Among the weaker entries for this -or any- holiday season is Christmas in Notting Hill, a film so desperate to piggyback on the success of a better film, it named itself after one. That is some quality writin’, folks.
I guess I need to give you credit for understanding 1) Notting Hill is decent film and 2) It is a 
romance. That will be the extent of my praise for Christmas in Notting Hill.
So the twist here is that the Brit who lives on Notting Hill is the celebrity (a famous soccer player) and the American on vacation is a nobody. Oh, and they switched gender roles, too! Boy, you guys sure did some research, huh? How long did it take to come up with that stratagem, huh? Was it part of the premise? Did you even have to pitch this movie, or did Hallmark accept it once it saw the word “Christmas”?
Padding the runtime, the film begins by showing some soccer stuff where the goalie literally stands there, making no attempt to block a shot. I don’t generally applaud humans outwitting furniture, but this film does. Here we establish that American Georgia Bright (Sarah Ramos) is into soccer, and thus well-suited (I guess) for the man she is to fall in love with in the ensuing sixty minutes of screen time.
Meanwhile, English star footballer Graham (“Like the cracker”) Savoy (William Moseley) has been relieved from pitch duties to heal a knee. Luckily, this leaves him free for romance, which happens when Georgia comes into his life. Little does either person know they already have a connection, because her sister and
his … blah blah blah, it doesn’t matter. This entire stupid film is hanging on the idea that if you enjoyed the charm of the original Notting Hill, you’ll like these parallels here.
You won’t. Well, not necessarily at least. I love Notting Hill. Christmas in Notting Hill is a piece of crap.
I can’t recommend this film for any reason. In my estimation, it isn’t terribly romantic or fun or surprising or anything might want to see a film for. This film is for people who live for Hallmark Christmas movies. That’s it. If that doesn’t describe you, stay far away.
There was once a footballer named Graham
Sidelined by a medical exam
Along comes a Yank
*poof* he’s no crank
It’s a Yuletide wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am
Not Rated, 84 Minutes
Director: Ali Liebert
Writer: Alex Yonks (Hopefully Alex only does this in private)
Genre: “We ran out of ideas”
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: The mother of Sarah Ramos
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People forced to watch this to meet a quota
