Pour The Wine, It's Rom-Com Time

Hallmark's Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story

• Garry & Amy

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On this episode of Pour the Wine, It’s Rom-Com Time, Garry and Amy are kicking things off with Hallmark’s Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story! Morgan (Holland Roden) and Gabe (Matthew Daddario) are lifelong neighbors whose lives are stitched together by Bills traditions and holiday plans. As they follow the trail of an anonymous giver who supported Uncle Tommy (Joe Pantoliano) and his family for more than fifty Christmases, they start uncovering bigger truths. With long-held secrets, perfectly timed confessions, and plenty of humor and heart, this story proves that romance doesn’t just happen under mistletoe. Sometimes, it takes teamwork, courage, and a little fourth-quarter magic.


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SPEAKER_03:

Welcome to Pour the Wine It's RomCom Time, where we will sip some wine and review all things romcom on the Hallmark Channel. Hey, I'm Amy. And I'm Gary. Today we're gonna jump right in, and we are going to be reviewing Holiday Touchdown, a Bill's love story. It originally aired on the Hallmark Channel on Saturday, November 22nd, 2025. And you can find it right now streaming on Hallmark Plus.

SPEAKER_00:

Hallmark Plus.

SPEAKER_03:

Shout out. Oh boy. Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Hey, guess what?

SPEAKER_03:

What?

SPEAKER_00:

I figured out a gift that people can give this year.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay. I'm listening.

SPEAKER_00:

It's a link to our podcast. Or the wine. It's Roncom2. What do you think?

SPEAKER_03:

And it's free. I think it's free. It's a free gift you can give to people. There you go. That's a great idea. And get.

SPEAKER_00:

See? And all you have to do is click the like button. You can share it. You can hit the um what's the other button that they hit? The follow button. So you get notified whenever we drop new material. See?

SPEAKER_03:

That's a great idea. I know.

SPEAKER_00:

I have to we're here to help.

SPEAKER_03:

We're here to help, right? Yes, we're here. Your holiday shopping.

SPEAKER_00:

To bring joy to your Christmas season. How about that?

SPEAKER_03:

Or you can also send us an email to pour the wine. It's romcomtime at gmail.com and let us know your thoughts about um holiday touchdown, a Bill's love story, or anything countdown to Christmas related. We are in the thick of it right now. We sure are. It is hot, it's happening. So, or anything hallmark related, really. We would love to hear from you.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, we would. Yes. Don't be shy out there.

SPEAKER_03:

Don't be shy. Don't be shy.

SPEAKER_00:

We do not bite. So you want to tell us who's in this one?

SPEAKER_03:

I will gladly tell you who is in this one. Holland Roden plays Morgan Quinn. Holland was in last year's Holidays, which is so cute, right? Yes, it was. Five gold rings and tip line mysteries, Dial One for Murder. She was also in 2022's Time for Him to Come Home for Christmas. Matthew DiDario plays Gabe DeLuca. This is his Hallmark premiere. And boy, did I really enjoy him in this. I mean, we already love Holland, but him, it was he was really good. Spoiler alert. He does have several other acting credits, including all 10 episodes of season two of Why Women Kill. We loved that series. I think there are only two seasons.

SPEAKER_00:

Why do they kill?

SPEAKER_03:

Well, lots of different reasons. You have to watch the series to find out. He was also in 55 episodes of Freeform's Shadow Hunters, which we have not watched.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_03:

Joe Pantaliano is Uncle Tommy Rossi. I was not expecting him in this movie. We had no idea. Did you have any idea?

SPEAKER_00:

No, I did not. But I really enjoyed his character.

SPEAKER_03:

I know. Even if you don't know his name between movies and TV series, you've seen him in something because he this man has worked consistently since the 1970s. Yes. For Hallmark, he was in the Santa Stakeout. We know and love him, of course, from The Sopranos, where he played Ralph Seferetto. Yes. Some of the other cast in Holiday Touchdown, a Bill's love story, are Caroline Aaron. She plays Ricky De Luca. She um is Gabe's mom. She was fab on ghosts, right? We loved her on ghosts and the marvelous Mrs. Masil. We loved her in that. And a little trivia here, she was the voice of Dr. Marsha Fieldstone in the classic Sleepless in Seattle. Ooh. Pretty cool, huh? We love that one. Steve Sharipa, I think that's how you pronounce his last name, plays Gabe's dad. He is, of course, of Sopranos fame. And we did just see him in Sisterhood Inc.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Another good one.

