Boyfriends of Christmas Past (2021 Hallmark)
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Cast: Catherine Haena Kim, Raymond Ablack, Karn Kalra, Jordan Kronis, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee
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Synopsis (via Hallmark)
Leading up to Christmas, marketing executive, Lauren, is visited by the ghosts of four ex boyfriends. She must learn to open her heart or risk losing her best friend, Nate. Starring Catherine Haena Kim, Raymond Ablack and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee.
Recap/Wine Thoughts
The movie starts with a game night; Lauren plays Pictionary with her friends. You’d think Lauren would be sating her best friend Nate; they are very competitive but have never dated. Nate invites her to a work holiday party/toy drive because they have an agreement to be each other’s plus-ones when they are single.
At Lauren’s job, she is up for a Christmas Eve pitch for a new marketing campaign; so much for the holidays! Lauren and her BFF Suzi have a lot of work ahead of them this holiday season.
Lauren’s dad is newly married, while her mother travels around the world. The family loves Nate, and we learn that Nate was raised in the foster care system, which is why he became a social worker.
At 2 AM, Lauren falls asleep while working. A gust of wind brings in a teenager on a skateboard. He is her ex-boyfriend/not-ghost? Tyler talks about the winter formal and how Lauren dumped him at the end of the night. He is there to help her with her dating life and promises that three more ex-boyfriends will visit her before Christmas Eve to help Lauren break her relationship patterns. (Don’t overthink it, just roll with it.)
Lauren works on her pitch and flirts with Nate. He asks her to go to a romantic place called Mariano’s… for the lasagna and boxed wine. (Maybe not together.)
The next night, Lauren is visited by her hunky guitar-playing ex-boyfriend, Jake. He uses Christmas magic to take her to their campus library in their junior year of college. Lauren sees herself studying, and she shuts down when Past Jake talks about her mom. He starts Christmas traditions, and Jake invites Lauren home for Christmas the following year. Lauren breaks it off with him for getting too serious too quickly. It is abrupt, poor Jake. Then Jake takes Lauren to see who helped her through the breakup… it is Nate.
Back in the real world, Laure bakes with Yung and talks about how terrible her mother was growing up. She thanks Yung for being so good to her father. Yung and Paul encourage their daughter to spend more time with Nate. That is exactly what Lauren does; she helps him decorate the town square and light u[ the Christmas tree with the foster children. At the town square, a nice woman asks Nate out for a coffee date. Lauren watches on and feels jealous?
Another ex-boyfriend shows up, he is the hottest one so far, and his name is Henry. He was Lauren’s first boyfriend after college. Henry asks Lauren to move in with him, and she freaks out again. Lauren breaks up with him when he tells her that he loves her. Lauren runs away from the relationship and calls Nate right away.
It is the night before the big fundraiser, and Nate and Lauren go on a romantic horse-drawn carriage ride. They almost kiss, and Nate shares his feelings for Lauren. She shuts him down.
No ghost visits her for a night, and Lauren gets wrapped up in her pitch. She forgets about Nate’s big event, and he feels that she doesn’t make him a priority. He accuses her of putting up walls, but he tells her that he loves her anyway. Lauren gets overwhelmed and runs away. This time she has no one to call.
The final boyfriend of Christmas Past arrives, Logan. It is the most somber of the ex-boyfriends. He pushed Lauren outside of her comfort zone by doing things like ziplining. He brought out her adventure side, and they even said, “I love you.” When Logan asks Lauren to marry him, she flat out says no. Logan tells her that she is living in fear.
Lauren wakes up happy the boyfriend’s visits are done, but they are all there when she wakes up. Lauren shares that she definitely has a pattern; she broke up with each of them at Christmas. Lauren apologizes for hurting them. They take her to Mariano’s, and Lauren sees that Nate proposing to Lily, not her. That is the future she could avoid if she stops pushing Nate away.
Lauren talks with her father and realizes what she needs to do. Make that pitch; she gets stuck on a slide of her and Nate and starts talking to the picture and tells Nate that she loves him. Lauren rushes out of the meeting to tell Nate in real life.
At Nate’s party, he is surprised to see Lauren dressed up and is worried about her pitch. Lauren tells him what she has to say is more important. She tells him that she loves him, and they kiss while being heckled by the foster kids. (NOT really the romantic moment I was hoping for.)
One year later. Lauren’s family welcomes Nate over for Christmas. He proposes to her in front of her loved ones by the Christmas tree, and THAT IS THE ROMANCE I WAS HOPING FOR!!!! (Well that is until the not ghost boyfriends show up and give the thumbs up, go away not-ghost boyfriends!)
Side Note
Minority Report: Lauren, Nate, Paul, Yung, Jake, Henry, Jen, Divya
Catherine Haena Kim & Raymond Ablack were charming as the romantic leads for this movie. I hope to see more of them on Hallmark.
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Christmas Trees represent the Christmas vibes. *** I’ve updated the rating system. Wine is overall enjoyment (NOT a value judgment) on a 1-5 scale.
I will use the following tags for those who want to know if they should watch or skip: Pour it Up (Would Recommend) or Put A Cork In It (Would Not Recommend).
Overall rating
Christmas Feels
🎄🎄🎄 (3 Christmas Tree)
Enjoyment Level: 🍷🍷 (2 glasses of wine.)
What did you think of the movie? Let me know in the comments or on social media @LifetimeUncorked
*Photo Credit: © 2021 Hallmark Crown Media
Live tweet along with @LifetimeUncork using the hashtag #BoyfriendsofChristmasPast
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