Happy Howlidays
Writer: Allyssa Lee
Director: Terry Ingram
Cast: Jessica Lowndes, Ezra Moreland, Lynda Boyd, Christopher Shyer, Cassandra Sawtell, Sarah Formosa
Every year, Hallmark releases dozens of holiday movies — and Pop Heist staffer Brett White has seen them all. All Heistmas long, Brett checks out what Hallmark has to offer, analyzing each movie's setting (Home for the Holidays); calling out the most heavy-handed exposition ('Twas the Night Before This Movie); praising any LOL moments (Ho Ho Ho); singling out the scene-stealer (They Brought Presence!); and deciding if the title matches the story (Exactly as Advertised). To top it all off, each movie is judged on six quintessential Hallmark qualities to determine once and for all if this Hallmark Christmas movie hits or misses the (Hall)mark.
Jessica Lowndes (Christmas at Pemberley Manor) plays Mia, a temp blogger for the Seattle tourism board whose life is at "sleeping with an open bag of potato chips under the covers" levels of chaotic. She's relocated to Seattle and is working for her college friend (Sarah Formosa). The Seattle tourism board's website is doing gangbusters, might I add. There's lots of space, high ceilings with plenty of natural light, and private offices to go around! Wow, local journalism is not dying in Hallmark's Seattle!
I digress, as any writer currently working in online journalism would. I mean, what I wouldn't give for an office holiday cookie swap party. I'm so lonely. Anyway — Mia's life takes a turn for the even more chaotic when she finds a stray dog, a shaggy little fella whose favorite snack is pillows and whose bladder holds about as much liquid as the Puget Sound. Seriously, there is so much urine in this movie???
Mia cannot reasonably take care of a dog right now, as she can't even take care of herself (although her gorgeous, two-story waterfront home in one of America's most expensive cities says otherwise). When she tries to turn the dog over to a shelter, though, the uptight AF manager Max (Ezra Moreland, in his Hallmark — and also just acting — debut) gives her a major guilt trip. Looks like the dog is staying with Mia for another day!
That's why when Mia is suddenly tasked with generating some local holiday content by EOD, she takes the dog to an ugly sweater party at a dog park. She bumps into Max and, as fate would have it, their dogs fall in love. Uh-oh! And on top of that, all of Seattle falls in love with these two dogs when Mia's article goes viral! Suddenly Mia is required to spend a lot more time with her dog (who she names Russell because of his resemblance to Russell Crowe — which, weirdly, I get) as well as Max and his dog. Will Mia and Max also find romance?
Yes. It's the last weekend before Christmas and even a Hallmark novice has watched enough of these movies by now to know the score.
Home for the Holidays: Against all preconceived notions of the genre, this is another 2024 Hallmark movie to take place entirely in an urban center. It's all Seattle all the time, and that includes all of the gloomy rainfall!
Twas the Night Before This Movie: You gotta love the classic Hallmark exposition convo between Mia and her friend/boss: "I am the boss, but your friend first ... and as much as I love having you here, the reclusively thing is a little concerning." That's some top-tier scenery setting right there.
Ho Ho Ho: The movie's pretty light in the punchline department, which is becoming more and more rare. Haul Out the Holly really proved that Hallmark can do straight-up comedy, and Sugarplummed took that to the next level this year. Happy Howlidays is, however, the second movie of the season to have a joke about "conscious uncoupling," a term that celebrated 10 years in the lexicon this year!
They Brought Presence! Shout out to Cassandra Sawtell of Hallmark+'s The Chicken Sisters, who plays Max's sister Penny. Having watched Finding Mr. Christmas, I am aware of Ezra's strong emotional bond with his actual sister and imagine that these two tried to tap into that connection on set.
Exactly as Advertised: It is so unbelievable that, in the entire history of holiday TV movies, the phrase "Happy Howlidays" has not been a movie title until right now. I'm stunned. It's almost as if Hallmark always knew that they'd one day need an appropriate title for a dog-centric movie starring the winner of a reality show they hadn't created on a streaming service they hadn't launched.
Let me get this out of the way, as this confession will absolutely shade my entire review in bias: I was ride-or-die for Elijah in the Finding Mr. Christmas finale. Okay — I was actually #TeamBlake, the good ol' Texas boy with a sweet smile, no acting experience, and plenty of charm. He, however, got the "BLANK was robbed" edit that's given to all those who get cut right before a finale. But I was proud to root for Elijah at the finish line! Not only did he have actual performance experience (he toured with Hamilton!), he radiated charisma and had a child on the way. He gave us storylines! And if the winner wasn't going to be Elijah, then I'd be fine with Aussie Hayden, he of the bluest eyes since another actor named Hayden.
Anyway, Ezra won, and Ezra got to star in Happy Howlidays.
I wonder what those who didn't sign up for Hallmark+ solely to watch Finding Mr. Christmas will make of Ezra's debut — because, really, that's the only aspect of this movie that merits a real opinion. Everything else about it is straight-down-the-middle Hallmark, with bonus points for all the adorable dogs and surprisingly rich cinematography. Is it just me or are even the standard Hallmark movies starting to look really lush? Ezra is the hot topic here, and I feel bad about scrutinizing him because he himself is such a puppy dog!
To put it plainly: Ezra was not the best actor on Finding Mr. Christmas. That would be Elijah. Ezra was not the sentimental favorite. That would be Hayden. Ezra was not the most lovable (Blake), he wasn't the cast's Miss Congeniality (Parker), nor was he the show's villain (Gage, who had one of the most brutal eliminations I've ever seen in reality TV; I wish I had been writing about Finding Mr. Christmas all season long). Ezra was mostly just there too — but, perhaps most importantly, he did have the look of a Hallmark leading man. Was that enough to declare him a winner, though? I guess so, yes!
And I will give the decision-makers at Finding Mr. Christmas this: Ezra Moreland is hot. He is incredibly hot. In a week wherein we were given an actual Superman trailer, I think Ezra delivers the most Superman-y vibes. Sweaters hug this man. He puts on a puffer vest and he might as well be David Chokachi in the Baywatch opening credits. I. Get. It.
And while the Hallmark holiday movie remains the domain of Hallmark Christmas Queens, Happy Howlidays ends up being an example of just how important the leading men are to the equation. It also shows just how hard it is to star in a Hallmark movie. There's a lot of dialogue! And just when you think you're watching a cute movie about dogs, they toss in an emotional storyline about the systemic shortcomings of American healthcare! These movies ask a lot of their leads. And Ezra ... there's ... I mean ... this is his first movie. And he's trying. The camera loves him, even if he doesn't yet know what to do with that love.
I say yet because even though I was rooting for Blake all season long and Elijah in the finale, I am of course now rooting for Ezra.
