Movie: The Christmas Retreat
Starring: Rhiannon Fish, Clayton James
Network: UPtv
Synopsis: When Kim's boyfriend breaks up with her instead of proposing, Kim's mum takes her away to a Christmas retreat to reconnect with the spirit of the holiday. When she gets there, she meets newly unemployed Mark.
⚠🛑 Disclaimer: This review may contain movie spoilers
Rating (out of 5 stars): ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Review:
I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I went into this one having huge doubts as I have never enjoyed Rhiannon Fish in any movie that I have seen her in. But I have to say that this changed my mind. This one is just plain funny. Good chemistry, interesting plot, good banter and physical comedy. Definitely one that I liked and a strong UPtv Christmas movie for the 2022 season.
Plot
This movie started out very similarly to others I have seen. A workaholic lawyer thinks her boyfriend is going to propose to her only to have him break up with her in public in a restaurant. It's here that it changes course and becomes interesting for me. She is persuaded by her mother to go out of town to a Christmas retreat. A crazy Christmas retreat where she runs into Matt who is a recently unemployed finance worker who is attending the retreat but also happens to own the property with his sister. Much more to the story but yes I understand the Christmas getaway isn't by any means a new plot either but this retreat was a hot chaotic mess...but in a good way. It was comedic. Included over the top attendees, crazy activities, and two people there who clearly did not want to be there. It all worked and worked well for me.
The comedy was quick and intertwined nicely with the dialogue. The physical comedy and the heated banter between the leads was phenomenal. The secondary love story with the mom was intriguing and the silly little activities of the retreat were well thought out. I also liked the little competition that the leads had going on for various activities and particularly liked the ugly sweater competition.
Chemistry & big
I have been a big critic of Rhiannon Fish as she has put out some less than stellar movies this year. I have to admit that this role was by far the best I have seen her in. She was so funny and lovable. Absolutely the best role for her to date. She was quirky and handled the comedy quite well. She looked natural in the role. Far better than her previous over the top quirkiness in that whale movie Hallmark released a little while ago.
Clayton James was also extremely good in this role. He did seem a bit guarded and stiff at times and I am still trying to figure out if that was intended or if he was uncomfortable with the comedy. Either way it did work as his character was struggling with the loss of his job and also trying to deal with the pain of coming back to the place he grew up. He had some emotional things to deal with so perhaps this is why he felt stiff at times.
The banter and dynamic between Fish and James was amazing. I loved these two together. I didn't especially get a huge romantic vibe but I am going to let that pass as the back and forth one liners, comedy, jokes and physical comedy in this was fantastic. They were absolutely adorable together in this movie. Enjoyed every minute they were on screen together and would love to have seen more.
Final Thoughts
I highly recommend watching this one if you want to just chuckle and enjoy a movie. An interesting well thought out plot with some over the top supporting characters, great physical comedy, and banter makes this a great movie. I will definitely be watching this one again.
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