Hallmark Channel slows down for "Countdown to Christmas" after taking us to the Grand Ole Opry, and closes out "Happy Thanksgiving Weekend" with the first of two new movies, The Christmas Cup, which surprisingly isn't about a sporting event like hockey.
After a knee injury that threatens to cut her career short, Sergeant Kelly Brandt (Rhiannon Fish) returns home dejected for the holidays. Her family tries to cheer her up by encouraging her to lead her hometown team in the annual Christmas Cup against the rival city. It takes a lot of work, but Kelly gets her team organized and ready for the competition with the help of Fire Captain Quinn Stokley (Ben Rosenbaum).
Director: Robin Dunne
Writers: Stewart Gold, Mark Haapala, Jason-Shane Scott
Stars: Tetiana Ostapowych, Andrea Brooks, Natasha Burnett
Sparks start to fly with Quinn, and throughout the process, Kelly is reminded how much she loves leading, but her heart still hopes she'll be cleared to return to duty. Kelly finally gets the call she's been waiting for; however, it's not what she expected. Since the Marines needed her to report to the Hawaiian base on the day of the competition, Kelly soon realized there's more than one way to serve the community.
If you tuned in thinking it was a sports competition, you might have simply decided to skip the Christmas Cup, but if you stayed, you would have been treated to a sweet, funny, and heartwarming story about family ties and love for community. The main plot revolves around the Christmas Cup between neighboring towns, but things got a little less friendly when budget issues forced both towns to merge their emergency services operations, making winning the Christmas Cup all the more important. This is also the final year of Longleaf Mayor Brandt's term, whose late wife captained the team to several victories, so the Brandt family is eager for a win this year, having lost the last seven to the town of Bridgeport.
Brandt's daughter, Kelly, also returns home from her military service after suffering a knee injury, but hopes to re-enlist after therapy. Coaching for the Cup has fallen to Kelly's brother, Mickey, but despite it being the competition's 50th anniversary, three of his team members have quit: one is only there because he has to be due to undisciplined behavior, and another hopes her singing will get her discovered by a Broadway agent. Kelly reluctantly agrees to coach so Mickey can join the team, and they recruit Mickey's young daughter and Kelly's friend (and owner of a local restaurant), Bree, to be part of the team.
Kelly is eager to spite the annoying mayor of Bridgeport, but she never imagined she'd fall for firefighter Quinn. Once she's called back into service, she has to deny her feelings, telling Bree he's basically a stranger—which he overhears just as she's about to give him a bouquet of flowers. To make matters worse, her departure date falls on Christmas Day, the day of the Christmas Cup. After her brief return home, Kelly must now decide if her military duty takes precedence over her duty to her family, her community, and herself.
After some of the grander movies this Thanksgiving weekend, The Christmas Cup feels more like a back-to-basics Hallmark movie, with its focus on family and community, and a romance to boot. The concept of a competition to unite the community is charming, though some aspects of the games are questionable (like the eggnog drinking). What really makes the movie work is the interaction between the Brandt family. Although none of them seem remotely related, the actors have a familial chemistry that allows us to believe in that fantasy.
Interestingly, while the story is about two neighboring towns, we never actually see Bridgeport. Everything takes place in Longleaf or on the "neutral ground" of the fire station. However, Bridgeport's mayor, Steele, gives the impression that Bridgeport is a bit more sophisticated than the working-class community of Longleaf... or at least that's the impression she wants to give. The romance between Kelly and Quinn also develops naturally, albeit at a fast pace due to Kelly's limited time in town. However, she should have told him from the beginning that they couldn't have anything too serious, since she was leaving on January 1st.
When the date was postponed, she became the "bad guy" because she was simply going to leave without saying anything. Luckily, her conscience got the better of her, but she had to give a lot of explanations to excuse what she said to Bree about Quinn. This also complicates things for the audience: Do we forgive Kelly's words, knowing that she was only trying to avoid hurting herself and Quinn? Should Quinn? It's hard to get over hearing someone you have feelings for call you a stranger, even if you've spent days getting to know each other and sharing personal stories (Quinn was also discharged from the military due to a shoulder injury, so he and Kelly have some things in common). Luckily, the actors portray their emotions so well that we want Kelly to tell Quinn how she feels and for Quinn to give her a second chance.
Director Robin Dunne does a great job making Longleaf look and feel like the small town you'd love to live in, and the four screenwriters (four?!) have crafted a collection of characters, each with their own distinct identity. There's nothing groundbreaking, but it's simply a pleasant and thoroughly idealized escape from our everyday reality. The assembled cast really helps bring the story to life.
Rhiannon Fish has the difficult task of portraying Kelly as a tough Marine, but one who also has a heart. Fish clearly demonstrates that Kelly loves her family and community, and while she generally keeps her heart to herself, simply being home has softened her a bit. Fish shows how Kelly can take charge while training her team and demonstrates how warm she can be when she's with Quinn.
Ben Rosenbaum is also excellent as Quinn, placed in the difficult position of being a neutral party between the towns, never trying to favor one over the other. But when he falls head over heels for Kelly—and Rosenbaum perfectly conveys this with his gaze toward Fish—his duty and emotions clash, and the mayor of Bridgeport seems to do everything she can to keep Quinn in check (he lives in Bridgeport, so she believes he should be loyal to his town despite his neutrality). Both actors successfully convey the chemistry between Kelly and Quinn, and their increasingly strong feelings seem to develop naturally even though they've only known each other for a few days.
Michael Teigen provides comic relief as Mickey Brandt, an aspiring chef (though not quite) who creates cooking content with his daughter Kip for social media. He portrays Mickey as somewhat inept, claiming to be the "ingredient guy" for the competition, yet unable to tell the difference between ginger and cinnamon in a blind taste test. But he always puts his heart into everything and finds his true calling when the restaurant's chef quits and leaves.
Harlow Robbins is sweet as Kip, delivering his lines with complete sincerity. Natasha Burnett is somewhat reserved as Bree, occasionally showing signs of emotion when speaking with Kelly, but she comes alive during the competition by launching into a round of questions about the city.
Tetiana Ostapowych is perfectly over-the-top as Mayor Steele, making her the kind of character love to hate, eagerly anticipating her downfall in the competition (though she also manages to humanize the character on several occasions, resulting in a very well-rounded performance). Jonas Janz does a fine job as juvenile delinquent Duke, initially displaying a tough exterior that he gradually sheds as he becomes part of the team. He also conveys Duke's pain.
Comments
Post a Comment