A Dickens of a Holiday! (2021 Hallmark)

A Dickens of a Holiday! (2021 Hallmark)

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Cast: Kristoffer Polaha, Brooke D’Orsay

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Synopsis (via Hallmark)

To make the 100th anniversary of her hometown’s Victorian festival a success, Cassie invites action movie star and former high school classmate Jake to play in “A Christmas Carol.”

Recap/Wine Thoughts

Cassie is a theater girl turned director working on the 100th production of Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol” in Dickens, Ohio. No one seems to take her seriously, even though she has worked on off-off-off-Broadway.

The mayor calls Cassie for an emergency meeting when the lead actor Ray, the Patrick Stewart of Ohio, is on vocal rest for vocal nodule/ (what is he, Ashlee Simpson?) Scrooge has no understudy, and Cassie has to get action star and hometown hero Jake Dorsey onboard. (Who she happened to turn down for the prom in high school.)

Cut to Jake jumping on a car with a green screen behind him. He is very L.A. and wants juicier roles. Jake has a great relationship with his nephew, Brandon, who is playing Tiny Tim. Cassie asks his dad for Jake’s number and accidentally video calls to see if he will come home to play the part or else the play will be canceled. He gets offended that she doesn’t think he will play the role but later decides it would be in his best interest for people to take him seriously as an actor.

Jake shows up in town with his personal assistant, Ben. Cassie makes fun of him for arriving with an entourage. He asks Cassie to pretend that he isn’t famous because he just wants to be an average person at home. He is impressed that Cassie is a “broadway” director but quickly corrects him and doesn’t elaborate any further. They end up at ACE HARDWEAR?!?! Jake talks up how it was the best job of his life, not his action star movie star life.

Things don’t start off well because Jake blows off a wardrobe fitting and public appearance. Cassie asks him if he doesn’t want to do the play, and he says that he does but doesn’t want to do publicity.

Jack is distracted and not used to rehearsing on stage instead of a movie set during rehearsals. He wants to get into character as Scrooge, so Cassie gives him some acting advice. To go from the outside in, and she touches his face and body. (Which would be creepy if they weren’t obviously in love.)

The two start spending more time together, drinking at bars and packing up pies for charity, and I think they almost kiss? His brother takes the time to tell Jake off because he never comes home. Jake feels terrible and makes it up to his brother by promising to spend quality time. Later, they talk about when their mother got sick and how Jake’s brother felt he carried most of the burden while Jake was in L.A. acting.

Cassie and Jake take a romantic horse ride home from rehearsal. The driver has Jake’s mother’s favorite book that will be turned into a movie. Cassie tells him that he would be perfect for the part and has the acting range.

Cassie admits that she has never seen any of Jake’s movies. She continues to direct him to get out of his head and into his body. Jake REALLY goes for it, and his personal assistant records him from the catwalk. He submits the footage to the movie producers. They love it; the only problem is they want Jake to come to their holiday party is on the same night as the play.

Jake doesn’t know what to do, but Cassie tells him to follow his dreams and get the role of a lifetime. She fires him from the show. She thanks him for showing her why she loves theater and directing.

Cassie jumps in to play Scrooge. Just as she is about to go on, Jake shows up to take over for the role, which sucks; I wanted to see Cassie do it to see how that would go! The show is a success!

The risk is worth the reward for Jake. He might not get the movie role, but he gets to spend Christmas with the ones he loves, even Cassie. They kiss as snow softly falls outside the theater.

Side Note

Minority Report: Millie, TV Reporter,

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Christmas Trees represent the Christmas vibes. *** I’ve updated the rating system. Wine is my 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

🎄🎄🎄🎄 (4 Christmas Trees)

Enjoyment Level: 🍷🍷🍷🍷 (5 glasses of wine.)

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