying from the jump, and Derrick is as bland as a blank space, wishing I was in my getaway car before I did something bad as I wished for last Christmas (see what I did there too?).
Again, I'm thankful that I didn't watch a 100% romantic Hallmark Christmas movie, and for all my insults I did find some charm with "Holiday Touchdown" in the family dynamics and how they came together over their love for the Chiefs, and being somewhat of a fanatic myself (not of sports but of movies), I can connect with them on that level. The family is funny, sincere, and real, and although the romance doesn't quite hit, it's still a charming addition to the overly-long Hallmark Christmas catalogue.
My Hallmark Score: B
My Score: C-
I'm not a sports fan whatsoever, and the only reason I know the Chiefs is because of Taylor Swift, which is probably why the NFL joined with Hallmark for a Chiefs-centric story, knowing they'll bring in the viewers because anything even remotely around Swift's field of influence reaps the monetary rewards. Throw in some second-string Chiefs players (surprisingly not Patrick Mahomes or Travis "Mr. Taylor Swift" Kelce - but there is a cameo by his mother, who has about as much acting ability as I do football ability) and you've got a film that doesn't lean too heavily on the sportsball and also not too heavily on the romantic either, but stays perfectly balanced, as Thanos said all things should be.
There's some unintentionally hilarious moments in the movie, such as the obviously CGI-laden snow falling on green grass (Hallmark doesn't even care anymore about crafting outside sets to look like winter wonderlands, as green grass and fully leaved trees are abundant) and the odd green-screen moment when Alana and Derrick visit the Chiefs stadium (even more baffling because they were actually there, but when they're sitting on the bleachers the field looks totally green-screened). These moments would throw you out of the movie if you weren't already disconnected due to the nature of it being a Hallmark movie in the first place, so they just serve as humorous asides.
Hunter King and Tyler Hynes have as much chemistry as oil and water, due to Hunter's Alana being obsessed with that darn "magical" hat. On more than one occasion she blasts Derrick for his doubts, and after the first time I would've sent her back to December and begin again in Carolina as I waited for a cruel summer to write my dear John letter telling her to don't blame me that my eyes opened and everything has changed (see what I did there?). Alana is irritating and annoying from the jump, and Derrick is as bland as a blank space, wishing I was in my getaway car before I did something bad as I wished for last Christmas (see what I did there too?).
Again, I'm thankful that I didn't watch a 100% romantic Hallmark Christmas movie, and for all my insults I did find some charm with "Holiday Touchdown" in the family dynamics and how they came together over their love for the Chiefs, and being somewhat of a fanatic myself (not of sports but of movies), I can connect with them on that level. The family is funny, sincere, and real, and although the romance doesn't quite hit, it's still a charming addition to the overly-long Hallmark Christmas catalogue.
My Hallmark Score: B
My Score: C-
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