Movie Breakdown: Holidate
Pre-Screening Stance:
The last rom-com that Netflix sent my way was the Rachael Leigh Cook-led Love, Guaranteed, and it was OK. It certainly could have used more bite, but I’d be a liar if I said it wasn’t generally enjoyable. Holidate looks like it might be more of the same.
Post-Screening Ramble:
Holidate is one of those rom-coms that could have been more than just another rom-com, but it never gets there. To be fair though, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as the movie itself is fine. It follows Sloane (Emma Roberts) and Jackson (Luke Bracey), two single people who like being single but hate the awkwardness of being single on holidays, so they enter into an agreement to be each other’s “holidates” (a platonic joining on holidays only). There’s a few heartfelt moments, a handful of funny parts, and … well, you know what ultimately happens.
It’s between the entirely familiar story beats though where there’s a lot that gets presented but never unpacked. Sloane’s family is loaded with characters that justify her unattached lifestyle – a never-satisfied Aunt (Kristin Chenoweth), an over-involved mother (Frances Fisher), a brother (Jake Manley) who married too soon, and a sister (Jessica Capshaw) who’s in a marriage that only looks perfect on the outside. Plus, Sloane and Jackson constantly mock rom-coms for being unbelievable and ridiculous. Essentially, the film soundly sets itself up with a chance to deliver a thunderous spike in the face of all the usual rom-com cliches, but it does nothing with any of it. In the end, it’s all just fluff to kill time until the happy ending hits.
It would have been nice to see Holidate actually follow through on the left turn that it seemingly threatens to take, but it’s an alright endeavor otherwise. The film will hit Netflix this Wednesday.
One Last Thought:
An absolutely shocking amount of this movie takes place in a mall. And no, none of the characters work at a mall and there’s no real discernible reason for any of them to be there so often, but they are, and it’s one of the weirder things I’ve seen in a movie this year. Who – in 2020 – goes to a mall for seemingly all of their needs?
