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Keywords
Jingle Bell Run, holiday movies, character development, romantic comedy, Hallmark, movie review, Christmas themes, competition, grief, growth
Summary
In this conversation, Nick and Leslie review the holiday movie 'Jingle Bell Run,' discussing its comedic elements, character dynamics, and the romantic tension between the leads. They explore the competition aspect of the film, the themes of grief and personal growth, and conclude with their overall impressions and ratings of the movie.
Nick And Leslie (00:01.176)
Hello, good morning. Fasten your seat belts for the jingle bell run. I guess you liked this one. I loved it so much. my gosh. I basically watched it one and a half times. really? Yes. I I watched it halfway through and then unfortunately fell asleep, very long commercials watching it live. and then I went to rewatch and I'm like, you know, I'll gladly watch the beginning again because
It was a hoot comedy sprinkled throughout. The writing, I did enjoy it. The chemistry. I don't write about, I don't rate set design, but really good. Set design was delicious. The location scouting, whatever. Yeah. The chemistry between the two actors was great. The banter was good. my gosh. And even the side stories with other people, was, it was great. Must see.
And what comes with that decor though? Balsam Hill. It was Balsam Hill here, Balsam Hill there, here, just the rolling hills of Balsam. The rolling hills of Balsam. Alright, let's play that trailer before we get too deep into it. that beautiful Balsam Hill footage. So that was the trailer for Jingle Bell Run. Which thought, why isn't it called...
The Great Holiday Dash. I thought we were coming in for a marathon training. I want to start off right off the bat, shouting out the cute title sequence. Like Hallmark movies usually just get text on a screen and call it a day. This had like actual animation. Yes, it was good. Yeah. Not as good as five year Christmas stories or parties, but it was up there. This is to me, it's a must see.
We're getting into top five. So we are first introduced to Avery. An elementary school teacher. Avery made me uncomfortable. A little bit in the beginning. She got a little bit better towards the end, but in the beginning, I feel like she was coming off of a back injury or something, because she is the stiffest person. She doesn't turn her head. She doesn't bend over to talk to the kids. Is that also part of her character? She wasn't as stiff by the end. That was the point. They both changed in the end. Yeah, you might be right.
Nick And Leslie (02:22.058)
I just understood if so she did a good job. I do think the actress the actor Avery as character play I believe she is better than Hallmark and had to work her way down Just a smidgen. Yeah, I'm not saying stage performance but potential daytime drama acting so I did give acting a six because her and Wes the male lead
make the dialogue feel very natural. don't just say a line, they make it look like they're thinking and then that's the line that It's a good flow back and forth very much so it made me giggle. We find out that Avery's family is abandoning her during the Christmas time of her sister Ruby going off with her husband and then their parents going somewhere so she feels abandoned for Christmas. What does Ruby do? Ruby signs Avery up for the great
Holiday Dash. It's a Christmas themed challenges that you're running around the country in different holiday regions like the, the rate. It's like the Amazing Race. Amazing, I'm supposed to the American. Yeah, and the Amazing Race, but Christmas themed and players get a million dollars for if they win. And she wants to use her money for her after school reading program. That she's creating herself, not through.
the school, because was like, why are you raising money specifically only for the school's benefit? then it comes out, it's her own, like, non-for-profit. So she ends up meeting her, we meet Wes, who is an ex-pro hockey player. He's a retired hockey player. Tired hockey player, and he doesn't really know what to do with his life. He's trying to get, like, brand deals or endorsement deals or something. the most useless agent. Yeah, that was weird.
Just like filming him with a phone, and be like, looks like we're in good. Yeah, and he's like, yeah, I meant to tell you, even though we're filming this sponsorship promo for you, someone else got it. the promo is already up online as an advertisement. also, Wes had to apply his own self for the Great Holiday Dash instead of the agent for. So I'm like, horrible agent. I also want to say it is kind of sad.
Nick And Leslie (04:40.27)
Like anytime you see a game show that's like celebrity contestants, they're always doing it for a charity It was weird that he is He he was a Stanley Cup winning hockey player just the year before who enters a competition for a million dollars But that makes him look that look that's a bad look I think right and without yeah having a foundation to back or anything like that But I think he was just doing it for clout to get his name up because it still looks bad. No, no, course Yeah, I was just
He didn't ever bring up the money though. He never said like, and we get a million dollars. He never said that, it was off the cloud. So I mean, there was that part, but we were at a gym and he's a gym bro. So then they meet and like all the contestants show up in Chicago. Well, hold on, hold on, hold on. Hold on. So Ruby's sister is a trainer at the gym that Wes works out at. And so,
Avery was like, right, sister, I'm gonna do the holiday dash. we're going, which starts her for one afternoon, one afternoon, because it starts the day after. Wouldn't you be sore for all she did? I would be sore. Especially if you don't work out my favorite. I loved the joke when Avery goes into the gym. She says, that's a pretty bait. that's a pretty braid. Yeah. That's a rope.
