Guess Who's Coming to Christmas (2013)

Director: Kristoffer Tabori
Writer(s): Tippi Dobrofsky and Neal H. Dobrofsky
Starring: Drew Lachey, MacKenzie Porter, Ellie Harvey and Peter LaCroix

After wading through a couple of lackluster American holiday romances, we figured we were on pace for a third. I mean, virtually all these rehashed Christmas movies feature disgraced Hollywood celebrities clinging to the last vestiges of relevance, but this one takes things a step further by featuring Drew Lachey, Nick’s much less popular brother. Whereas Nick blew up and became A-level famous for a while (thanks largely in part to his marriage to “it-girl” Jessica Simpson), Drew’s biggest claim to fame was as a member of ‘90s boy band 98 Degrees. He re-found the spotlight a few years later by winning the second season of “Dancing with the Stars”…and hasn’t really done a whole lot to catch the public’s eye since.

Would you believe it if I told you that not only is Guess Who’s Coming to Christmas competently made, but that it’s genuinely entertaining? 

I’m a sucker for celebrities who can make fun of themselves, and Drew really lives it up here as Dax, a musician and former heartthrob who is quickly losing his fame thanks to tanking album sales. In a last-ditch effort to save his fledgling career, he listens to the advice of Jason, his manager, and agrees to grant the Christmas wish of one of his fans.

The “winner” is Kelly Harding, a twentysomething girl who still has a poster of Dax hanging on her wall. Kelly is flabbergasted, considering she never even entered the contest; as it turns out, it was her nerdy younger brother Tim who submitted the entry. Needless to say, the entire family is surprised when a clearly less-than-enthused Dax shows up on their front steps. He plans on staying at a hotel for most of his trip, an idea that Jason nixes; instead, he’s forced to stay the entire week in the Harding household, made up of Kelly and Tim, mother Lynne, and their father…Reverend Harding. 

What’s refreshing about this one - and what provides most of the comedy early on - is Dax’s clear disdain for his current situation. He doesn’t try to mask it with any sort of kindness whatsoever; he makes it known that this contest was not his idea, and that he’d rather be anywhere else than hanging with the Hardings. Indeed, for someone trying to save their career, this is clearly a step in the wrong direction.

This is one of those rare holiday movies that “goes for broke”, at least as far as Christmas-themed rom-coms can go. Take, for instance, a scene in which a desperate Dax breaks into the family’s liquor cabinet (which is reserved for “special occasions” only) while the family is at church, awaiting his arrival. He shows up, alright, but completely hammered, causing a scene by loudly yelling before collapsing before horrified onlookers at the front of the church. 

In another scene, he attempts to get Kelly into bed with him, simply because she was a fan, and he is bored. And what better way for a "rockstar" to pass the time than by sleeping with a groupie? Only, in this case, his attempts lead only to rejection, a notion that's foreign to him. While this scene is actually kind of uncomfortable, it does ring with unexpected honesty: Here is a famous person who is so used to getting what he wants, that he almost feels entitled to it. It's a rather strong departure from the saccharine "goodness" of most holiday sap-fests.

But what really makes Guess Who's Coming to Christmas work so well are the supporting characters: Despite Kelly’s father being a preacher, who has strict rules for those living inside his home (no matter how famous they might have been), it never becomes preachy. In fact, he comes off as a genuinely nice guy; even after Dax’s drunken interruption in his own church - which I figured would be the perfect opportunity for the Reverend to berate him, force Biblical passages down his throat, or even attempt to kick him out - he does the opposite, seeing a good guy who’s just in need of a few life changes. It’s sad how having such human characters in a movie like this isn’t just a welcome change: It actually borders on “shocking”. 

There still has to be some tropes, such as how he slowly changes his tune, as the once-foreign concept of "family" becomes more comfortable to him over (initially forced) family dinners. And of course his aversion to such a close-knit unit has to do with his own upbringing, which was filled with turmoil. That explains the reason he's a curmudgeonly thirtysomething who sees the good in nothing. But even his rather sudden, 98-degree change from cynical man to family man somehow manages to feel as natural as it can, thanks mainly to Drew's handling of the character. (There's something I never thought I'd say about a Lachey.)

In the end, this is a love story between Dax and Kelly, so of course there are the obligatory rom-com sequences where Dax must choose between his career and a new life outside of the limelight. And of course with his musical background (and the background of co-star MacKenzie Porter, who is also a musician), we are treated to an original song that, honestly, isn't as bad as it could have been. It might all still lead to a completely expected conclusion, but the fun is in the ride, not the destination. And this is a ride that is more fun than it should be.

ENTERTAINMENT RATING: 8/10

As a little side note, I’m a little baffled as to the reasoning behind the title. As virtually everyone knows, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner is a movie about a white girl bringing her black boyfriend over for dinner, in the midst of ‘60s level racism. It was a landmark film, tackling an important issue that had been dividing the country for several decades. Its use here seems to insinuate a similar occurrence, but while Drew’s manager is black, he doesn’t factor in to the romantic aspects of the story whatsoever. Maybe I'm reading too much into it - titles don't have specific requirements for use - but it seems an odd choice for a title featuring two white leads.

CLIP (there doesn't seem to be a trailer)