I’ll readily admit that I’ve never been a fan of Hallmark’s made-for-TV Christmas movies, and now that Netflix has jumped on the sleigh with their own productions, I have even more to shout “Bah, humbug!” about. But now we have a special case – a Christmas romcom starring Hollywood bad girl… I mean Mean Girl, Lindsay Lohan. Yes, Linds is back on screen with a major production after a 10-year absence and her fans couldn’t be happier. How this woman could still have a fan base much less a couple producers who are willing to roll the dice on her after her drug addiction and tabloid exploits is beyond comprehension but there you go. In FALLING FOR CHRISTMAS, Lohan plays Sierra Belmont, a spoiled hotel heiress who, after getting amnesia following a skiing accident (because that happens all the time), ends up in the care of Jake Russell (Chord Overstreet, TV’s GLEE), a widowed dad and owner of a struggling ski lodge. With no memories of her privileged past, Sierra, who now goes by the name of Sarah, helps Jake promote his lodge and, in doing so, falls for him and he for her… all in the course of four days.

Kill me now. If the premise of this story sounds familiar, it’s because you’ve already seen OVERBOARD, the 1987 film about an heiress who falls off her yacht, gets amnesia, gets taken in by a local carpenter who is a single dad (of four kids) and realizes after she gets her memory back that she has fallen in love with him. I’ll concede that OVERBOARD isn’t the best screwball comedy Hollywood has ever made but it does star Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, both of whom can out-act Lohan and Overstreet in their sleep. Unfortunately, FALLING FOR CHRISTMAS is as exciting as a gingerbread house in May, relying on tired pratfalls to lighten the mood in between the schmaltzy scenes relating to Jake’s late wife. Lohan and Overstreet seem to have little chemistry together and even their kissing scene at the end of the movie is a complete dud. First-time director Janeen Damian must have realised this because some serious lens flaring was superimposed on their faces in post-production. Speaking of faces, poor Lindsay. Only 36 and she’s already botoxed up the wazoo. At least 63-year-old Jack Wagner (TV’s GENERAL HOSPITAL and MELROSE PLACE), who plays Sierra’s hotelier father, Beauregard Belmont, looks age-appropriate.

FALLING FOR CHRISTMAS is streaming now on Netflix. It’s only for Lohan fans and lovers of sappy Christmas romcoms.

Thanks for reading but don’t be a lurker! If you liked what you just read, here are some suggestions:

Sign up to receive my movie reviews in your inbox automatically
Share this review on your Facebook page
Leave me a message telling me what you thought of my review or the film
Bookmark the site and visit often
Like my Howard For Film Facebook page
Watch my reviews on my YouTube page
Check out my Howard For Film magazine on Flipboard
Tell your friends about the site