SPEAKER_03:

Patty Muram plays Kathy, that's Morgan's sister. Patrick Mulvay plays Jeremy, Kathy's husband slash Morgan's brother-in-law. Tracy Pollan, I wasn't expecting to see her either. She is married to the one and only Michael J. Fox, but it was so great to see her. She plays Joanne, Morgan's mom. Abraham Ben Ruby returns as Santa Claus, which he was in in holiday touchdown, A Chiefs Love Story, which we will also get to at some point, I'm sure, during this review. And I, of course, have been a fan of his since his ER days.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Andrew Walker pops up with a guest appearance as the bartender. I did know he was going to have a guest appearance in this, but what I did not know was that we were going to see Tyler Hines and Hunter King briefly reprise their roles as Derek and Alana from Holiday Touchdown, A Cheese Love Story, had no idea they were going to show up, which was super cool to have the Santa and them. Then, of course, we have appearances by Bill's current and former players and the current coach. And I probably knew like three out of everyone that we saw. We love football, but I do not know, I do not know Bill's players that well. Now, of course, you know, Damar Hamlin, we know because of what happened to him on the field. And thankfully, you know, he's okay now. And Jim Kelly, oh that 90s, right? Wasn't he the 90s quarterback? Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00:

Darn Cowboys, I too.

SPEAKER_03:

Ah, your team, your team. Yeah. They had did they meet each other all three times?

SPEAKER_01:

No.

SPEAKER_03:

Because the Bills made it to the Super Bowl three times, right? No. In the 90s?

SPEAKER_01:

Five times, I think it was.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, like five times. Okay. Yeah. And they lost. They were really. Did they lose like every single time?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes. Okay. But we're not going to dwell on that. Sorry. I didn't mean to bring up a bad Scott Norwood, Dwayne Carter, um, Sean McDermott, of course, the coach, Dawson Cox. There were probably other people that we don't know, and I apologize if I miss some players, coaches. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

It's going on.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. Yeah. It's good.

SPEAKER_00:

So is that it for the list?

SPEAKER_03:

That's that that's it for my list. How about you?

SPEAKER_00:

All right. So holiday touchdown, a Bill's love story, was directed by Dustin Riker. Dustin has directed several Hallmark films. A few include a Newport Christmas. Loved it. Which we loved. Loved it.

SPEAKER_03:

Loved it.

SPEAKER_00:

And this one, especially a Merry Scottish Christmas.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, yes. Yes. I liked a little Merry Scottish Christmas.

SPEAKER_00:

Christmas.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, that was so good too. We loved that also. All of those things. And um, I wonder if he did Where Are You Christmas? Because we just watched that one also. Yeah. I think. Anywho, we'll have to look that up.

SPEAKER_00:

The writers for this particular movie were Vanessa Morano and Danielle Morrow. This is both Vanessa and Danielle's first writing credit. And good for them for being hallmarked.

SPEAKER_03:

What a good job they did. They did actually excellent job. They they really did. They did a great job.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Very, very cool.

SPEAKER_00:

So you want to drop that synopsis now?

SPEAKER_03:

Okay. So here's the thing about the synopsis. We get our information from IMDB, usually, right? And what's odd about this one is the synopsis and the summary on IMDb was long.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_03:

Like really long. So what I'm about to say is an unofficial shortened synopsis. Right? So longtime neighbors and diehard Bills fans, the Quinns and DeLuca, share decades of football-fueled holiday traditions. When Morgan sets out to find the mysterious gift giver who's helped her uncle Tommy for years, she teams up with her best friend Gabe. I don't know if he's her best friend, but who's quietly loved her all along. Romance builds, secrets unravel, and a game-winning Christmas surprise brings both families together. Yes. So there you go. Yeah, that's the first time I haven't been able to get sometimes they're too short.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. You know, but this one was like a couple words. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

It's crazy. This one was pretty long.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. Pretty good.

SPEAKER_00:

It had a lot of people in it, and it was really good. So at this point, we're gonna tell you if you have not seen the movie, we are going to drop some spoilers. So stop the podcast, go l watch the movie, or why watch the movie, then listen to our podcast, podcast, listen to go watch the movie, whatever you want to do.

SPEAKER_03:

Whichever way.

SPEAKER_00:

And then come back and let us know what you think.

SPEAKER_03:

But we will give away some spoilers.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, we will. So let's dive into this.

