For many people, a familiar pastime in the weeks leading up to major winter holidays is gathering with family members and watching holiday movies, be they in a theater or on television. While vaccines are more widely available now than they were last year, some plans still remain the same this holiday season, but folks are still unsure about going to movie theaters. Nevertheless, this shouldn’t stop us from enjoying holiday movies with friends and family.
During the month of December, therefore, the Falls Free Press will reprise “The 12 Films of Christmas” series, focusing on new holiday movies for the year 2021—a year that can still do with plenty of spirit. We will review each film, whether naughty or nice, and let you know where to watch it.
What’s your favorite Christmas movie? Love Actually? Die Hard?
What if your very existence seemed both based on your favorite movie, while also despising every idea it holds?
Love Hard introduces Natalie (played by Nina Dobrev), a self-deprecating journalist who writes columns about her repeated bad dates with guys she meets via online dating. After a friend changes her app settings to a larger distance, she connects with Josh, a tall, humorous guy from across the country in Lake Placid, NY with whom she spends nights chatting and having poetry read to her. Nearing Christmas, she takes an insane chance and flies to New York to surprise him.
The true surprise happens when, after losing her luggage, Natalie learns that she has been catfished by Josh (Jimmy O. Yang), a nerdy candle-making guy who used photos of a local rock climber in his profile. Despite being irritated by Josh’s lie, she agrees to continue acting like they’re in a relationship to his family, in exchange for assistance from Josh with getting a date with the real person from his profile pictures.
The very premise of Love Hard is the same as many other holiday movies, while also attempting to criticize the same tropes it builds upon, even going as far as repeatedly fighting over the song “Baby It’s Cold Outside” with ancient pop culture jokes (“It’s been putting the hip in Rohypnol since 1944,” then referring to it only being cute and flirty to Bill Cosby), only to reprise the moment later in the film when Josh’s family is caroling—with the help of his overly egotistical brother, played by Glee’s Harry Shum, Jr.—and Josh changes the song lyrics in what can only be seen as the film’s attempt to show its originality.
There may be plenty of holiday movies about online dating and catfishing, and more than enough about dating multiple people at the same time to find the right match before Christmas, but the actors are truly what make this film worth watching. Dobrev’s physical comedy and her ability to play different characters at once not only make audiences both cheer and jeer her actions, but for many viewers, remind them why they enjoyed watching The Vampire Diaries. Yang, meanwhile, uses his career as stand-up comedian to draw the audience into Josh’s family history to understand the characters on screen. Most of all, Grandma June (played by Althea Kaye) keeps the comedy current for older audiences, introducing dating apps to the residents of Shimmering Pines Nursing Home, with regular off-hand questions about the apps which younger generations already realize are too dirty to answer in a PG movie (or embarrassed to answer in an apparently TV-MA rated one).
The final question however, comes down to this: While Love Hard is absolutely a Christmas movie, is Natalie correct in saying that Die Hard is the best Christmas movie ever?
Love Hard is available to stream on Netflix.
