Jump to the good stuff: The Story | Some Thoughts | The Final Verdict
The Story:
The Christmas House is a romance about a family coming together for the holiday to decorate the house for Christmas.
Bill (Treat Williams) and Phylis (Sharon Lawrence) invite their grown sons, Mike (Robert Buckley) and Brandon (Jonathan Bennett), to the house to revisit the family tradition of decorating for the holiday. Since this was a last-minute decision, they only have two weeks to turn the house into a Christmas spectacular, inside and out.
Mike just wrapped up the final episode of the television show he stars in, Handsome Justice. Because the station is under new ownership, the show may not be get renewed for a second season. He decides to keep this news to himself.
Brandon and his husband, Jake (Brad Harder), are trying to adopt. They’ve had difficulties with the adoption process, so don’t want to tell Brandon’s family until they know everything will go through.
When Mike arrives, he finds out that an old friend, Andi (Ana Ayora), has moved back home after her divorce. When Mike was young, he had a magic act and Andi was his assistant. Bill and Phylis insist Mike get back in touch with her, but Mike is apprehensive.
As the family get together to decorate the house, Mike notices that Brandon and Jake are whispering and being secretive about incoming calls; and Brandon is curious about why their parents are hinting about moving out of the family home.
Some Thoughts:
Nobody watches these Hallmark holiday movies for anything more than feel-good nonsense, which The Christmas House delivers in spades. You’ll laugh and roll your eyes with it.
Although there’s a gay storyline in The Christmas House, it’s very much in the background. This is the first Hallmark Christmas movie to have a gay character, and this movie feels as if it was a test to see how well it’s received. Luckily there is a part 2, so it must have had a decent viewership.
Bill and Phyllis spend the first part of the movie hinting that they’re going to split up, but somehow Mike and Brandon don’t realize something is up. It’s hard to imagine that they would be so clueless, but they are. And the reason Phylis and Bill are splitting is a bit lame and makes their storyline feel a bit contrived. The reason is, Phyllis feels that they’ve been out of sync since Bill retired.
Brandon and Jake’s storyline gets wrapped up in five minutes, which is a reminder that the story would not have changed without them.
The Final Verdict:
The Christmas House is a decent holiday romance with a gay couple in the background. If you’re looking for a light gay holiday film, this isn’t it. There may be fun and nonsense, but there’s not much of a gay story.