SPEAKER_03:

Let's dive into it. What was your first take? What'd you think?

SPEAKER_00:

Um, I surprisingly like this movie. I didn't think I was going to only with this. I know. I thought it was gonna be quirky.

SPEAKER_03:

Same.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, the same old, same old, but I just love the traditions that the families had, the community's traditions, the tailgating, all center around the bills, the nostalgia was it nostalgia of you know the old field and the new field. And can you imagine? Because they that one of their traditions was 30 years in the making or the running, where they took a family picture at the park. I mean, how cool is that? And you know, the the emotions that you would have when the new stadium is built, and how Gabe's dad worked on building that particular stadium, that the old one that they were in.

SPEAKER_03:

I thought it was his grandpa.

SPEAKER_00:

Or maybe it was his grandpa. Maybe it was either his dad's grandpa.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I thought it was his grandpa.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, I just loved it. I could be wrong. I just loved it. What'd you think?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I I like you, I wasn't sure if I was gonna like it. And we love Holland Roden, like I said, you know, I didn't really know too much about Matthew Dodario. Um, and I didn't know a lot of the other people who were gonna be in it. So I just wasn't sure, you know, and to be fair and totally honest here, we had not seen Holiday Touchdown, A Chiefs Love Story. No, we had not, we had not watched that, but we sure did after we watched this because we liked this one so much, and there were a lot of references, right? So um I was I was really pleasantly surprised at how much I just truly enjoyed it. And I, you know, I'm like a, you know, my mind works in entertainment references, right? So as we were watching it, I was like, oh my gosh, that's just like this, or that's just like that. Not that they were imitating other movies, but it was just really, it was so good. And I it was so much better than I thought. It wasn't like I thought it was gonna be terrible, right? I just was kind of like, oh, am I gonna like it? And we love football. I mean, and of course it wasn't about football, football, the game, but you know, so much as more of the tradition, right? About going to the game and games and all of that. So um I really, I really enjoyed it. And I, you know, it was so cool to see, you know, Joey Pantaliano in it and Tracy Pollen. I thought that was great. You know, um, so I was just I was really pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. And then you had because you kind of had a couple of things going on. You had the the stadium being built.

SPEAKER_03:

Right, which is true, by the way, right? That's a true because I had to look that up because I was like, are the Bills getting a new stadium? Is that true? So that was and yep, high mark stadium, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and then you had um the the little side story of uh Tommy always receiving our Uncle Tom or Uncle Tom. Uncle Unc. Yeah, she says that won't be. As Morgan called him. Um somebody always sent him a gift during Christmas. And how long was that going on for like 50 years or something like that? So you had that story. So I I thought it was with all that stuff going on, well, I think woven together.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. And they and part of that was the military reference, right? Because he served in I can't remember it wouldn't have been did he say Vietnam? I'm not sure. Maybe, maybe, but so while he was serving, you know, someone started sending his mom, right? Like help and groceries and things and leaving it on the doorstep, and that's kind of where it started. So you have the military aspect, and we live in a very we live in a military town.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, we do.

SPEAKER_03:

We we really do. And um, you know, and you have your whole life, and I have for a better part of 20 years now. And so it's you know, we have connection to that. Yeah, we understand that, and family members and you know, things like that. So um, yeah, there were just so many different layers of the story. And then of course you have the you know, the rom part of the rom comp, you know, you have the romance kind of budding and the way they did weave that together, the actual story of Gabe and Morgan. And I just it was, yeah, it was just really well done.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So yeah. All right, let's get into our favorite.

SPEAKER_03:

Let's get into it.

SPEAKER_00:

You want to start it?

SPEAKER_03:

Uh sure. I can I can start. So one of my favorite scenes is when we see Gabe meets up with his friends, and I think, you know, I don't know if they've been friends forever, but he meets up with, you know, like a handful of friends and and not Morgan. And he's kind of talking to them, and and they basically tell him that they know he's been in love with Morgan forever. And he his reaction is kind of like, What, what?

unknown:

What?

