THE CHRISTMAS HOUSE (2020)

Mike Mitchell is the handsome star of the TV legal drama Handsome Justice, but he may be out of a job when, just before Christmas, the network has indicated that they might not renew the show. But Mike has little time to worry about that as he and his brother Brandon (along with his husband Jake) have been called back home by Mom and Dad. The plan is to celebrate one last splashy holiday in the house they grew up in before it's put on the market. But Mike suspects that there are unspoken tensions in the house. Brandon and Jake are trying to adopt but don't want to jinx their plan by talking about it too soon. Mom and Dad seem to be having relationship problems: Dad has retired into an easy and predictable routine, but Mom, just retiring, wants more out of life, and eventually we learn that they plan to separate after the house sells. Finally, there's Andi, once the girl next door and almost Mike's girlfriend in high school. After a divorce, she's back home as a single mom, and sparks may be reigniting between the two. Can everyone get the spectacular Christmas House in shape and still manage to work out their problems?

The plot here is nothing unusual, but the movie has gotten a lot of publicity for its inclusion of a same-sex couple in a major plotline. To give Hallmark credit, they work the two men into the Christmas romance template nicely. In fact, after an opening featuring Mike in character as Handsome Justice, the first people we meet are Brandon and Jake, holding hands and talking about adoption. They even get a full-on kiss which seems fuller than the kiss that Mike and Andi (inevitably) share at the end. But having said that, overall the movie is a bit too stuffed with supporting character incidents, and the main romance, between Mile and Andi, doesn't feel well developed. Andi is played by Ana Ayora; refreshingly, she goes against type for a Hallmark heroine--she's not blond (short and dark haired, she's Colombian-American) and not bubbly and never comes close to shedding a tear. And while I should feel good about all that, I admit I missed the fizziness of other Hallmark romantic leads. Robert Buckley is sincere and appropriately handsome as Mike--and the opening scene from Handsome Justice is fun. The other actors are fine: Treat Williams and Sharon Lawrence as the parents, Jonathan Bennett as Brandon, and Brad Harder as Jake.

Though Hallmark has yet to make a gay couple the lead in a movie, this season seems to be the tipping point for same-sex Christmas romances. Lifetime, Paramount Television, and Hulu all have holiday movies with same-sex leads, and I'll be viewing some of those next. Five years ago, I would have said that Hallmark would never have gay lead characters, but now I'm not so sure. I must give credit to the director, Michael Grossman, and the writers (who include actors Buckely and Bennett) for pulling this off this small step. Pictured from left: Bennett, Buckley and Harder. [Hallmark]