Having a best friend is a weird thing if you think about it. There is this one person that you are willing to do anything for – no matter what – even if you know it’s a bad idea. You may question it, but you know you’ll still do it because that person would do the same thing for you.
There’s no rhyme or reason to who becomes your best friend. It varies with everyone. For Toni and Bri, it was the first grade, and Bri delivered a punch to someone who was being mean to Toni.
And the rest is history.
History is what best friends have to enable trust between the two of them to do crazy and stupid things. Like, crash a bunch of holiday parties.
But that’s the thing, history is also what will enable you to try things that you never have, break out of your comfort zone, and at the end of the day, be better than you were yesterday.
Holiday Crashers, tonight’s Countdown to Christmas Hallmark movie, is an examination of misunderstandings, truth-telling, family, and friends all told in a holiday setting.
Related: Countdown To Christmas 2024 Review: ‘Twas The Date Before Christmas
VAN JOBS
Toni and Bri are stuck for two different reasons. Bri’s spent her life in survival mode, and that has been the only thing that she’s known. She’s had to be the one her whole life who has had to take care of everyone in her family. Toni graduated from law school and had a panic attack taking her bar exam.
This has led both of them to work in an invitation shop.
Now, I kinda love this. Not everyone has to have these high-powered jobs, it’s okay to feel somewhat stuck, and it’s okay to find your way out. I think it makes movies like this more relatable and it is important that you can see yourself in others. For me, even though I find things about myself all the time, seeing that you can take steps, not see the potential that you have, and evolve in your way – I love to see it.
But I digress.
The two head out to drop off some invitations at one of the client’s homes. Toni is a play-by-the-rules type of person, while Bri, uses it as an opportunity to be someone different. She doesn’t want people to keep looking past her. She wants people to see her for who she is.
And she has a great time escaping for a minute.
Toni has a bump into someone, a meet-cute moment. Justin.
Justin is handsome and charming. A dimple to make you drool. You can tell he’s instantly smitten with her, but you can also tell that she’s so terrified of being there that it doesn’t matter. She wants out of the room.
And when she leaves, there is relief in her face.
You can tell that Toni doesn’t like to lie and she feels out of place in places where she thinks that others can look down on her. Or maybe she’s just afraid of not fitting in?
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HOLIDAY CRASHING
One thing that I wish that we had more of was the actual crashing. Crazy and funny things happening at the parties. However, the montage of the girls crashing parties was a good one and got the point across. They were taking extra invitations and using them as entrances to the parties.
It provides an opening for them to meet people and to be a new character at each party. They don’t think that it’s going to affect anyone and I am wondering how and why they think that. The reason is this is Connecticut, these towns are small, and I don’t think that they are going to be able to avoid seeing these people again.
BUT, at a party, worlds converge. As they are about to choose who they are going to be, Toni runs into a girl she went to law school with. Not to mention that this is Justin’s party.
Let’s talk about Chris McNally. I have to admit that I don’t watch When Calls The Heart, but I am reconsidering that decision. That man has a presence on the screen, a dimple, and a voice to die for. I could talk about his looks, but if I am being honest, it is his calming voice that makes me just stare and fall into his character. The voice is safe. Am I describing it correctly? Probably not. But hey, wouldn’t be the first time.
If I was Toni, I would not know what was going on around me when Justin was talking to me. It takes good actors to sell that. Lyndsy Fonseca and Chris McNally sell that.
But they aren’t the only ones.
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RETREAT
Jag Bal and Daniella Monet, who play Bri and Vinny are my favorites. Bri (Monet) is this adventurous and creative person who is just all-around inspiring. Monet brings her to life with such vibrancy and flare that you want a best friend like Bri. She also breaks my heart because she doesn’t know just how special she is. Each one of these
Wanting to speak about all of the characters says something about how good the characters are. The love stories were a great part of the movie, but it was the friendships in these movies that came first.
Toni agrees to go to Justin’s company retreat after her friend goes into labor. She’s afraid because she’s not a lawyer and what she’s doing is a little illegal. She would never get to get her license to practice law if anyone ever found out.