SPEAKER_03:

What do you mean? You know, and you know, and they're like, and they make some reference, like they say something like, You almost, you know how you almost always, you know how the Bills almost, always, almost win. Right. And they said, you know, we've seen you almost, always, almost tell Morgan how you feel. And he never, you know, and he hasn't quite done it yet. And he is like so surprised that they know, but it's clearly obvious to everyone, and we'll talk about that again a little bit later. But um, yeah, so that would be one of my favorite scenes where you so you and that was towards the beginning. So you instantly know that you know he's carried this, you know, flame for her, you know, because they grew up together, they were neighbors and whatnot. And so he's carried this, you find out right away, and he's got these three friends, and they know it right away. And his reaction was so cute. I thought he's kind of like, What? What do you mean? You know, how do you know that? You know, so I thought it was cute.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and it was kind of it was kind of interesting because they they had mentioned four and four downs that throughout the movie they they he had that conversation, and people were like, Yeah, he really loves her. He's just too scared to say anything. Yes. But they I think it was Susan and them that had mentioned that, maybe it was somebody else, but I just thought that would was interesting. But one of mine was almost right off the bat when she had that date in the bar.

SPEAKER_03:

Right at the beginning. Yes, yes, right at the beginning.

SPEAKER_00:

So you could tell she's a fan, right? Because this guy, and I I didn't really care for that character because I thought he was all about himself and kind of but she was sitting there, and every time he asked a question and she answered it, and it was kind of like the right answer, but it was the TV that the game that she was actually talking about.

SPEAKER_03:

Right. Oh, right, right. She's like, No, yeah, yes.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, and I just thought that was a funny, funny scene for an opening.

SPEAKER_03:

So well, and and she kind of he says something like, Oh, you know, I'm not really a football fan, and she's like, I know because you chose tonight as a date. Right. You know, and then the game was on, you know. You chose, so they're at a bar watching the game. Yeah, that was cute.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

So you right out of the gate see how much she's into football.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Right? Like you know right away. And she's in the bar, and I love how they're cheering and high-fiving. She says something like everybody eats. Everybody eats, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, yeah, that's and that's where you see Andrew Walker too for the first time.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

As the bartender. So that was that was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So what was another one for you?

SPEAKER_03:

Uh, I I guess my you know, I was looking over my favorite scenes and I'm like, a lot of them revolve around Gabe. Not that I don't love Morgan also, but just um, you know. Who likes me? When he when he runs into Santa, and you know, we he's had a few encounters where, you know, he could he tries to tell Morgan how he feels, and then something happens, right? And that happens throughout the whole, the whole movie, which is really cute. Um, he runs into Santa and you know, he's like, it's never gonna happen. And he's he wants to talk to Santa about it, but he doesn't let Santa speak. Right. So he's like, he's you know, he's like, uh, you know, it's never gonna happen, and what am I doing? And Santa like tries to interject, and he's like, Yeah, but can he you know can he? Yeah, so I just thought that that was I thought that was really, really cute. And then um, yeah, I just I I adored that scene. And then I think go ahead.

SPEAKER_00:

And I was just gonna say that, and Santa is another character that he brought over from you know uh the Chiefs uh a Chief's love story, yeah, yeah. Holiday touchdown, a chief's love story. Yeah, that was a really good scene. I like that one too. Because you could just see on his face he was just like was trying to answer, but he wouldn't let him answer.

SPEAKER_03:

But he wouldn't let him answer. So he kind of, you know, Gabe in that moment kind of talks himself through it himself. Like he doesn't get feedback, he just sort of talks through it. So I thought that that was really cute. And then, you know, Santa does tell Gabe you should tell her how you feel, and Gabe's like, wait, what? Is it that obvious? You know?

SPEAKER_00:

Everybody but him.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh no, maybe that's a different scene. I'm sorry, that's a different scene.

SPEAKER_00:

Everybody but him.

SPEAKER_03:

That's not uh that was at the um the craft.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, the craft.

SPEAKER_03:

That's not when he's talking to Santa. That's that's at the the CCT, the craft day at the hospital. Right, right. Right, and all the players are like, even we can see it, you know, like a blind man can see it, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

It's so funny, it's so crazy. Yeah, it was cute, yeah. So and another one of mine is the whole man cave scene with Susan.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, yes, who's played by Maria Braun.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, she played that part so well, and she was part of the three crew, the three-person crew, and I don't remember the two guys' names offhand, but that garage setup that she had with all the Bills memorabilia and the big screen TV, and they were they were kind of scared when they first went over there.

SPEAKER_03:

And the the whole scene Well, the whole point is like the Bills Mafia, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, the Bill's Mafia. And they kind and the kind the music that was playing, it was well with that scene.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes, I agree.

