This movie waves red flags like crazy on how to set up an abusive relationship.
Chris has a lot of repressed anger that frequently bubbles to the surface. In his case, when it bubbles up, it's boiling and comes out as extreme rudeness to the point of meanness. One serious red flag is how he responds to Holly's attempt at getting him an interview. This man needs some serious counseling to determine where this anger is coming from and learn ways to deal with it rather than expressing it. Because when he has a woman behind closed doors and alone, there is an excellent chance that anger is going to come out in more than words. It may be true that his family upbringing contributed to these issues, but all the more reason to deal with them with a professional and not a good reason to be as rude as he was in public.
Meanwhile, Holly is a prototype of a victim mentality. The movie shows how she has repeatedly allowed others to take advantage of her. The red flags here are how she caves in and accepts fault with her best friend, the bride, and with Chris. Sure, Holly tried to step in to fix things with the wedding, but that's because the alternative was that they couldn't afford hardly anything. That was made clear early. Angela couldn't afford a new dress, so Holly found an alternative. There were other clues of this. Also Angela wouldn't help with the invitations, so Holly had to do them. Then later, buying the new dress was absolutely what an abuse victim would do in unnecessary repentance. She probably went too far with the bachelorette party, but she obviously isn't perfect. With Chris, she accepted blame and apologized for trying to help even though she did nothing wrong that couldn't just be ignored, or better thanked for and then ignored.
The acting was so bad, I couldn't be sure whether the script was awful too, but I think the script was awful. Tim Llewellyn was possibly the worst, but also I had a hard time accepting that Shannon Dowling was actually a mother. Micah Lynn Hanson wasn't quite as bad and maybe she actually did a good job taking a character who is a pathetic victim and making her at least somewhat likeable.
The story checked off many of the formula tropes like food fight, young person wanting something more rewarding than the family business, maid of honor thrown together with best man she dislikes, tree decorating musical montage. There were also some slightly unusual elements like the matchmaker.
I would like to think this movie could be salvaged if you took out the symptoms of an abusive relationship, but I think you would at least need to replace the actor playing Chris.
A Match Made at Christmas
2021
Action / Comedy / Romance
A Match Made at Christmas
2021
Action / Comedy / Romance
Keywords: christmasfamilyromantic comedyrom-com
Plot summary
Romantic, small-town girl Holly, and realist, career-driven, Chris aren't a likely pair, but when 'matched' together by Holly's all-knowing great-aunt, they don't seem to have much of a choice.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.WEB 1080p.WEBMovie Reviews
A How To Story
The dude is MEAN
Yells at an old lady? Yikes. This movie doesn't fit the usual romantic storyline. The dude is MEAN and I cannot understand why she would be attracted to him! So awkward, she did something nice for him and he is soooo rude to her.
A realistic portrayal of a relationship
"Holly is so kind and perfect. Chris is unbearably rude. How could they come together. This movie promotes toxic relationships." That's what several reviewers want us to believe. Such a review is dishonest.
This movie honestly shows that no man or woman is perfect. No couple is perfect. Relationships thrive on complementarity (differences) and on forgiveness. That's real life. That's true love.
The protagonist: On the positive side, she's a capable, talented woman who loves life. On the other hand, she's a people-pleaser who is not fully honest with herself or others. She helps her widowed mother, her brother, his would-be bride, etc. Even when that's not what she reallty wants to do. The family isn't that kind to her. Her brother doesn't put her interests ahead of his own. In her eagerness to help her brother's fiancee, she tries to be at two places at the same time, ruining her date with Chris, and upsetting the fiancee. Moreover, she tried to live her life through the lives of others by taking over other's lives in the guise of helping. To her credit, she apologizes to Chris for her rude remarks at supper, for ruining their date with her duplicity, and for trying to offer unsolicited advice about his career.
Chris: A man from a broken family who managed to earn a college degree and a decent job. He's honest to the point of being blunt. He's fiercely independent and doesn't like other people imposing their will on him. If he doesn't like something, he states it bluntly, and often, rudely. The lack of a loving family background shows. To make matters worse, he was ditched by a less-than-honest young woman who pretended to be in a serious relationship with him. He doesn't like the idea of a matchmaker of an "old lady" or a group of ladies trying to impose their will on him. He gives the old lady a piece of his mind, rather rudely, for controlling others with the match-making. He was deeply offended when the protagonist ruined his date with her dishonesty and half-heartedness. That's another reason why he rejected her advice regarding his career. Twice he accepted the protagonist's suggestions: to text his mother; and to switch to photography by opting for a "stable" job.
Chris helped the protagonist to be more honest with herself and others; to live her life instead of living it through the lives of others. The protagonists helped Chris to start loving life and celebrations, to deal with his broken relationship with his mother, and to switch to a job that he really liked.
That's what real couples do to each other. A good couple, in real life, are not two people who are totally alike. Instead, they can be totally different, and yet be complementary towards each other. A good marriage runs on "I'm sorry" just as much as it runs on "I love you."