It’s the situations that we get into in life that challenge us, that move us forward. Toni is doing everything that she can to move things ahead with the case but is also feeling bad that she hasn’t told Justin the truth about who she is.
The thing is though, before she can, he’s made it very clear that he doesn’t forgive lies and really sets in on that. If I was Toni, I wouldn’t want to tell him the truth either. She didn’t lie by saying something but did lie by omission. It’s the omission that really does and would hurt anyone.
But a retreat to Vermont may be just what Toni needs to jump-start her life. Her father and mother want her to finish her law degree but also want her to be happy.
For Toni, figuring out the case that she’s there to consult on is igniting a fire in her that she hasn’t felt in a long time. She’s felt a love for the law. This retreat isn’t a bad idea.
VINNY MAY BE THE BEST
Bri is so happy to be at this retreat because she has really liked Vinny. She thinks that the two are on the same level and I am really truly not sure what that means. I think that to a point, she feels that if they are both working class, liking him means that she has a chance.
But she doesn’t see that money isn’t everything. It’s the feelings that she feels and the feelings that he feels. These two have so much chemistry and really do like each other, so much so that Bri finds herself telling him the truth about everything she and Toni have done.
Vinny doesn’t seem to think twice about all the things she opens up about. He just likes her and wants to get to know her.
It doesn’t take long in movies for people to fall for each other. I love that because in life people are so guarded and will do everything that they can to not be vulnerable. With Vinny and Bri, there’s a vulnerability, but there is also a fear. That fear for him is if he tells her that he owns the valet business, she won’t get to know him for who he is. With her when she finds out that he’s well off, the fear for her is that she isn’t good enough.
Why I love these two so much is that they have a quality that I consider to be so important – loyalty. And that loyalty is a defining part of who they are.
THE ASSISTANT DOES HIS DILIGENCE
At the retreat, Justin admits that he wants to spend time with Toni and that he likes her. She’s managed to overcome all of the Christmas-crushing lies that she’s told, but I don’t think that she was prepared for that.
She may like it but wasn’t prepared for it.
I thought Justin told his assistant to not worry about checking her out – he does anyway, which I admire. That’s something that I would do. It’s good that he does, but it’s also gotta make Justin feel somewhat stupid. Not necessarily because she lied, but because it would make me feel stupid if I blindly believed.
I think that for him it was hard for him because he wanted to believe in his feelings and reaction to her. He wanted to believe in love and something other than pain in the past.
It broke my heart when he pushed her away and she left. It broke my heart because they’ve both changed because of each other and they still need each other. Toni and Justin may not have started correctly or based on truths, but I was hoping that they would find their way to each other. I believe that they were both embarrassed over what they had done or didn’t do.
Toni though, the case that she was researching for him, she saved him billions. She was also inspired to get her Dad the information that he needed to help his case. Most importantly they were both inspired and I think that is something that we have to respect.
With all of that said though, I think that the pain of lies is sometimes too much for anyone to deal with.
A YEAR LATER
I loved seeing that Toni had gotten her law license and was working with her Dad. There is so much respect for her that she’s learned to love and appreciate her father and his hard work on a different level.
We may not always agree with our parents, but parents like hers tried their best to do everything for her. Her dad just wanted to have a life where he got to work with his little girl.
And I can admire that.
So seeing them together, I had to smile. Finding common ground with your parents isn’t always easy, but it can be done.
Bri and Vinny are getting married, so no matter what happens, there is a win happening here for me. Love has prevailed. I needed a good cry, and crying my eyes out over a wedding felt like such a good relief of emotion.
One of the things that I love the most thought about Hallmark movies is that they come full circle. Justin crashing Bri and Vinny’s wedding – I had the biggest grin. I loved every single moment of that.
Love takes time. It takes roads and growth and sometimes a little holiday magic. But if you embrace it, all the bumps and all, you just never know the joy that you can find.
And if you’re lucky, you’ll find a little bit of yourself along the way.
