Hallmark Channel
Hallmark favorites Ashley Williams and Andrew W. Walker join forces for the latest ‘Countdown to Christmas’ movie, but this one is more of a letdown than recent efforts. Not that it’s bad, it just commits the sin of being … blah, leaving us to wonder if we even really care if the two antagonists find romance (there’s actually another couple in the race who are much more engaging that do deserve to find romance on the race).
Williams stars as Avery, a teacher who dreams of starting a non-profit to get young children to start reading. She is devoted to her career and quite taken aback when her sister Ruby (Caitlin Howden) signs her up to be on a competition TV series — think The Amazing Race: Holiday Edition. Avery refuses, at first, to participate because she’s not athletic enough to win, but that million dollar prize could help get her non-profit off the ground and pay off her student debt. So she agrees, and Ruby puts her through a training regimen. At the same time, a former hockey player missing his glory days in the spotlight, Wes (Walker), is also competing but it’s more about getting his fame back than winning the money. The two have the worst ‘meet cute’ in history when they fight over treadmills at the gym, with Avery eventually tumbling off hers and taking Wes with her. Things get worse at the start of the show when the host announces the racers will be paired, the teams have already been chosen and — spoiler alert — Avery and Wes find themselves on the same team.
They do manage to put their differences aside, but Avery notices Wes seems to be in competition with another racer, Nash Reynolds (Jamall Johnson), a football player with a much bigger star than his. Wes is determined to beat Nash at every stop of the race, and he does when there’s actually a hockey-themed challenge (the bigger problem is that Avery has no idea how to hit a puck properly). But when Nash is eliminated, the producer approaches Wes to tell him that Nash was the star of the show and they were setting him up for romance with his partner for ratings so … would Wes be open to flirting with his partner to boost the show and his own stardom, because the viewers love a good love story. Wes is actually torn because he thinks he actually might be developing feelings for Avery but he agrees to play along. Of course, feelings do develop between them (and the other couple who share a passion for cooking), and just as it looks like love may really be in the air Avery overhears the producer talking to Wes about how good of a job he’s doing. Unfortunately she walks away before she can hear Wes tell him his feelings are real but is it too late for these two? Will Avery be able to finish the race for her kids back at school, or has here trust been completely broken? And can Wes face her and win the race knowing how deeply hurt she is? Or are we just going to root for Ramon (Emilio Merritt) and Brad (Brad Harder) instead?
As a long-time viewer of The Amazing Race, I was intrigued by the premise of this movie, but the race here is more like the unfortunate ‘Family Edition’ of the Race which just took families of four around the country. Here the contestants get their clues by tearing open an envelope just like TAR, except the envelopes are handed to them by the producer (and you almost forget they are supposed to be doing a show because there are rarely any camera crews visible until a key moment when Wes and Avery are getting closer but notices the cameras. Another issue with this is that a show like this airing for the holidays would not have been filmed a week before Christmas (unless it was being broadcast live — which it isn’t since the teams were five hours late to the start of the leg due to bad weather). If you’re an avid viewer of these types of shows, you have to suspend a lot of disbelief. Also, the challenges are mostly lame and then suddenly they have to decorate a store window in an undetermined amount of time. There are some fun graphics showing their travel routes and trivia for geography whizzes.
Hallmark Channel
The biggest issue with the movie is the chemistry between Williams and Walker. I never felt a spark between them. They were better as adversaries than romantic partners. On the other hand, Merritt and Harder had chemistry that was palpable from the moment they both talked about how much they liked to cook. Another key relationship was the one between Shirley (Teana-Marie Smith) and Katie (EaeMya ThynGi), who had a mother-daughter vibe going on (and Shirley’s reveal about her daughter who loves deer is a gut-punch). She and Katie have a stronger bond than Avery and Wes. And let me tell you, that first kiss between Wes and Avery was the most awkward, unromantic kiss one could imagine, what is referred to as a ‘stage kiss’ where the couple just bumps lips together (though not for Walker’s lack of trying to show a little more passion). It was really off-putting.
What is enjoyable about the film are the locations. There’s no way anyone traveled beyond Vancouver even though the movie starts in Chicago and heads to Boston, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas and a few other locations, but the production design really sells the illusion, particularly the Southwest scenes. Director Lucie Guest keeps things moving so while most of it is ridiculous, at least it’s never boring. It’s just a shame she wasn’t able to get some chemistry out of her two leads. Jingle Bell Run isn’t a lump of coal. It’s more like one of those game gifts you get and want to trade it away to someone else for something better.
Jingle Bell Run has a run time of 1 hour 24 minutes, and is rated TV-G. The film is available On Demand and is streaming on Peacock.
Preview – Jingle Bell Run
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