Holiday in Handcuffs (2007)

Directed by: Ron Underwood

Starring: Melissa Joan Hart, Mario Lopez, Timothy Bottoms, Markie Post, Kyle Howard, and June Lockhart

Genre: Made for TV, Romantic Comedy, Christmas

Rated: Not Rated

Trudie Chandler is having a terrible day. Everything seems to be going wrong, from her Do-It-Yourself perm frying her hair to missing an important job interview. On top of that, the handsome, successful boyfriend she was bringing home for Christmas breaks up with her. In the midst of a nervous breakdown, Trudie kidnaps David Martin, a customer at the diner where she works, and drags him off to spend the holidays with her equally crazy family.

I have a soft spot for this movie, and I’m really not sure why. It’s a cheesy ABC Family Christmas movie that seems to promote Stockholm Syndrome and kidnapping as the new dating. Yet, it’s so silly, I can’t help but enjoy it.

Melissa Joan Hart is quite funny as the mess that is Trudie. The poor girl can’t catch a break, and she is sick of disappointing her parents time and time again. She kidnaps David and forces him to play along as her boyfriend, Nick, so her parents won’t think she’s a failure yet again. Her desperation does make the viewer pity her, and seeing the way her parents treat her, one can almost sympathize with her temporary insanity. Even David sees this, which is why he begins to care for her on some level.

David’s character is very sweet and charming. He’s more than just the pretty rich boy she thinks he is. It's sad to me that she kidnaps him, and he is more loving toward her than her own family is – with the exception of her brother. Her mother keeps saying Trudie is “trying to ruin Christmas” and her Dad is on her case about the missed job interview. No one has faith in her first true love – art, so they push her to marry rich so she’ll have someone to take care of her. I wanted to knock her parents’ heads together for the way they treat all three of the kids.

The highlights of the movie for me are the horny gas station attendant, David’s girlfriend’s maid, and June Lockhart as Grandma. All made me laugh with their antics. The gas station attendant giving her free fuzzy handcuffs and grumbling about how David was a lucky bastard, Maria torturing her boss and Grandma pulling a gun on the cops all had me giggling.

The ending is predictable and cheesy the way all romantic comedies are, yet I still find it cute. Trudie gets a taste of her own medicine and her family stops being jerks. Happy endings are a must for a romantic comedy.

Overall, it’s a fun little movie if you can suspend disbelief and just go with it. It does have a lot of adult humor, so it’s probably better suited for ages twelve and above, despite it being a part of the ABC Family 25 Days of Christmas countdown. It is a cute film, despite the sexual innuendo, and is a bit of light-hearted fluff to get viewers into the Holiday spirit.

6/10