Comedy

Romance

Family

TV Movie

Holiday in Handcuffs

Alberta Film Entertainment

Hand Cuff Productions

Canada

United States of America

English

Melissa Joan Hart

Mario López

Timothy Bottoms

Markie Post

June Lockhart

Kyle Howard

Vanessa Evigan

Gabrielle Miller

Layla Alizada

Cedric De Souza

Marion Eisman

Karen Hines

Maureen Jones

Marty Hanenberg

Matt Embry

Andrea D'Amours

Benjamin Ayres

Stafford Lawrence

Greg Lawson

Rod Heatherington

Gerrick Winston

Nkechi Odina

Travis Milne

Christian Fraser

Taison Gelinas

Raymond Yu

Faith Louissaint

Sara Endsley

Ron Underwood

Jordy Randall

Craig McNeil

Jody Brockway

Murray Ord

Don Brochu

Crystal Dalman

Lori MacKay

Danny Lux

Derick V. Underschultz

Jodi Stecyk

Sara Horcoff

Greg Schlosser

***'Misery' if it were a romantic comedy / Christmas movie***

“Holiday in Handcuffs” (2007) stars Melissa Joan Hart as the underachiever of a liberal family in the Seattle area. When her beau breaks up with her right before her family’s Christmas get-together, she kidnaps a man and forces him to go to the rented cabin as her boyfriend (Mario Lopez).

The plot takes “Misery” (1990) and “Buffalo '66” (1998) and morphs them into an amusing romcom / Christmas flick. Melissa was pregnant during shooting, but still cute & winsome. Markie Post appears as the mother and it’s nice to see her again. Layla Alizada as the girlfriend is attractive in a semi-exotic way while June Lockhart is hilarious as the grandmother.

I realize this is comedic fluff, but the idea of Stockholm syndrome surfaces. This is a psychological response sometimes seen in hostages in which the captive shows signs of loyalty to the kidnapper, regardless of the peril in which the abductee has been placed.

I enjoyed the movie, but the first half is funnier than the second half, which understandably takes a more serious romantic turn. The movie is also seriously marred by the blatantly contrived way the script checks all the idiotic PC boxes. Get Real.

The film runs 1 hour, 26 minutes and was shot in Calgary, Alberta.

GRADE: C

Holiday in Handcuffs: Excerpt

[Trailer]  Holiday In Handcuffs

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Holiday in Handcuffs

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Cast

Melissa Joan Hart

Mario López

Timothy Bottoms

Markie Post

June Lockhart

Kyle Howard

Vanessa Evigan

Gabrielle Miller

Layla Alizada

Cedric De Souza

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