Hallmark Review: 'Double Holiday'

In the time they've been working together at their real estate development firm, Rebecca Hoffman (Carly Pope) and Chris Coulter (Kristoffer Polaha) have never quite gotten along. So when Rebecca and Chris are selected by their boss to handle an upcoming Christmas party meant to impress a potential client, Rebecca is far from thrilled--but is willing to do so, in the hopes that planning the party might earn her the recently opened senior executive position.

While Rebecca and Chris's differing personalities initially clash as they begin working on the party together, the two begin to bond as Chris inadvertently becomes a part of the Hoffman family's Hanukkah celebrations, allowing Chris to learn more about Rebecca's way of celebrating the holidays and for both Rebecca and Chris to see each other in a new light. As the day of the party comes closer, will this office rivalry turn to romance?

With Hallmark's Zola controversy still fresh in many people's minds, a film like Double Holiday is a movie the channel was certainly in need for if they wanted to get some brand rehab started before 2020. In terms of inclusivity, while Double Holiday has its share of flaws, it's a film that--in addition to being well-cast and heartwarming--is a solid step for Hallmark in the wake of the backlash they've faced this December.

Many think pieces have been written about how Double Holiday (as well as a fellow Christmas/Hanukkah Hallmark premiere from this year entitled Holiday Date that I didn't get the chance to see) were everything from merely misguided to outright anti-Semitic. Both viewpoints, however, I find exaggerated, though the latter is greatly more so than the former. While some elements of the film--Rebecca's unrealistically massive lack of knowledge about Christmas related topics, the plot-triggering "holiday party" being almost entirely devoted to Christmas--might strike some as frustrating at best and offensive at worst, Double Holiday makes a solid effort to give Hanukkah just as much exposure as Christmas and depict both holidays as equally valid.

The first act of the film, in fact, goes a solid length of time focusing entirely on the Hoffman Hanukkah traditions. The film's middle act also puts a greater focus on Rebecca and Chris's relationship than on the holidays they celebrate and the party. This not only works to giving a somewhat more balanced mix of exposure, but it also plays into the film's subdued theme about how, despite Rebecca and Chris both encountering people from backgrounds that differ from their own, it never becomes something that causes conflict. Double Holiday isn't entirely perfect when it comes to striking an even balance between Christmas and Hanukkah, but if nothing else, the film presents a heartwarming reality that could--and should--exist today.

Going into plot, Double Holiday is quite familiar to Hallmark: two rivals forced together by some circumstance, and they begin to bond and form feelings for each other as their situation allows them to see each other in a different way. While the plot is by-and-large predictable, the cast--like any good Hallmark movie--are what liven the plot up, along with its introduction of Hanukkah to the Hallmark beats. In the beginning, though, despite the film setting Rebecca up as the hard-working and put-upon employee dealing with an annoying co-worker, she instead comes across as shrill and rigid regarding Chris--whose playful jabs at her hardly get to the point of justifying Rebecca's attitude towards him. But thankfully, the film doesn't take too long to begin Rebecca's "Defrosting Ice Queen" arc, and Carly Pope brings warmth to her previously prickly character once Chris becomes involved in her family's holiday events.

Kristoffer Polaha proves to be the more consistently appealing lead, with Chris's jabs at Rebecca always remain playful rather than seguing into mean or annoying and the film's events allowing his sincere side to emerge. As Rebecca gets to know Chris, she sees that there's more to him than the image she first got of him as the reckless and carefree co-worker who lacked ambition or drive, and both Pope and Polaha strike up believable chemistry as Rebecca and Chris realize how wrong they were about each other--and form an attraction that neither are quite sure what to do about. This transformation becomes especially heartfelt in the third act, leading up to Double Holiday's exceptionally sweet resolution.

As for the side cast, the Hoffman clan prove to be quite charming when they enter the picture, with Judah Katz standing out as Rebecca's father Marty. Barbara Eve Harris and Paulino Nunes both bring a stern-but-compassionate quality to boss Jane Bennett and potential new client Mel Jensen, and Chad Connell is charming as Rebecca's office crush Spencer, who (to my surprise) remains likable, despite the film at times appearing to be setting him up as a bad guy who prioritizes his career over his family. Kyana Teresa and Jon McLaren also appear as Rebecca and Chris's respective best friends Amy and Bowie, though neither are given enough room to really strike an impression and--in Amy's case--occasionally serve to encourage Rebecca's less-than-endearing qualities.

(On a nitpicking tangent, the introduction of Spencer as Rebecca's office crush also opened the film up to deviating from the formula. Rather than Rebecca and Chris forming an attraction to each other, Double Holiday instead could've kept their relationship platonic and had Chris become Rebecca's supportive wingman when it comes to starting a romance with Spencer. It's nothing movie-breaking, but it's still disappointing to see Hallmark ignore this clear opportunity for breaking from the formula)

Like many Hallmark films, Double Holiday has a plot that most viewers will be able to predict the beats of before they even begin watching, and the way the film tries to integrate both Christmas and Hanukkah into one film are sure to leave some feeling dissatisfied. But for what it does accomplish as one of Hallmark's first efforts at Jewish representation, Double Holiday does fairly well at depicting the traditions of two different holidays without making one look better or worse than the other. Add to that a charming cast with leads whose chemistry makes their relationship development feel authentic and whose performances help alleviate the weaker parts of their characters, and you have a holiday film that proves a solid first step for Hallmark becoming a more inclusive channel. Here's hoping that the day will come, however, that Hallmark will come forward with a purely Hanukkah feature.

Score: 8 out of 10 dreidel tournaments.