Did you know that QVC has a streaming service? It’s called – wait for it – QVC+ 😐 (Seriously, streaming stuff should be named something other than “X PLUS.”) But thanks to it, my wife and I were able to watch a new Christmas movie that was a QVC+ production (yes, really) – “Holly & The Hot Chocolate.”
Here’s how it happened: for Christmas, my wife’s sister and hubs gifted us this delightful tin of “David’s Magical Hot Chocolate.” My wife then explained to me that it was from QVC, which had created an actual Christmas movie.
So we fired up the QVC streaming service and found the movie, and were pleasantly surprised that it was rather enjoyable.
Yes, the movie features hot chocolate – and in about a total of perhaps two minutes, it also features QVC presenter David, who is apparently very popular for his kitchen/cooking segments. His role is simply a hot chocolate vendor in the town of Pine Falls, with long lines forming during the holidays outside of his hot chocolate truck. There was no BUY THIS PRODUCT ON QVC or endless shilling for the product. The only “clunky” part is the name – yes, Holly is one of the two primary characters, but “hot chocolate” is not featured prominently enough in the movie to warrant being in the title. Could I come up with a better title? Um…”Pine Falling For You,” perhaps?
Seriously, other than a few mentions of the actual hot chocolate, and David’s very brief explanation that each cup is made with love, this was a rather standard-fare Christmas movie, and it hits most of the predictable Hallmark/GAC/etc Christmas movie notes.
The town of Pine Falls is adorable. The primary characters – Rudy, Holly, Stephanie, the Mayor, Rudy’s mom, the auto-body shop owner – are all quite likable and have good chemistry.
MY SUMMARY: Rudy is a widower raising his 17-year old daughter and he doesn’t like Christmas because it hurts too much as it reminds him of his wife. Daughter loves Christmas precisely because it DOES remind her of her mom. Meanwhile, Holly’s car crashes just outside of town as she is headed from Philly to Boston to visit her boyfriend. Rudy, who owns an auto-towing company called Missile Towing (get it?) comes to her rescue, and while her car is being repaired she stays at the B&B owned by Rudy’s mom, then enjoys a holiday night of skeeball (yes, skeeball) and good cheer at a tavern, and basically she and Rudy fall in love during those 36 hours. She very quickly realizes her “boyfriend” that she had been traveling to visit when her car crashed is a womanizing weasel, and she high-tails it back to Pine Falls to give love a chance.
It was utterly predictable and quite charming. Three funny bits that really were endearing: the auto-body shop owner with his candy canes, which he offers to customers to ease the bad news of how much repairs will cost; Holly’s impromptu “food critic” review of a hot dog; and the Mayor’s ever-present oversized scissors used for ribbon-cutting at new businesses – and which come in handy at a key point as Rudy is racing to find Holly toward the end of the movie.
So that was this year’s Official New Christmas Movie in our house. Last year’s movie was “A Castle For Christmas” featuring Brooke Shields, Cary Elwes, and Scotland.
So: what kind of Christmas movie will QVC come up with for next year? OR will they do a sequel to this one (the ending of this one set it up perfectly)?
By the way – we have not yet tried the “magical” hot chocolate – we are out of milk!
ALSO – you can watch the movie online right here.
