Lindsay Lohan’s Falling for Christmas Avoids Falling into any Apparent Traps
The trick for any critic reviewing Netflix’s Falling for Christmas is how to talk about Lindsay Lohan’s new movie without falling into the apparent traps. It’d be easy and dangerous to go down the slope of trashing a performance because of an actress’ personal life (or worse, appearance) and moaning about the end of cinema. We hit many moguls while coursing this 93-minute runtime, but none are Lohan.
It’s we who have refused to let her grow up. From the moment the film begins, we’re in a distant-familiar territory with Lohan acting the brat. Her character Sierra is a hotel heiress who huffs and stomps her way through life. And though Sierra would like to so bravely shun nepotism forever and strike out on her own, Daddy (Jack Wagner) doesn’t think it’s such a good idea. Undeterred, off Sierra goes on a winter retreat with her influencer fiancé Tad (George Young).
On the other side of her holiday destination rests The North Star Lodge. Its owner Jake (Glee graduate Chord Overstreet) is as busy as he is blonde. His folksy retreat is close to shuttering. His daughter (Olivia Perez) is growing up without a mother. And his mother-in-law (Alejandra Flores), is concerned that he hasn’t gotten laid in a while. But The North Star Lodge is a magical place.
When wishes and bad weather bring Sierra crashing down the mountains, she awakes in the lodge, unable to remember who she is. But in the oaken cozyland of Jake’s care, and through the spirit of charitable fundraising, Sierra might discover not just who she is but who she is meant to be.
As with most holiday romances, the plot of Falling for Christmas has its own bit of amnesia. Time has different priorities in this genre, which can make for a noticeable unevenness. We move from Sierra’s introduction to her accident, amnesia and recovery at a clip. If you’re looking for rich psychology and complex human relationships, the Netflix holiday film may not be for you. These characters, made more of charm and star power than believability, change their minds very quickly. In the case of Falling for Christmas, Sierra’s brain chemistry quite literally changes. Twice.
We can forgive these elements as part of the laughable pleasures of the genre. We know Mr. Side Part and Ms. Middle Part will fall in love. But there are a few weird things that Falling for Christmas forgets, which stick out like red flags, warning we’re close to going off course. The idea of a widower maintaining a caring relationship with his mother-in-law is sweet and tender, but the film forgets to let Alejandra be a person. Instead, she remains a maid, as cheery and unreal as the winking Santa who stalks about. It also forgets that bisexual people have feelings. Tad’s whole persona has a hyper-capitalist foppishness that suggests his “alternative” masculinity from the start. He’s flamboyant and vain, so when it’s his turn to have a quick change of heart, his male attraction seems more hedonist than human. Still, it’s clear Lohan made sure there was someone for the gays in her movie.