And I don't know what it was, but even Ruby's comments, which is the sister, it was good. And so the sister's like, so I got a high tail at home because we leave for our cruise and I need a pack and my husband doesn't know where the toothpaste is. Kind of sounds familiar. I thought that was In his defense, it's tiny. It's not because even you couldn't find the toothpaste, our pack of 20 tubes. What are you talking about? I found the toothpaste when I went to Jacksonville. I wasn't referring to Jacksonville. I was referring to other trips.
Well, I found the truth face this time. I know you did. I was impressed. We're to cut this out. No, we're not. anyway, if he cuts this out, I'm going to bring it up a few more times. Okay. So Avery, Ruby, Ruby, anyway, she, sister leaves. And so Avery's like, I can run the treadmill. I got this and cannot figure out how to work the treadmill. So goes to the other treadmill. But when she's switching runs into this guy, Wes, she doesn't know who he is. And, but he has headphones on and she's like, you're about to get on to.
Nick And Leslie (07:03.138)
the treadmill I was and he was like, but you were just on the other one. She's like, anyway, they switch and clearly understandable. He's annoyed. He's like, okay, woman, you're taking over two treadmills. So they switch and he starts running and she's like, excuse me. Excuse me. I can't get this treadmill to start. Can you help me? He goes, well, have you tried pushing the safety button on like to make sure it starts? And she's like, silly me. And then all of sudden they're in a running competition.
And then she loses balance, flails, taking him down, like concussion worthy. And so was like, what the fuck? So rightfully so, he is mad, like, please don't bother me again. Go to another gym. I don't want to have to worry about my life and have to wear a helmet. And she's like, you're rude. No, he's not.
And so it was a good setup for their banter and everything. then so the next thing is they, she is at the cutely decorated set with Balsam Hill everywhere of the Great Holiday Dash and starts to meet the other contestants to which they are put into teams and she finds Wes is there. Yeah, he is her partner. And they are partnered up. What are your thoughts on the names of the teams? So
I was really dumbfounded that there was a team called Fab Ulus because the subtitles show it as FAB-U-LOUS and I'm like, how is this a Christmas name? And it wasn't until towards the end of the movie that I realized it's just bad subtitling. And it was Fab UL-YULE-LUS. No, no, no, no, no, no. Okay, we might need to go back and look. So I had the same exact thought, but I did not have the subtitles on. I swear I saw it on the back of the jacket. Fab U.
the letter U list and then later on I was like, you'll. So we might need to go back and check. have a third time watching it. Okay. But I, because now I question it. Yeah. So I did the same exact thing. names were good, even though their name was Slay Wood. I did think that the St. the St. Nicholas trivia game, those were some cute freaking names that they did.
Nick And Leslie (09:20.15)
It could have done better, but you know, it was there. It's weird that they didn't get to decide on their team name. They just got assigned. No, I'm okay with that. I don't care. can be assigned. So we're also introduced to Katie, one of the other competitors. Shirley. Yeah, and Shirley, an adorable young playwright. And Shirley is an older mom who loves talking about her daughter, Glenda? Grace? Gracey. Nash is another hockey player. They just happen to get two pro hockey players in this So is it hockey though? Yes.
So you're 100 % because I couldn't tell if he was just another up and coming person. No, he was another hockey player. Okay. I didn't know they actually said hockey. Yeah, I think they said hockey. Okay. I thought it was just another pro athlete he was competing with. And then Dirk Sims is the producer. I thought it was weird that he had introduced himself as like, and I wrote down the name because he said it in the beginning as if it was an important thing. Yeah, I did it as well because he comes up, it's him.
that causes the issue. Yeah. And then the host of the show is Keegan Edwards. Hilarious. He did a great job hosting and all the beverages they put in his hand. He just had to deal with it and he did a great job. He was fun. So all of the so there's there's like a puzzle element. They get a card with Avery's really good at crosswords. A riddle they have to solve and then they have to go to some place and do a thing. Because in the end they are trying to find the silver bell somewhere in America.
