Alice Oscura, Featured Writer
Plot: A spoiled heiress loses her memory after a freak accident on a ski slope and finds herself spending Christmas with a handsome widower, who happens to be the owner of a struggling ski lodge named NorthStar. She eventually learns a thing or two about housekeeping while falling in love with the widower as she tries to regain her memories.
Review: Former child star Lindsay Lohan returns to the screen with Netflix’s latest release for the Christmas season Falling for Christmas. Lohan plays the role of a spoiled little rich girl, Sierra Belmont heiress to a ski resort. Sierra’s father, Beauregard Belmont (Peter Wagner) has just invented a position in his company, Vice President of Atmosphere, just to get his daughter interested in the business to have her future set. However, Sierra’s not interested in the family business and longs to find something that she is passionate about without hurting her father’s feelings. She is also in a relationship with social influencer Tad Fairchild (George Young) who is shallow, selfish, and not very well-liked by her father. When Tad plans an impromptu ski trip and surprisingly proposes to Sierra on top of the slope, the weather suddenly turns for the worse and they both fall down opposite sides of the hill, getting separated. Sierra is eventually found by the handsome NorthStar ski lodge owner Jake Russel (Chord Overstreet) and Tad by a grizzly, land poaching hermit named Ralph. Sierra loses her memory from the fall and Jake agrees to let her stay at the lodge over the holidays while she recuperates and tries to regain her memory.
Lohan looks like she had great fun with this role and manages to channel her inner “Mean Girls” persona as Sierra Belmont. At the beginning of the film, she is seen taken care of by her Glam Squad while wrapped up in her own phone conversation with her fiancé Tad. She doesn’t seem to realise that this is not normal as she is being fed champagne and caviar while complaining about her father creating a job position for her at the company. A fair bit of hilarity ensues when Tad is rescued by the hermit Ralph and is trying to get back to civilization, as well as Sierra trying to learn how to do what would be for normal people—simple household chores. However, the heart of the story lies in the fact that beneath her spoiled exterior, Sierra does have a heart of gold and just needed a bump on the head and the right guy to make her true inner nature shine.
As Christmas movies go, it is as formulaic as they come but I believe the joy is in seeing Lohan in action once again, holding her own, and just having a blast with her fellow cast members. It does drag in certain scenes, but there is enough emotional depth to tweak the heartstrings. Not to mention getting the audience ready for the Christmas season with the snow-covered scenery accompanied by the elaborate festive decorations. There are a few plot holes because most of these types of movies tend to also superimpose a guy who is supposed to represent Father Christmas tweaking a bit of magic behind the scenes to make everything just right for everyone in the end. Wasn’t really needed because you can depend on natural attraction and good old-fashioned chemistry to do that one for you.
All in all, not a bad film to kick off the holiday season; you can cuddle up with your bae or watch it with some girlfriends for movie night. Either way, it’s entertaining and I applaud Lohan for taking the step and dipping her toes into the pool once again. Maybe she will gain enough confidence to take on a more challenging role in the future. Although I have no issues whatsoever if she wants to stick to rom-com, family-friendly material.
Score: 6 out of 10
So, what’s your favourite Lindsay Lohan film? And you can check out more Yuletide romance below:
Dark Alice has an old soul and a curious mind. I believe that anyone can be a hero and that the good guys should always win! I dislike cruelty to animals and think that they have far superior qualities to humans. My motto is there is no future without the past. I also have a weird penchant for Paranormal TV shows even though the slightest sound makes me jump. I enjoy writing reviews and throwing in fun facts to pique the readers’ curiosity. My ultimate goal in life would be to become a published writer one day. Read More