It’s not every Hallmark Christmas movie that makes it clear right from the beginning that it’s about to be incredible, but Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story does. There’s a tone that’s set in emphasizing just how absurd the story can get without ever leaning on too much territory. It dabbles with all the best tropes and wild antics in an organic way that not only sticks the landing, but evokes a few tears at the end, too.
In this one, freelance journalist Avery Clark (Lyndsy Fonseca) is assigned a profile on a fan’s 500th Bears game. Naturally, said fan, Darlene Donnelly (Marsha Mason) also has a grandson, Matt Donnelly (Robert Buckley), who’s set to be our leading man. At the same time, Avery’s struggling with feeling left out in her mom’s new marriage, but the way everything works out is so lovely that this might just be the best of the Holiday Touchdown movies.
Part of what works so well here is that Avery is an extension of the audience. She isn’t already a fan of the team, so we aren’t thrust into a space where we as the audience have to feel like outsiders. And with how cutthroat sports can be—that feeling is very much present even in the fictional realm. Yet, Avery’s character journey delivers a compelling segue into understanding the Chicago Bears, and it becomes easier for us to see their appeal too. It becomes easy for us to embrace the community, which shines especially well through the people actually working behind the scenes.
Buckley is quickly becoming one of Hallmark’s best actors, and this comes from someone who was already a fan of his from One Tree Hill. (Also, shoutout to Barbara Alyn Woods!) But I find every Christmas movie he’s done to be an absolute joy because it’s easy to believe in his respective character journeys. That said, Buckley and Fonseca have excellent chemistry, and there’s something delightful about the detail that neither of them is pretending like there isn’t something between them. Grandma might be playing matchmaker, but they also clearly enjoy each other’s company, and we can feel that. We can see it in their interactions, and it makes the movie all the more delightful as a result.
More importantly, Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story is full of heart. The story tackles grief and longing in a way that doesn’t just feel like a means to add unnecessary sadness or false depth, but in a way that’s full of sensitivity and care. I know what it’s like to miss a dad, and with one small look from Avery, I could feel the depths of her grief through Fonseca’s performance. It helps that the screenplay understands the characters and their dynamics on an intimate level, so it allows the moments of vulnerability to feel deeply sincere.
It’s by no means a perfect movie, and there are some odd choices in pacing toward the middle that made me pause, but for the most part, this one’s a winner. It’s one of the few that’ll surely be worth rewatching this year as a movie that gives us something on all fronts. It’s easy to not only care about the characters and their relationships—both romantic and platonic—but it’s easy to care about the Bears. It’s easy to feel the sense of community they want to evoke, and it’s easy to care about all the characters and their happy endings. Plus, it’s got enough Christmas festivities that add to the cozy scale most of us are looking for when we tune into these movies.
Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story is now streaming on Hallmark+.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Hallmark