Celeste, an astronomy professor at a snowy Vermont college, is upset that the provost doesn't seem to be taking her requests for money for an new telescope seriously, but she's looking forward to, and takes very seriously, the annual Christmas trivia contest, a multi-day event at a bar called St. Nick's. Her team, the Quizmas Elves, also has her friend Ashley, an admissions officer; Ashley's husband Freddie, the college landscaper; Celeste's widowed mother Sherry, a local music teacher; Gary, a older history professor who is sweet on Sherry; and Richard, a British math professor who was a 2-day winner on Jeopardy and with whom Celeste is getting romantically interested. Celeste's TA, Ruby, a goth-acting Gen Z buzzkill, is on a competing team, We Came to Sleigh. At the school cafeteria, Celeste has the opposite of a meet-cute (a meet-ugly according to the Urban Dictionary) with hunky new football assistant coach Max when he goes zipping ahead of others in a buffet line and she calls him on his behavior. But when Richard announces that he's going to Asia for the holidays, the Elves must find a replacement for him and who happens to present himself but Max. Celeste isn't happy, but his knowledge of holiday-related sports trivia (?) is too good to pass up, plus the other team members all find him charming. Her friend Ashley tells her to lighten up; "Be Mr. Bailey, not Mr. Potter," she says in a cute Wonderful Life reference. Max joins the team and, unwittingly, begins subverting Celeste's leadership tactics, climaxing in Max's insistence that the group engage in a wall-climbing exercise for the sake of bonding. Despite Celeste's annoyance, the exercise is fun and works well, and slowly, Max and Celeste begin to get along. The group goes on a scavenger hunt, helps decorate the international students dorm, and winds up with a perfect score in round three of the trivia event. Romantic sparks fly, especially when Celeste and Max have a nighttime rendezvous at a telescope. But an out-of-town trip to a maple syrup farm, which brings them even closer, results in them missing round four and the team falls behind, with Ruby's team in the lead. Celeste blames Max even though it wasn't really his fault. Can the Quizmas Elves eke out a victory in the final round? And can Celeste unclench her ass long enough to realize that Max is practically perfect in every way?
I have mixed feelings about this Hallmark movie. I watched it because my favorite Christmas movie actor, Brant Daugherty (pictured), stars as Max. He is as handsome and adorable as ever with his patented snarky but sweet whimsy intact. Unfortunately, his co-star, Tammin Sursok, isn't as effective. She might pass muster as a grad student, but acting like a professor is beyond her (and, to be fair, beyond the writers). They work up some chemistry—the two were apparently co-stars on the TV show Pretty Little Liars, and who couldn't achieve some rapport with Brant?—but honestly I had a hard time rooting for the two of them to wind up together. As is often the case lately, the supporting cast helps immensely. Kathleen Elizabeth Monteleone is great fun as Ashley, Ari Brand is sweet as Freddie (I missed at first that he was married to Ashley and thought he was going to be the gay best friend, but when Ashley announces she's pregnant, I realized that Freddie was the father), and Willie C. Carpenter and Elizabeth Keifer as Gary and Sherry are fine. Becka Zornosa makes the most of her small role as Ruby, the closest thing the movie has to a villain; her best moment is when she belittles Celeste's desire for the trivia prize which she calls a tchochke-thing. Later someone says that Ruby has "resting Scrooge face." In a meta-moment, it's fun that Hallmark Christmas Movies comes up as a category in the final trivia round. This one isn't painful to get through, but its promise is a bit stunted. And the presence of Brant trumps any other weaknesses. [Hallmark]
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