Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story

Well...I am a Chiefs fan; I am a Hunter King fan, and I am a Tyler Hines fan.

But sorry, this was a dud.

I wish I could just stop there, but alas, I must elaborate.

If you're not a Chiefs fan, I don't know how you make it to the end of such a movie. They really laid it on thick.

I didn't find the chemistry between Hines and King very strong at all. The writing was so-so, and the general plot was a little strange.

I did like the supporting cast, and Ed Begley, Jr. Was pretty good as the crotchety old guy.

I thought it was interesting that there was a scene in which the entire family was all getting hammered on eggnog in a Hallmark movie.

I wish I had better things to say. But I don't.

I thought this was a cute movie. It's sports themed and I loved the little Easter eggs (Donna Kelce, Andy Reid, and older retired players) that showed up in the movie. It's definitely a hallmark movie with the over the top family always trying to butt in. This movie was a nice departure from the usual 'high powered executive woman comes to a small town to fix something ands falls for a small town guy'.

Overall though it was typical hallmark and still a cute Christmas themed movie, although that was not as big a theme as football was. I'd highly recommend watching the movie especially if you're a woman who likes sports and romance.

Alana Higman (Hunter King) is a die-hard Kansas City Chiefs fan. Her parents met as kids with their families sitting next to each other at the games. The family even runs a Chiefs shop in their hometown. They are up for the Fan of the Year contest. Director of fan engagement Derrick (Tyler Hynes) is doing the assessment. There is a magic hat.

The most compelling relationship in this movie is the one between Hallmark and the Kansas City Chiefs. The corporate world calls this synergy. I expected more actual Kansas City Chiefs. I was expecting a few high profile players to run into our couple. The players should want that too. As for the couple, I have always liked Hunter King's comedic timing and Tyler Hynes seems perfectly fine although they could try for Niall Cunningham. There are surprisingly a lot of familiar faces in the other roles. I guess everybody needs a paycheck. This is fine Hallmark and maybe more synergy to come.

I have to give the writers and producers some credit here, as they tried for something very different in a Christmas movie story, even if the Christmas did only involve wearing a Chiefs' toboggan any time the team has a game on Christmas day.

So they swung big, but only managed bunt single. Okay, wrong sports reference. Maybe I should say they went for a deep throw and only got pass interference, but not a bomb.

Hunter King and Tyler Hynes had decent chemistry here and we've liked Tyler in a few of these movies. He has a unique style that amuses us.

However, some things about this movie jerked us right out of the story, such as a mother and grandmother practically throwing Hunter into a stranger's lap the instant he walked through the door. Then, the whole trope of how upset Hunter got at the "not believing in the hat" was ridiculous, especially when it was the best the writers could come up with to put some late tension in the romance.

Much of the "best fan" story worked, and Ed Begley, Jr. Managed an emotional performance. Parkinsons has left him looking 15 years older than he should look at 75, and that's a shame, but not his fault.

Some of the movies this year have featured an annoying minor character who overacts in embarrassing fashion, and this movie is among them. The deli owner lady almost made me bag this movie in the first five minutes. Thankfully she only appeared once more, and briefly.

We're not sorry we saw this, despite a few plot issues, but we won't be going back for a repeat.

There was far too much hype for this movie including "live" updates in every commercial break in the movie preceding this. Also, I am very much not a Chiefs fan. For me they are the current Evil Empire of the NFL. (Actually they have some very upstanding players and I use the term evil as hyperbole.) But once again I am faced with my obsession to watch every Christmas movie premiere on at least 5 channels.

I enjoyed this movie. It was enough different from the usual stuff and there may have been snow, but no snowball fights or many of the other checklist items for a Christmas movie. Tyler Hynes and Hunter King have very good chemistry, almost what I sometimes call sizzling. The story hooked me first with the quest to win the fan contest and then looking to the outcome of the obstacle near the end.

I thought the acting was a little mixed. Hynes was his usual steady but laid back self. King's character had attractive qualities but also some neurosis especially in her total obsession with the superstition. Given that, I had mixed feelings about the ending, especially after the buildup of the backstory. (I realize that these feelings are somewhat contradictory.)

As I said, not a Chiefs fan, so I didn't recognize many of the cameos, but there seemed to be a few.