You make a good point that I didn't even put two and two together. I guess we'll get to it when we get to the end there. That was something I was like, well, I guess. So the first puzzle they solve is they have to go to Boston. No, it's not. The first one is the German restaurant with the nutcrackers. OK. Right there in Chicago. Yeah, right. So they start with a nutcracking competition. I thought that was the dumbest competition.
Yeah, it's dumb, of course, but the German restaurant, again, cutely decorated, Balsam Hill, Garland everywhere. They were in the Lederhosen and it was cute. And the banter is right when it started, was there. not being a good team. Them not being a good team and they just make it in time. So yeah, they're nutcrackers. So then after that,
Nick And Leslie (11:41.848)
get their clue which says that blah, blah, blah, you gotta go to Boston. They're headed to Boston. So they take a taxi to Boston. Which I did not know you could ski in. No, they got on the airplane. So they got on the airplane. Okay. Yes, because I have cute banter on the airplane. It's when it started, because she's like, hey, Katie. And he's like, why are you fraternizing with the enemy? She's like, it's called being nice. And then he's like, you two, you're in my wrong seat. And she goes, and she just lets it play out for a moment.
And she's like, we're C and D right over here. And they're like, yeah, listen to her. And so like he sits down, the flight attendant comes by like, please fasten your seatbelt. We're about to take off. And she's like, or, and then he goes, it's not my first time flying. And she's like, it's your first time flying. Okay. Like it was just a really cute thing. And then she's like, I'm so excited. We're going to Boston. And then I thought it was weird that every time they had to go to another location, everyone was on the same flight. Not all the time.
That's how we lost some teams. yeah, and there's no one else on those flights. It's just like basically private chartered planes is what it looked like. Right. But and so they're going to Boston and she's like, you know, I'm excited to go to Boston. And then what does she say? I left my car keys and my khakis. that was cute. It's what we say all the time. think of Boston and like just cracked me up. So that's when like the writing I was like, this is good. And so it was around here that
The producer, Dirk Sims, asks...
Actually, sorry, this was after they lost. I'm sorry, after Nash and his partner lost. Right, so when they get to Boston, they're at the Black Diamond slopes. did not think you cannot ski in Boston. Yeah, that There are mountains, like the Grand Tetons they show. And I'm like, Boston? Alerzikabad. So they are at the slopes, but they're not skiing. They are slap shotting.
Nick And Leslie (13:43.67)
the thickest of fruitcakes into the buttons of the snowmen. And so I guess, yeah, Nash, the other hockey star who is famous right now, did not make it and failed. partner missed. Yeah. Well, anyway, well, they didn't miss or they just didn't. The other team was like the second to last ones to make it. So they just never made it. So they had to say, okay, bye Nash. And then that's when Dirk, the producer was like, hey, Nat Keenan, Keegan. Keegan.
Hey Keegan, were, was our, our rater or our, the thing to make the rates go up in the romance, you know? So maybe we need to lean on someone else. And so they approach Wes. Right. So Dirk says to Wes, Hey, can you start flirting with your partner? Yes. It'll be good for the ratings. It'll be great for your career. Yeah. and so I thought it was weird that they didn't say this to Avery.
Completely understand. Yes. So it's like, why wouldn't she want both of them? But maybe they want it to feel genuine. But West makes a very good comment. Why are we, I don't want to do that without her consent. Yeah. Yeah. And so I'm like, well, good for it. But also he didn't do it for the ratings. So like he did do it with her. Anyway, I don't want to say. he should have told her, Hey, Dirk just asked me that as well. Are you okay with this? But also
maybe like in the rush of things. Well, they weren't rushing, guess, at that point, but real quick. So when they were talking about fruitcakes, this was a good line that she said. So, you know, she's like the history guru. and, you know, she's a teacher, but she loves reading. So she knows a lot of history and just random facts. And she's like, what's, excuse me, what's the similarities between fruitcake and history dates? And I was like,
Anyway, so that was good. Anyway, on to... Well, I thought it was funny too that as they were leaving this Boston, in the background out of focus, the host Keegan Edwards is knocking on the wooden portico chair of the building. I thought that was weird. interesting. I didn't see that. But real quick, when they were leaving the German restaurant, also good banter when he was like, come on brains. And she's like, come on, Ron. So again, good banter going on.
