I'll be the first to admit that one of Hallmark’s most anticipated Christmas flicks, Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story, didn’t make my list of Countdown to Christmas movies I was most excited for. Still, I decided to give the football-inspired film a chance. Don’t get me wrong, the romance was cute, it delivered a sweet love story, and we got to see Donna Kelce's great acting debut. However, it didn’t feel like a Christmas movie to me, and I have a problem with that.
If the wordy title wasn’t clear enough, Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story follows Alana (Hunter King), a die-hard Kansas City Chiefs fan who helps her family run a store that sells various merchandise for the team. She decides to enter her family into the team’s Fan of the Year contest by submitting a story about the lucky hat one of them wears every time the Chiefs play on Christmas day and how it helps them get to the Super Bowl. Naturally, Derrick (Tyler Hynes), the Director of Fan Engagement, is tasked with evaluating Alana’s story, and he is a bit skeptical of the superstition.
However, as he spends more time with the family and Alana, specifically, he starts to shed his skepticism. And then disaster strikes when the hat goes missing, jeopardizing Alana’s family’s reputation and the Chief’s Super Bowl odds.
I knew going into this movie that I wasn’t the target audience for it. After all, I could not care less about football, and the only thing I know about the Chiefs is that Travis Kelce plays for them — and that’s only because of his relationship with Taylor Swift. However, it’s not the first Hallmark Christmas Movie I’ve checked out that doesn’t spark joy in me from the title alone, so I owed it the benefit of my doubts.
I can admit that I found myself enamored by the chemistry between Alana and Derrick and was happy to see them get their happily ever after. However, I also grew more and more frustrated by the lack of attention Christmas got in the movie.
It’s no secret that Hallmark has perfected the Christmas movie formula over the years. It’s one of the reasons I love these movies so much because I always know what I’m getting myself into when I settle in on the couch to watch.
In recent years, they’ve started to deviate from the formula by including younger protagonists and focusing on platonic love instead of romantic love. Usually, I love these changes and enjoy the unique spin they’ve put on some holiday films, because at the heart they’ve remained centered around the Christmas holiday and its various traditions.
The same cannot be said about Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story. Sure, there were appearances from Santa and a Christmas miracle happened when the missing hat was returned to Alana just in time for kickoff. However, the usual holiday flare synonymous with Hallmark movies was missing.
There was no tree lighting ceremony or romance that involved one character having to upend their big city life to move to a small town — a common trope in these movies. Alana and Derrick did go ice skating and there was a brief gift exchange between the family, but that’s about it. Instead, much of the focus was on the family’s love for the team and how it’s defined who they are for generations.
In my opinion, the movie would have worked a lot better had it been set during football playoff season or even the Super Bowl. Hallmark could have then released it a week before the big game — and possibly created a whole new exciting lineup of football romance films. However, instead, we got a film that is considered a Christmas flick, because that's simply when it takes place.
Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story might not be my favorite Hallmark Christmas movie this year. However, there are plenty of fans out there who enjoyed it and the various cameos made by people who are connected to the Kansas City Chiefs.
If you missed it catching it live, you’re in luck. Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story is set to replay Wednesday, December 4th at 8 p.m. ET on the Hallmark Channel.
