There's a Winner in the Battle of the Kelce Christmas Movies
When I close my eyes and think of Christmas, I see cocoa, Chris Kringle, candy canes, and this year, thanks to Hallmark and Lifetime movies, Travis Kelce.
The cable competitors debuted two unique Christmas movies inspired by the Super Bowl champion's life this holiday season. Christmas in the Spotlight is inspired by his relationship with Taylor Swift. It’s rerunning on Lifetime after it’s November 23 premiere.
Hallmark’s Holiday Touchdown: A Chief’s Love Story, which premieres tonight, takes a different approach, telling a fictional love story between Alana (Hunter King) whose family has a rich history in the Chiefs fandom, and Derrick (Tyler Hynes), the director of fan engagement for the Chiefs, who is tasked with crowning their biggest fan for a holiday contest.
While there is no mention of Travis or Taylor in the film, the trick up Hallmark’s sleeve is Travis’ mom Donna Kelce.
With all due respect to the NFL’s favorite mom, each time she’s in front of the camera for her one-liners, she looks about as comfortable as if she were wearing an itchy holiday sweater while being grilled by TMZ about her son’s relationship with Taylor. I hope she had fun off-camera because on it, she’s always saying her lines as quickly and awkwardly as possible so that the camera can focus on something else.
Still, Holiday Touchdown is the superior film and Hallmark also deserves extra points for securing an actual Kelce (alongside some of the less famous Chiefs players, I think, but don’t ask me to name them).
Alana’s family catches the Chiefs organization’s attention because she tells them of her family’s history with the team. She starts by explaining that her parents met because their families had season tickets and ends by introducing the family’s lucky hat—which they wore yearly to help the team get into the Super Bowl (aka “the big game”).
Holiday Touchdown has a While You Were Sleeping vibe, with Derick as the outsider observing the quirky family he eventually falls in love with (although spoiler alert: he loves Alana the most).
The Chiefs kingdom comes to fall in love with the family and the hat. When it goes missing Alana stresses about letting down thousands of fans until her family (and Derrick) teaches her what really matters at Christmas (hint: it’s not football).
Holiday Touchdown is a great example of a quality cable Christmas movie that doubles as a love letter to football fans.
Lifetime has a history of “Ripped from the Headlines” films often inspired by celebrity culture. I haven’t seen it in a Christmas movie and Christmas in the Spotlight proves why.
Jessica Lord stars as a poor man’s Taylor named Bowyn Sykes who falls for NFL star Drew “Gonzo” Gonville (Laith Wallschleger). There are some sweet, borderline cozy moments in this weak retelling of Taylor and Travis’ love story — but the conflict in the film is lazy.
Christmas in the Spotlight is clearly Lifetime’s hasty answer to Holiday Touchdown, but it’s unclear why the network felt it had to try so hard or why it was decided to lean into the pop star angle rather than the football of it all.
It’s too early in the relationship for even a festive movie like this. Plus, a TV movie ripping off of Taylor’s life should do it right or not do it at all.
All respect to the Swifties, the world needs less Taylor and Taylor-inspired content in the world. She could’ve stayed out of Christmas movies unless she authorized one and wanted to be involved.
I have no doubt she’d write and direct an iconic Christmas movie on her own terms.