SPEAKER_00:

They they actually went over there because they were trying to find the person who was sending the gifts, and they went over there to talk to Susan because she's really good at social media. So it's like right off the bat, she finds out that, oh, here's an address of somebody, and well, how do you know? And then she pulls up the pictures and is like, Well, here are the pictures, right? So that was another one of my favorite scenes.

SPEAKER_03:

Definitely. I I had that also as one of my favorites, just because, like you said, it's sort of like you know, it's like a good fella scene, or maybe sopranos.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, she's like, What do you want? She's like, more than psychics.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, what are you doing? Yeah, and then she she says something about social media, like social media stalking isn't stalking isn't art. You know, and then she like, which is true. There are some people who, and you know, we have some kids who are really good at tracking things down, you know.

SPEAKER_01:

Two of them really, really well.

SPEAKER_03:

But it was just, yeah, that was really just a cute play on the whole mafia part of the Bills Mafia. Yeah. I thought that that was really, I I totally agree. Totally agree.

SPEAKER_00:

So, what's another one of yours?

SPEAKER_03:

Um, another one of mine would be I have a couple, but the big one where Gabe finally goes off and tells uh Morgan, you know, how he feels, and he goes over everything that he loves about her, and it's so reminiscent of when Harry met Sally. Yeah, you know, it just reminded me of that. And he's like, you know, I love that you're loud, I love that you jump on tables when your team scores. I love that you're funny. And he just goes, you know, you're self-deprecating and he goes on this long rant about everything. And he, you know, he says he was thinking about tonight and Mia, and Mia turns out she was the one who was in love with Uncle Tommy, right? For all those years, but never said anything. And he's like, basically, he doesn't want to end up like that. Like he doesn't want to go his lifetime and not tell her how he feels. And that's pretty much what Harry, you know, says, tells Sally at the very end of when Harry met Sally. He's like, you know, I love it when you, I love it that you get cold when it's 71 degrees. I love that it takes you an hour to order food, you know. And and then he's like, you know, when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. I mean, that's one of the most famous quotes from when Harry met Sally. And I just, and the way Matthew delivered that, I just it was so good. And I also loved Holland in that scene because she's taking it in, but it's also shocking to her.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_03:

You know, and I just her reaction was great.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

And um, you know, she doesn't like just jump into his arm, she's kind of absorbing it and taking it in. And what does she say? Something like, I think I'm gonna walk home, you know, or something now. And she just needs a minute, you know. So um, I just I loved, I love that scene.

SPEAKER_00:

That was a that was a good scene. But yeah, there was something that I noticed in that scene, is when they were walking and they turned to each other, it looked like she kind of stepped up on something.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes, you did notice that. Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Cause she was, she's I don't know how tall she is, but he seems to be pretty tall. But when she turned, she kind of stepped up on something.

SPEAKER_03:

You see the deliberate step for sure. And it's not like she's just stepping up off of you know onto the curb. You know what I mean? It's it's not like that. I mean, it is a deliberate, yeah, you did notice that. So that would be one little thing. And then the last favorite scene for me, of course, is is the the end, the football game where you know Tommy gets to go on the field and recognize that Mia, it was somebody he was what, dating before he went off to war.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_03:

And, you know, he leaves, and then when he comes back, he doesn't really want to pursue her. And in the meantime, she has been gifting his family, helping his family out, and she continued to do it every Christmas. And then you find out that she was scared to tell him, right, how she really feels. She felt like it had been too long, she didn't want to say anything. And so at the very end, they end up on the football field, and he has his military uniform on, or some no, he he comes in.

SPEAKER_00:

No, I think he's just in a like a jacket, like a jacket and yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

So he's so he, yeah, not uniform, I guess, but um, but he honors her in that moment. And I thought that was really sweet. And we were kind of tearing up. I mean, it was just really people used to yeah, yeah, it was really sweet because it was about honoring military, also. And then he was like, you know, basically, those who serve we honor, but you serve the ones who are at home taking care of everything, you know. So I thought that was really right, right. That was cool. And did you have any other favorite ones?

SPEAKER_00:

Or real quick on yours, and that was when he left for the military, it was because he got drafted, and that didn't have to be a good thing.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, right. So it had to be it had to be Vietnam then. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It had to be Vietnam.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, and that's where his mom, you know, she had to live off of that particular money, you know, that story. But um I just m I guess my last one was when Tommy, Uncle Tommy, actually told a story to Gabe and Morgan about, you know, why he was getting the gifts or how long he would had been getting them. It's like 54, 55 years.

