While watching Christmas Reservations (2019), my Apple watched pinged me because the noise reached over ninety decibels.  I should probably disable this feature, but I never remember to do so.  Was the alert due to sound from the film?  Nope.  It was because I was laughing too hard at the absurdity of what I was seeing.  This is the last film for the Christmas season until next November, and I ended on a dud.  However, this one is a dud on steroids.  It has all the motifs I have become too familiar with over the past month plus, but taken to a greater degree.  The biggest thing is that instead of one romance, there are four.  I do not foresee being able to do justice to them all in my synopsis, but they each follow a similar and usual pattern.  This also means the entire cast takes part in the typical activities, which, by this point in my Yuletide cinema slog, comes off as overload.  And, of course, the one thing missing is any mention of the birth of Jesus.

I am not sure there is anything missing from Holly Anderson’s (Melissa Joan Hart) narration at the beginning of Christmas Reservations.  She is the daughter of Tom Anderson (Michael Gross), who is the owner of the Treeline Ski Resort in the Adirondack mountain range in New York state.  It has been their family business for generations, and a few years ago Holly moved back to help dad after her mom (not pictured) passed away.  This has left little time for love, but you know what is coming up?  You guessed it, Christmas, their busiest time of the year.  It is the week before the big day and this is when the movie branches out in several directions.  I will briefly touch on these subplots, but the main one deals with Holly and a particular guest, her old college boyfriend, Kevin Portillo (Ricardo Chavira).  He comes with his two children to spend the holidays at the lodge.  He is joined by a former Olympic silver medalist in skiing, Duffy Johnson (Ted McGinley), an athletic dolt who got his start at Treeline; two seasoned citizen sisters, Kay (Gigi Rice) and Tay Griffin (Markie Post), the latter of whom is afraid that she might have a terminal disease; prospective American college student Preena Patel (Nida Khurshid), who has tricked her mother, Dadi Patel (Moonie Fishburn), into coming to the resort instead of visiting universities; and Preena immediately falls for Leo Demarco (Eric Grooms), who Dadi mistakes as a bellhop, which he does not correct because he has the hots for the daughter.  These other threads can be safely ignored because, at the finish when Holly and Kevin finally get together, the rest are there to cheer for the event.  Yes, I just ruined the end, but you should expect this outcome from these movies.  Nonetheless, I will sprint through how we get to that point.  Upon seeing each other for the first time in over fifteen years, Holly and Kevin freeze.  Separately, they admit that the other is the proverbial one that got away.  Because there are still feelings for one another, they restart their romance with some encouragement from Kevin’s kids, Aviana (Heaztsynn Saldana) and Miles Portillo (Blake Maldonado).  The kids are then left to their own devices as they try to hide the dog they find in the woods.  Anyway, things are going well until Holly notices a text on Kevin’s phone from a person named Maggie (not pictured).  I suppose it worth confessing that I, too, thought it would be from his wife.  As it turns out, it is from someone interested in buying his clean energy company.  In thinking back on the film, I do not think we ever hear what might have happened to the mother of his children. . . .  Thus, between that misinformation and the fact that Holly feels tied to Treeline, it all adds up to slim prospects for a lasting relationship.  It is Tom who opens the way for Kevin and his daughter to be together.  Tom fires Holly as the resort’s events coordinator (and there are a lot of events in this movie) to her shock.  When she asks who will fill that role, up steps Tay, cancer free, who has developed a bond with Tom.  This leaves Holly free to go with Kevin and his children to Buffalo and start a new life.

It is difficult to use the word “new” in connection to Christmas Reservations.  As such, it is apropos that the synopsis is shorter.  In general, the less said about this movie, the better.  The whole Indian angle to the story is one reason.  It is stereotypical.  If you feel like that is me being too culturally sensitive, then I would point out that during the gingerbread house making contest, Dadi and Preena produce a miniature Taj Mahal.  My head was in my hands for that moment.  I also have nothing to add in terms of a Catholic perspective on these proceedings, which will actually form the basis for what I want to say about the film.  With all the typical Christmas activities that this and its cinematic cousins feature, why can there not be some related to Faith?  If you are a practicing Catholic and/or Christian like me, you know they exist.  Some of the ones I could list are occasionally featured in Christmas movies, like a Nativity scene or going to church on Christmas Day.  However, they are more the exception than the rule.  Indeed, in reflecting on all the material I have viewed over the past few weeks, I cannot think of one Nativity scene.  Further, an apologist might argue that these films are often focused one family, and the Holy Family, as the center of the holiday, can be considered the inspiration.  It is undeniable that Joseph and Mary placing the Infant Messiah in the manger is essential to the story, but it would be nice if that direct connection was made, ever, in these titles.  Instead, I have to draw such conclusions for you, my readers, from plots that do not intend such conclusions.  Today’s example is only one of many for which this is true.

What is also true is that Christmas Reservations is a completely unnecessary movie.  Now, if you will excuse me, I have a whole bunch of other films to watch until next November.