Holiday Engagement
Holiday Engagement
NR | 28 November 2011 (USA)
Holiday Engagement Trailers

Thirty-something Hillary Burns has spent her life trying to get the approval of her parents, in the shadow of her more successfully-attached siblings. So when Hillary's fiance, workaholic lawyer Jason King, dumps her because she isn't willing to relocate for his potential promotion, she panics because she had been promising to bring him home to meet her expectant family, whom she does not want to let down! As a last-minute idea, her best friend Sophie convinces her to actually hire someone to "play the role" of Jason for her return home on Thanksgiving.. leading to an interesting combination of sparks & revelations for all involved.

Reviews
Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.
ScoobyMint Disappointment for a huge fan!
HottWwjdIam There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.
Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%
SimonJack Late in the year, Hollywood and the major TV networks begin cranking out movies for the holiday season. But well before the end of the last century, all the Christmas plots imaginable had been done. Some real Christmas movies - but not very many, have been made since the late 20th century. They have themes of charity, giving, family reunions, love, reconciliations, and yes, sometimes romance. But by and large, the output that is labeled Christmas or holiday films in the 21st century is no more than comedy-romance or even drama that happens around the holidays. Such is this 2011 Hallmark channel film, "Holiday Engagement." It takes place around Thanksgiving and that makes it a holiday film. Just about every imaginable plot has been made into one of these films, which makes them commonplace. So, the only thing that sets one off usually is the characters as played by the cast. This film has some fine, better than normal performances by three of the cast. But it also has just enough of a different twist in the plot to hold one's interest. The lead, Hillary Burns (played by Bonnie Somerville) gets dumped by her fiancé just before going home for Thanksgiving. She hires an actor to play his part, rather than disappoint her mother. There's much more at play here in the family, and this is far out. But the leading cast make it work as a gentle comedy romance and mild family drama. Hillary's role is OK - her crying and sad scenes with her mother and before that are not very realistic. The six stars for this film are due mostly to her parents, with some extra credit for her hired fiancé. Shelley Long is very good as Hillary's mother, Meredith Burns; and Sam McMurray is very good as her father, Roy Burns. Finally, Jordan Bridges is very good as David, the actor whom she hires to stand in as her fiancé. He is the son of Beau Bridges and grandson of Lloyd Bridges. Of course, everyone knows where this story will go right away. As with all such the films, the fun (or lack thereof) is in the details of how the story gets to the end. This one is watchable but not special to run out and buy.The funniest line in the movie happens after Roy's effort to deep fat fry the turkey fails. The outdoor cooker he has rigged ejects the turkey. So, the family heads for a Mexican restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner. Meredith hands her water glass to the waiter and says, "Oh, um, I asked for seltzer. This looks like tap water with cheese floating in it."
Jack Vasen This story is very predictable and unfortunately not that well done. There are however some good moments.Who did the lighting? It was horrendous. I don't know how many scenes there were where faces were poorly lit. In at least one, an entire face was difficult to see at all and in several scenes partial faces were badly shadowed. In one scene the youngest sister looked like her lip was bleeding or lipstick badly smudged.Shelly Long started out horrible. Part of this was intentional, but to me she overplayed it. And she looked bad. She got a little better as the film went on.There were some attempts at humor, many of which were ridiculous situations like Thanksgiving at the Mexican restaurant. To me most of them were barely funny and some were kind of funny.***SPOILERS*** Bonnie Somerville and Jordan Bridges did not sell the story that justified Hillary ending up with David. Part of that was the story and that they didn't have enough screen time. David had barely admitted he was over Lindsay, and Hillary had barely decided she hated Jason and the next thing, Hillary and David are professing love for one another.I loved when Bonnie Somerville sang with Bridges. Bridges wasn't great but Somerville was. And it was romantic.The final montage at the church and after was nice and also romantic.
Stephen Abell Okay before I get to the BIG bug bear of this film for me let me say that on the whole, this is a pretty good film with an above average cast and pretty decent direction. There are some good lines in there too so the writing isn't too bad either......or is it...Because here is the major weakness of the whole movie. There will be a couple of spoilers here as examples...Unable to tell her mother that her fiancé has dumped her Hillary Burns decides to get a "fake" Jason and puts an "add" on the net. She chooses a guy she ran into playing a big red cell phone - great credentials to play a fiancé! While they are there for the three days they become close and she gets carried away with the whole fiancé and wedding thing.She tells her parents they'll get married at Christmas and they even buy a wedding dress. When her Mum invites the vicar to chat to the couple to arrange the wedding, both Hillary and the Vicar learn the "fake" Jason is Jewish, to which she replies, "he'll convert" and the Vicar says he'll baptise him that weekend.All through this, though they've had a couple of "moments", the "fake" Jason keeps asking Hillary, "You do know this isn't real?"This to me says he isn't really committed, but of course this is a love story so they do end up married at Christmas.It's the speed of this entire situation and its outcome that smacks of ludicrousness and unbelievability. Had this series of events been handled a little more realistically then this film would've been so much better for it.
kristinala I'm gonna give this one 9 stars. This is a general feel good romance movie. Some people may find it cheesy. And, OK, so it may be predictable like several reviews have mentioned but if you want a romance movie that leaves your heart feeling lighter and happier at the end, then this is it. I loved this movie. Something about it reminds me of my own relationship with my spouse maybe because sometimes the person you think you are supposed to be with is not the person you would be happiest with. And the somewhat ordinary person causes you to be happier than you would have ever guessed. I was having kind of a lousy day and this movie cheered me up.