SPEAKER_03:

Are you talking about the box or no? Just the story and yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Because they wanted to see, they were they were shocked that he still had the p the the gifts, and he's like, Yeah, yeah, I I kept them, but I put them in a box and he was bringing them out and just talking about them. And I thought that was a really, really that was another one where I was kind of tearing up a little bit. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

So no, it was it was so great, and he's so good. You know, he's good at telling us. I mean, gosh, yes, he's so good. Such a good actor, that joke. Yeah. It was it was a great scene. And you know, and of course, my mind, like I said earlier, works in entertainment, the entertainment world. So I'm thinking when there went, so one of the things in the box has like a tag on it, right? And it's a it's a famous store in Buffalo's, yeah, right. And that is an actual store, which also I love that they used traditional Buffalo, which you know, I I just thought that that was great. The um, what was the caroling? The uh I can't remember. Uh carrot. They called it carrowcade, and that's a real thing. Where they go up and down the street, right? And they, I mean, that's that's a real thing that happens there. I mean, how cool is that? I just really thought that that was that that was really cool. What's up?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So you have any more?

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, I was saying, I'm sorry, I got sidetracked. Uh my mind works, and you know, so they find the sticker, it's Viddlers, it makes them go to Viddlers, and then they're gonna go look for a receipt. And of course, that makes me think of one of our all-time favorite Christmas movies, Serendipity.

SPEAKER_01:

Serendipity.

SPEAKER_03:

And part of that is finding a receipt, right? To try to track someone down from years ago when they had carbon copies and it gets smudged, much like in this movie. So I have to wonder if the writers are fans of serendipity. Also, I'm I always think of those things like do they love, you know, you know, the the classic when Harry met Sally, did they love serendipity? So those are things that I kind of think of when I watch it. Yeah, and then you know, there was, I just gotta say this too, when Uncle Tommy and Morgan are throwing the football in the backyard. Yeah, and he says to her, Um, you know, we worry so much about what we might lose, but not enough about taking a chance and seeing what we might gain. Right. And I was like, Oh, that's good writing. That's so good, right? Because it's so true, you stress over things instead of taking that leap, taking the chance, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

So Yeah, and that's that was interesting because he was their flag football coach or football coach when they were when she was younger.

SPEAKER_03:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

So he was just so good.

SPEAKER_03:

Right, because her dad had died and yeah, and all that jazz. So and her mom had what moved in with him because that's her mom's brother, and yeah, it was just a good all-around just the story.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

The story starts with the story, right?

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

So biggest cheer from you, what would you say?

SPEAKER_00:

Um, it it would have to be when they when Gabe and Morgan found Mia and she told them her side of why she did it.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And I I thought that was oh man.

SPEAKER_03:

It was such a great scene, also. Yeah, when they're sitting in Mia's house.

SPEAKER_00:

Because she didn't have to keep doing it when Robbie came back from war, but she kept it up, you know?

SPEAKER_03:

Because she wanted to what be a little bit a part of his life or kind of stay connected to him, right? It was something like that.

SPEAKER_00:

And and it was interesting because their story ran parallel to Gabe.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes, I have that in my notes. I'm so glad you brought that up. That's one of my cheers. Yes, yes, yes. You are exactly right.

SPEAKER_00:

Did you have any more cheers?

SPEAKER_03:

Or well, I haven't said any yet, but missed that one. Yeah, that was one. Well, no, I had that in my notes, not for cheer, but yeah, but that their stories ran parallel to one another, sort of fish. Um, one of my biggest cheers is that I love how they had everyone knew that gay was in love with Morgan. And at some point in the movie, you know, Santa tells him, the players tell him, his friends tell him, and and he tries to tell her several different times throughout the movie, right? And he keeps getting inner interrupted. So I just and he's shocked, like every time someone else says, you know, dude, it's obvious. Like we can tell. And he's like, What do you mean? What? You know, he can't believe it's so obvious. And it's just, I just thought it was so cute and so well done. I just I adored it. I I thought it was cute.

SPEAKER_00:

And the and the other fun part about that is she seems so like clueless about it, right?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Everybody else around him knew, but she but her.