Nick And Leslie (16:05.866)
And they run in different directions. So then the next location sends them to, was it New York City for the window display? I think, yeah. It was at this point that I started wondering why is there only one cameraman on this TV show they're filming? And we hardly ever see him. I feel like we see him in the evening shots when it's supposed to be like the teens just hanging out. And there's always like the one...
They should have had like GoPros on them or something. I don't know. It was weird. Yeah. So their competition is they have to do a window display and then passerbys will donate to the window display and whoever makes the most gets to advance to the next level. Yeah, so they make you a cute, you know, three French hens thing. Yeah. Yeah, so that's when they start to have their growing romance. And we also see the romance between the two men team of the Fabulous. Is it a coincidence they just happened to put two gay guys in a...
team together. Yeah. And then we have a slow dance competition later on. But it was cute, which all the way I thought it was square dancing and all of sudden we're slow dancing. I didn't know. And there's also, you know, a mom and a daughter team. That's like, I'm like, okay, which they're cutely dancing like. But yeah, anyway. So this is after the window display, they are sent off to Texas, Texas, the 11 star state, Abilene, where they have this dancing competition. And that slow dance scene was so hot. Sultry. It was.
That's where all the chemistry was. It was, but you also see it with the men too. I also really want to shout out the red and white Christmas blanket that Wes had on his lap. I want that. I looked on Amazon, I couldn't find it. As well as Avery's blanket shawl that she had too. It was gorgeous, but you need to stay up with how you're shooting your shots Hallmark because every shot was
Blanket off, blanket on, blanket off, blanket on, blanket on, blanket I had to pause it. I was like, Jesus. Well, at least we know they do more than one take. Yes, it was a nightmare. Yeah, but I definitely want to buy that blanket if I could find it. It was really pretty. But we don't need another blanket. So then they go to Santa Fe where they end up hitchhiking. OK, real quick. Snowstorm in Texas. Did you notice the truck? Yeah, they go from Abilene, all the way to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Did you notice the truck that picked them up, though?
Nick And Leslie (18:23.95)
Yes, Australia. Okay, so you know it was the ranch that they were going to. no. Yeah. It was on the side of the truck. It was where they were headed. I didn't realize it was the same company. was like, who the heck is driving this six to 10 hours already, in which where did they sit in this cab? the way they, because I thought it was going to be like, they're finally showing Santa who's making this Christmas magic happen. I didn't even think But it was the place that they were going, the truck. Yes. And then, so the...
if you, don't know if you noticed whenever, do you remember their like elbow bump they did? Like, related that. If you notice their handshakes and like hand slaps progressed to something more elaborate. I didn't catch. And that was cute. Now I'm to watch it. Yeah. Cause she's like, Jesus. Now to be fair, I did watch it. From a four hour drive. yeah. He came home and watched it. Yeah. So at this point I noticed that whenever the host is talking about the next competition,
Everyone is always having secret conversations, which is very rude to the host. But we will read and say our answers to the riddles so loud. I also thought it was weird that like they have the competition, they get their clue, and then they like spend the night there before they rush off to the next location in multiple times. It should be like instant. Get your sleep on the plane. Don't spend the night. Right. Like, you get hotels to sleep in? I don't think so.
It was also weird too that like they have to wait until the host is there before they can start the next trial. Yeah. So they do get time to spend together to get to know each other and like the three main last teams. And something I do, do like, so Shirley who is a mother of four, she only brings it up a couple of times. She really does. like mentioned one other time, you know, mentioned, yeah, I'm a mother of four when they do their little one-on-one interview things. And then,
later on she's like my gosh like like what would we be someone else goes what what would we be doing at if we were home like for you know nostalgia and one of the things that she brings up is like my daughter Gracie loved this time of year or whatever and so like or loves this time of year the way she said it like so don't really thought of it everyone's sharing their what they would be doing then later on we find out Gracie's dead dead kid dead kid that's that's a lot for a homewrecker movie we
Nick And Leslie (20:49.582)
Wow, that shocked me. Whenever that, I'm like, wow. So also good for her for not like constantly be saying like, my dead child. my dead child. We love grief. We do. Okay. Don't get me wrong, but I'm glad they did not make it her character. So that part was, and she still incorporates greasy into her life in a, in a, like, I think it's healthy in a healthy way and doesn't.
