The Holiday Exchange

Holiday movies are not meant to change the world, just brighten it up for a couple hours. This movie knows exactly what it is, doesn't pretend to be anything else, and it delivers. Swapping cities for the holidays with a stranger, and both of them finding love is nothing new, but it's also always a warm feeling, which is great to have in a cold winter night. Some great supporting performances from Kyle Richards and Ashley Fink (who actually gets my favorite moment of the film and pulls the one Lone tear out of my cynical heart).

Maybe I'm a bit biased because it's Taylor Frey, and he and his husband are talented Handsome happy couple goals, but this was great Christmas Eve watching.

Let's just say I'm glad that my hands had better things to do while watching this--baked some cookies and par-baked a pie crust, and started a raspberry cheesecake.

Not long ago a friend of mine made an astute never-to-be-forgotten "snobservation" which is so applicable to this movie: "It seems utterly incredible that so few control so much wealth and possess a vocabulary of nothing more than a few monosyllabic grunts." (Where's the Gong Show when you need it?)

Why would his words come to mind while assessing this film? Let me guess: "Well, I sort of like, well basically.... didn't get the plot--basically too many people to follow, but like the men were, well basically like eye candy and at least there was like at least one new Xmas LGBTQ movie this year."

I rest my zero-star rating.

I watched this Christmas movie in the beginning of July and loved every second of it. It's not trying to do or be anything other than what it is. The story is typical RomCom kind of stuff with the Christmas cheer thrown in for good measure. The actors all play their parts well , no exaggeration, no campy or crude jokes. This is genuinely a sweet movie , in the very best way possible. I loved it. It's beautifully filmed and the music is pleasant and unintrusive unlike a lot of it's gay themed predecessors. Anybody who doesn't have a problem with the idea of male couples should enjoy this movie as much as I did. Ten Stars.

Admittedly I only started this movie because it's a gay Christmas movie. In the end I really enjoyed it. The beginning was rough and the cheesiest part, but I got into it after the first act. I liked all the main characters and their diversity (the actors and their storylines). The secondary characters were all somewhat forgettable. I'm surprised Kyle Richards is at the center of the poster as she's barely in it. Overall it was predictable, but pretty good acting and a little more depth than the average Hallmark-type movie. I'm not a big movie person and tend to only watch around the holidays (mostly classics like Home Alone, A Christmas Story, etc) but this was a worthy watch.

This is essentially a retelling of The Holiday (with Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet), which is one of my favorite Christmas movies. I'm not going to lie, this is not the movie to win awards or whatever and if you go in with high expectations (like some of the other reviewers must have) you're just going to disappoint yourself. That being said it's cute, lighthearted, and fun! I had read some of the reviews here and immediately thought I was making a mistake but honestly I don't understand the atrocious reviews. Sure, it's cheesy and maybe it's not actually filmed in Europe - so what?

In my opinion, if you enjoy the occasional Hallmark Christmas movie, this is worth giving a watch.