Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Latest
    • Thank You
    • 4000. Scenes From A Marriage (1973)
    • 3999. The Pianist (2002)
    • 3998. Philadelphia (1993)
    • 3997. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
    • 3996. The Green Mile (1999)
    • 3995. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
    • 3994. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
    The Mad Movie Man
    • Home
    • Blog
      • All Posts
      • Best Of The Year
        • Best Of 2015
        • Best Of 2016
        • Best Of 2017
        • Best Of 2018
        • Best Of 2019
        • Best Of 2020
        • Best Of 2021
        • Best Of 2022
      • The Decade In Review
      • Box Office Analysis
      • James Bond
      • Oscars
      • RANKED
      • Star Wars
      • The Big Questions
      • Top 10
      • World Cinema
    • Ratings
      • Top 250
      • Top 100 Foreign Films
      • Bottom 50
      • 0 – 1.9
      • 2 – 3.9
      • 4 – 5.9
      • 6 – 7.9
      • 8 – 10
    • Genres
      • Action
      • Anthology
      • Animation
      • Christmas
      • Comedy
      • Crime
      • Documentary
      • Drama
      • Fantasy
      • Film-Noir
      • History
      • Horror
      • Kids’
      • Musical
      • Psychological
      • Romance
      • Sci-Fi
      • Short
      • Silent
      • Sport
      • Superhero
      • Survival
      • Thriller
      • Western
    • Release Year
      • 2020s
      • 2010s
      • 2000s
      • 1990s
      • 1980s
      • 1970s
      • 1960s
      • 1950s
      • 1940s
      • 1930s
      • 1920s
    • Country
      • Afghanistan
      • Argentina
      • Australia
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Brazil
      • Cambodia
      • Canada
      • Chile
      • China
      • Colombia
      • Costa Rica
      • Czechoslovakia
      • Czech Republic
      • Denmark
      • East Timor
      • Faroe Islands
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Georgia
      • Greece
      • Hong Kong
      • Hungary
      • Iceland
      • India
      • Indonesia
      • Iran
      • Iraq
      • Ireland
      • Israel
      • Italy
      • Japan
      • Latvia
      • Lebanon
      • Laos
      • Malaysia
      • Mexico
      • New Zealand
      • Nigeria
      • North Korea
      • Norway
      • Paraguay
      • Peru
      • Philippines
      • Poland
      • Romania
      • Russia
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Singapore
      • South Korea
      • South Africa
      • Soviet Union
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • Syria
      • Taiwan
      • Thailand
      • Turkey
      • Uganda
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
      • Uruguay
      • Vietnam
      • Zambia
    • About
    The Mad Movie Man
    You are at:Home»Review»3187. Holidate (2020)

    3187. Holidate (2020)

    0
    By The Mad Movie Man on December 18, 2020 100-109 mins, 2020, 6 - 7.9, Christmas, Comedy, Dec 20, Movies Of 2020, Review, Romance, United States
    7.1 Simple and fluffy
    • Acting 7.2
    • Directing 7.0
    • Story 7.0
    • User Ratings (0 Votes) 0

    Starring: Emma Roberts, Luke Bracey, Andrew Bachelor

    Director: John Whitesell

    Running Time: 104 mins


    Holidate is an American film about a woman who’s always single on Christmas who decides to pair up with a man as her ‘holidate’, a person she gets together with on festive occasions throughout the year.

    Holidate won’t be there on the top 100 best films of the century come 2099. In fact, it’s nowhere near the best films of 2020, but it doesn’t need to be. Playing on fluffy holiday classics to the full, the film is an enjoyable albeit extremely simple comedy, peppered with a blend of deliberately cheesy and often unnecessarily sappy romance.

    As pleasant as it is, Holidate is a generally forgettable film, and hardly the best Christmas movie you’ll ever see. However, if there’s one thing about the movie that certainly isn’t forgettable, it’s the lead performances from Emma Roberts and Luke Bracey.

    Returning to a fluffier genre where she impressed earlier in her career, Roberts is effortlessly likable throughout, even with an enjoyably cynical on-screen persona this time around. Bracey, meanwhile, starts the film off like some kind of discount Chris Hemsworth, but soon really finds his stride with a confident but cutesy and funny performance that’s not just a Hemsworth carbon copy.

    Together, Roberts and Bracey work wonders, and manage to nicely tread the fine line between cheesy and predictable romance and a genuinely enjoyable and cynical take on romantic comedy and Christmas movie tropes. Their love story isn’t the most passionate you’ll ever see, but they’re a really lovable duo to watch all the way through the movie.

    The dynamic between Roberts and Bracey is where a good deal of the laughs come from in this movie, in part because of their excellent chemistry, but also in part because of the general weakness of the film’s screenplay.

    For the most part, Holidate knows exactly what it is, and doesn’t try to be any more intelligent or complex than it really needs to be. However, where the movie really falls down is in its attempts to subvert your expectations by poking fun at cheesy movie tropes. That element of the story works well in Roberts and Bracey’s will-they-won’t-they romance, but elsewhere, it feels really forced.

    While mocking cheesy Christmas movies and romantic comedies for all of their most generic pitfalls, Holidate goes through with pretty much all of those same tropes, and doesn’t always show that it’s aware it’s falling into the same trap that it’s mocking.

    That really hurts the movie’s often parodic humour, and also makes the comedy feel a little lazy and hypocritical, as Holidate rarely manages to follow through on the brand of humour it’s aiming to establish. Again, it’s a fluffy, easy-going Christmas movie on the surface, but it’s deeper down where Holidate really struggles. So, that’s why I’m giving the film a 7.1 overall.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    The Mad Movie Man
    • Website
    • Facebook
    • Twitter

    The Mad Movie Man, AKA Anthony Cullen, writes articles and reviews about movies and the world of cinema. From January 1st, 2013 to December 31st, 2022, he watched and reviewed a movie every day. This is the blog dedicated to the project: www.madmovieman.com

    Related Posts

    8.2

    4000. Scenes From A Marriage (1973)

    7.8

    3999. The Pianist (2002)

    8.2

    3998. Philadelphia (1993)

    Follow Me Online!
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Tumblr
    New Releases
    8.2
    December 25, 2022

    3994. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

    5.6
    December 10, 2022

    3969. Falling For Christmas (2022)

    6.9
    December 4, 2022

    3956. The People We Hate At The Wedding (2022)

    5.4
    December 3, 2022

    3954. Disenchanted (2022)

    7.4
    December 3, 2022

    3953. Meet Cute (2022)

    7.6
    November 23, 2022

    3934. Do Revenge (2022)

    7.0
    November 18, 2022

    3929. The Wonder (2022)

    6.7
    November 13, 2022

    3924. See How They Run (2022)

    Recommended Movies
    8.3
    Review
    September 2, 20190

    2666. Saving Mr. Banks (2013)

    8.0
    Review
    January 19, 20150

    824. Selma (2014)

    8.5
    Review
    April 16, 20210

    3318. The Father (2020)

    8.9
    Review
    November 13, 20210

    3546. I Heart Huckabees (2004)

    8.7
    Review
    February 24, 20140

    468. The Lego Movie (2014)

    Popular Posts
    December 31, 2022

    Thank You

    8.2
    December 31, 2022

    4000. Scenes From A Marriage (1973)

    7.8
    December 30, 2022

    3999. The Pianist (2002)

    8.2
    December 29, 2022

    3998. Philadelphia (1993)

    7.5
    December 28, 2022

    3997. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)

    9.1
    December 27, 2022

    3996. The Green Mile (1999)

    7.6
    December 26, 2022

    3995. Doctor Zhivago (1965)

    © 2023 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.