Laura Osness plays Claire, a talented buyer for a family hotel in Lake Tahoe. He’s good at what he does – so good that the manager of a luxury Vegas hotel tried to get him out and raise him!
All you have to do is make that sold-out variety show successful on Christmas Eve. And then the worst happened: the big pop star she booked had to cancel, and then everyone else. There are still a few days until the show!
Luckily for Claire, her ex-boyfriend and ex-client Ryan (Kyle Selig):
During the holidays, he returns home with his band, called Wild Lakes, Wild Wings, Wild Links or Wild Lynx. Wild Lynx, maybe, but it took me half the film to figure it out, and I’m still not sure. Anyway – Claire ran the Wild Lynx (?) until they got too big, and she just got fired. Can Claire work with Ryan and get a full-fledged variety show in less than a week? Will the two of them find more than hot action?
Pat Monahan also plays Clare’s partner from Trains, so there’s added tension waiting for this gentle hotel clerk to reveal she has a killer voice.
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Since Christmas, the biggest crime Tahoe has committed choosing a supporting role for George Lopez and then doing almost nothing to him. George Lopez is one of the most famous and beloved comedians of the last 20 years!
Put more of that into the movies! Fun Fact: Like the supporting role of Monahan and the film’s title, Lopez’s cast is also an Easter egg on the train. Everything trains again!
After Lopez’s disappearance, I have to give this to the actress who plays the most nourishing and titled hotel guest I’ve seen in the Hallmark Christmas movie. He always has enough and is always ready to speak to the manager. I love that energy (on TV, never in real life).
There is a sold-out vaudeville on Christmas Eve, which is always called a sold-out vaudeville show. Calling it a Christmas Eve Variety Show would be a great way because the name implies success, even though most houses are empty.
Also, a week before the sold-out Christmas Eve variety show, Kyle and Claire attend a children’s choir concert, an annual Christmas gala, and a white elephant party where no one steals gifts. What’s going on here?
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When producing films for 41 holidays on two networks and one streaming service:
Some movies are actually really bound to get lost in the crowd. Christmas in Tahoe is a kind of Hallmark film. That’s not to say it’s a bad Hallmark film; she topped the Thanksgiving weekend schedule and hosted Candace’s annual film Cameron Bure. And a fun lead role together, and I’m sure Osnes and Selig fans will love it. Selig, in particular, received an impressive demonstration of his vocal talent.
To save her family’s hotel Christmas event, Clare must seek help from her ex-boyfriend Ryan, the lead guitarist for the famous band she fired as manager a few years ago.
A few things prevent Christmas in Tahoe from becoming a must-see holiday movie at Hallmark. It is ridiculous to criticize the fact that there is a stereotypical plot – the formula is a reason to look!
But we’ve already seen at least two music-focused Christmas movies this year (One December Night at Hallmark Movies & Mysteries and Christmas in Line with Reba McEntire at Lifetime).
Both films were phenomenal and made all the intergroup drama for Christmas in Tahoe look like reruns. Add to that the fact that George Lopez – who, by the way, is George Lopez – is not enough!
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This is Lopez’s first Hallmark film, and hopefully not the last. Lopez was born to play the father a nasty but s*xy man must win over to be with that girl of his Christmas dreams!
Christmas in Tahoe is still a beautiful hour with all of this in mind. But the standards are pretty high for other Hallmark films like “Kiss Before Christmas”, “One December Night”, and “Christmas Canvas”. If you haven’t seen them yet, come and have a look at them! And then you see Christmas in Tahoe.