There was a lot of press this year about Lindsay Lohan’s new Christmas movie. I think this is supposed to be her big comeback movie? I’m not sure. But since it’s a Christmas movie, of course I tuned it to watch Netflix’s Falling For Christmas.
Sierra Belmont (Lindsay Lohan) is an heiress to hotel magnate, Beauregard Belmont (Jack Wagner). Wanting to do something to separate herself from her father, Sierra turns to her boyfriend, Tad (George Young), to help her become a popular influencer. The couple heads up a snow-covered mountain near the Belmont Ski Resort in order to take some pictures for social media. When Tad proposes, both of them fall off the mountain. Sierra ends up with amnesia from a minor concussion while Tad is lost in the wilderness. Jake Russell (Chord Overstreet), who runs the bed and breakfast next door to the Belmont resort, finds Sierra and takes care of her until they can figure out who she is.
Fifteen minutes into the movie, I thought “is this movie making fun of Paris Hilton? It feels like it’s making fun of Paris Hilton.” About a half hour later, I realized “Oh. this is just a remake of Overboard with a Christmas theme slapped on top.” It’s a movie about a rich lady who get amnesia and stays with a poor guy, helping out and doing chores badly, until someone figures out who she is. The only real difference between the two movies is the poor guy knew who the rich lady was in Overboard and he elected to take advantage of her amnesia. Oh, and this takes place on a snowy mountain instead of a yacht.
So now that we know this is basically a remake, is it a good one? It’s not bad. Lohan’s acting is better than it has been in a long time. I had a difficult time looking past Overstreet as the leading man (I kept thinking “Man, they cast Sam from Glee as Lindsay Lohan’s love interest? Isn’t she a lot older than him?”) so I can’t tell if there was no chemistry between them or it was just my inability to see him as another character. Otherwise, Young is kinda perfect as spoiled rich man Tad. He may have been my favorite character, even though he is terrible.
If you haven’t watched Falling For Christmas yet, go ahead and do it now. it may be a remake but, to be honest, the original movie is very problematic. This version keeps it family friendly and avoids all of those issues. And, to be honest, it’s better than a lot of the other Christmas movies we’ve been given so far. I wonder if a Lindsay Lohan movie is going to make my top movie list this year.