Before the horrible family drama, there was a time where Lindsay Lohan in your movie meant something special. I mean, come on, she pulled off twins and a British accent in her first movie! After a, shall we say, rocky decade of moviemaking, Lohan found some Christmas spirit from Netflix, giving her a starring role in Falling for Christmas. Lohan repays Netflix by really taking this rejected Hallmark movie seriously, giving everyone at least a bit of Holiday cheer along the way.
Beauregard Belmont (Jack Wagner) has just appointed his daughter Sierra (Lindsay Lohan) as “Vice President of Atmosphere” at his high end luxury ski resort, in hopes she will want to work with her father and ditch her vapid influencer boyfriend Tad Fairchild (George Young). Sierra, reluctant to take the job, puts off the decision until Christmas when her dad comes back from a business trip. This “respite” gives Tad the perfect chance to propose to Sierra, who’s so shocked that her and Tad fall off the mountain. Sierra is rescued by the hunky owner of the more mom & pop ski resort, Jake Russell (Chord Overstreet), who finds the poor heiress has lost her memory, and has no idea who she is.
All eyes are on Lindsay Lohan in Falling for Christmas. Is she going to fall flat on her face, or are we going to fall back in love with her again. You know, Netflix’s sweet spot of hate and love watching. In general, Lohan disappoints the hatewatchers. I thought she was pretty good in this. Channeling those youthful success, Lohan is clearly having fun doing pratfalls again, impressively failing at making a bed or basic household chores, falling down on purpose for the sake of a chuckle. Plus, the costume department has fun making Lohan look as ostentatious as possible, oozing vapid rich privilege. And, as is the Lohan magic, when she has to nail the Christmas hottie makeover, she saunters down those stairs in a stunning red dress ready for new love.
Lohan brings the Christmas magic. The rest of the cast? Mostly just along for the ride. Chord Overstreet is your benign WASPy Christmas Prince, all “aw shucks” and no personality; maybe that’s on purpose, but it does Falling for Christmas no favors since he’s Lohan’s love interest. George Young is put in his own wacky sideplot with a wilderness recluse that’s cut to just enough for small “background watching” laughs and then going back to doing something else. I could have used more Jack Wagner: the soap opera actor is right at home in this schmaltz and gives the movie an over this dad energy.
If Lindsay Lohan is going for a big comeback, Falling for Christmas is a nice easy start. She proved she can headline a straightforward Christmas romcom. Next on the list is some amazing comedic supporting performance/cameo. She builds herself up to Mean Women: where Cadie becomes a socialite having to navigate a “Real Housewives” type world as a perfect IP/nostalgia welcome back to movie stardom. Or her Christmas movie becomes Christmas hell as she’s typecast into Hallmark fare. One or the other.