Now that you can't burden people with your grief, but again, like she's doing these things for and remembrance of grace. Like it's good, it's positive, it's nice, it's healthy. And so I did like how they did that to her character. That was sweet. Yeah. And then we move on to our next location, which is a vineyard in Oregon or Washington. Washington. Washington. And gorgeous vineyard. Gorgeous. Like that, the location they were in, that cabin looking place, snow covering all the wine.
was beautiful. Grapes, don't remember what the competition was, but that's where It squishing. had to- They had to squish grapes to fill up a wine jug, which is in regard to making mulled wine. Yeah. And so it was at this location where Dirk says to Wes, like, hey, can you try and actually kiss her this time? And of course, Avery overhears this and they have the whole dramatic thing. She won't let him explain, even though they're going to be on a plane for the next-
Six hours. Can people, if you, I'm not saying she was eavesdropping, but if you were walking up and approaching a situation, you're like, this is tea. I should know. Hang back behind the tree and hear everything out because Wes does date to Dirk. Yo, not doing this. I really love her. You're going to fuck this up for me. Yeah. And this is where the writing started to fall to shit in my opinion. I didn't really. I mean, we had to have that. get it. But not that I mean like
So the next scene where Wes is talking to the producer and he's like, if you had someone you cared a lot, would you let them slip through your fingers? I'm like, this is some weird writing. And then Dirk is like, you're right. And then he goes and talks to Avery and he says some garbage about like, he really likes you. And it's like, their acting is trying their hardest to sell it. But this dialogue But also they're like, we need to wrap this up quick because...
Nick And Leslie (23:06.146)
we need to quickly finish this because we're back in Chicago where we have to get the last. Apparently crosswords are a Christmas tradition. Crosswords are. I know that. Right. get, know, the New York Times like doesn't. So that's like what they were doing last challenge was a Christmas challenge and you know, or backwards is bro. So finding this bell all around the America happens to be back where they started. Right back where they started and a beautifully set scene of Mulsome Hill. So I did that race at the very end did get me yelling.
Wow. Get up and grow. So it got me. They did a great job. They left me in suspense and then you know, finding, Foley, you did a bad job in ringing that bell at the same speed that she was ringing. Yes. As well as the distance that it would be from said camera of our view, just so you know. but I did like that their personalities, incorporated and grew into one another. She became a little bit more competitive. He became nicer too. Yeah. was thinking so.
As they're running off to get the thing, he sprains his ankle and falls. And so it's up to her. I thought he faked it so that she would win on her own. I thought it was like his way of kind of giving her something, but that ended up not being No, that was not the case at all. Yeah. So then our heroes win. We had this big party at the end and she's wearing the worst dress. So I actually, was it her color? No. It was so frilly and fluffy.
It was velvet. was purple velvet because I actually liked how the women were dressed. Was it her color? No, but it was it was a cute cocktail dress for the situations that they were in. I did like it and it still fit their their style of that character and did not overly make them sexual. That as well, but awkward because you can tell when someone's sitting awkwardly and what they're wearing, they seemed natural.
So, yeah, color probably wasn't for her on that note. But then when they're all talking, she discusses how she's going to be starting this foundation as well as helping out Shirley because she wants to start a foundation after Gracie for education and paying for tuition to college, the playwright to help her, Katie, to help her write her play.
Nick And Leslie (25:24.018)
and, investing in a restaurant for the gay and investing in restaurant into the gay couple, because now they have not once did they ever say they're going to start a restaurant together. They just both want to start restaurants. Yeah. And one could live in completely different cities. Who knows? I think they do because one's like, I want to move to a warm climate where I think maybe the other one is, but, Cause he's a flight attendant. And so he's, he's like on the go all the time.
And then, so it was very This million dollars is gonna go very far, apparently. far, yeah. And also she has student loans to still pay off. I'm like, my gosh. Like we are lucky that we have student loans. Anyway, this is a must see. I really loved it. So I gave it for writing a three, which was trash, but acting and directing both six, great work there, and the chemistry on meter a six. I thought they, the slow dance was really hot and sultry. Every other moment they had together felt like a
like a brother, sister, best friend type of situation. And that's called good writing in my opinion because that's what it was. They were not friends in the beginning. They were butting heads. They had good chemistry, not the sexual chemistry only showed up in the slow dance. Thank goodness. Because again, I'm glad brothers and sisters don't show sexual chemistry to one another because they should be like butting heads in the beginning of that. So I think that's why it was great writing as well. It's either if they came up with their own dialogue, but I thought the writing was great. So for me, I'm putting this upper middle.
Must see. All right. Well, thank you all so much. And we've got another movie that we'll be reviewing tonight and posting tonight, hopefully. Happy holidays. Happy holidays.