SPEAKER_03:

But her, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Morgan. Yeah. She was kind of, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

But then you find out she kind of did, you know, she really did kind of like him a little bit. Yeah, she's so she was so cute too. I loved I yeah. I mean, there were just lots of cheers. Her and her relationship with her sister and her family. And, you know, and I like that they didn't have her, you know, there was no like big battle of the family. There was no like anger. It was just a pleasant story, you know, a pleasant family story. And like you said earlier about the traditions of the family, both for holidays and the bills, right? And going to the games and taking the picture and all of that jazz.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

That's good. So um I liked the another cheer would be the search. Like we we've already talked about the search for the person who helped Tommy's family. Just, you know, they were searching for receipts, they finally found the receipt, then they had to work together to track down, you know, um, Mia. So I I thought that was really great. I loved the marquee in the town.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

It had it said five, yeah, it said five gold rings. Um, I thought that that was great because, you know, um, did it have anything else on it? Did it have her other movies? Did it have um it has, yeah, I think it had two. Time for him to come home for Christmas, or did it have a couple of her other maybe Hollins? I just thought that that was cute.

SPEAKER_00:

You had mentioned that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

So that's I believe in um, you know, like we said, we then went and watched Holiday Touchdown, A Chiefs Love Story, and the marquee in that movie did have like Tyler Hines' An Unexpected Christmas.

SPEAKER_01:

Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Right. And I think it had um Hunter King's did it have her Santa one. I think I can't remember now. I think so. But I thought it was that was a cute play that they kind of had the movies that they were. That's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_00:

You get so caught up in the and yeah the movie, you kind of miss some of the little Easter eggs that they pop out every once in a while, but it was really well done.

SPEAKER_03:

Did you have any other cheers?

SPEAKER_00:

Um Yeah, I think my last one would have been when uh her her and Gabe were on a kind kind of like a date. I think it was during the time when they were searching for Mia. Um, she gets a call from the nurse at at the hospital that one of the children is afraid to get, you know, a shot. So she stops what she's doing and she goes to the hospital and kind of talks her through. Uh the other nurse gives the shot. And you can see Gabe looking like, wow, what does this lady not do? You know, what does she not sacrifice something? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

The way he kind of looks at her.

SPEAKER_00:

It's really cool.

SPEAKER_03:

And her name was Martha Quinn.

SPEAKER_00:

Martha Quinn.

SPEAKER_03:

And she was a doctor. And so, of course, my mind went to Dr. Quinn, medicine woman. Yeah. Hello, this movie was filled with stuff. My head was like, oh my gosh, what's going on? Oh, yeah. Lots of lots of cute stuff. I did, I do have to mention, um, they had um they they mentioned at the beginning about a family group chat, and they're like, oh, you never answer it, and she's always texting or whatever. And I just thought every family has one, right? We have one with our kids, and some people answer, some people don't. Yeah, we pretty much know who's going to respond first, and I'm sure they get annoyed with our text. So I just thought that that was funny. It's so relatable, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it is. It really, no, I did not. The only there was one scene where I thought it might have been a green screen when they were sitting in the bleachers. I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_03:

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00:

Kind of looked like it, but if it was gonna be a jeer jeer, that would be it. Yeah. What about you?

SPEAKER_03:

I don't, yeah, I'm not sure if it was or not. I well, I don't know, but I didn't really notice, so that's a good thing. Yeah. Well, because usually I'm like, oh, green screen, but um I mentioned this, and this is just a personal thing with me, the corny, quirky music. I Hallmark does you don't need it, you just don't need it in these movies. And I understand like maybe once or twice a little bit. It was in a few spots. Now, this did also have some good songs in it. You know, you had Dean Martin at the beginning, and I mean there were some good music in it. You just didn't need the little quirky bits, as I like to call them, of music. I just I pr that's a personal thing. I know, you know, I'm sure it's fine, obviously, because it's in almost every movie, but right um that would be my only jeer. Oh, that's not bad though. Yeah, that's not bad. That doesn't take away. All right, all right.

SPEAKER_00:

So do you have a tinsel top moment?

SPEAKER_03:

It would definitely be when Gabe was saying everything he loved about Morgan in that moment. I loved that scene on the street. I thought it was great. I thought he delivered it well. I thought her reaction was great, even though it wasn't like, oh my god, I love you too. You know, it wasn't like that. It was more reserved. She had to think about it. She took it in, she wanted to get out so she could think of, you know, get away. I just I thought that whole scene worked, and I just I I loved that scene. I thought it was great.

SPEAKER_01:

That's good.

SPEAKER_03:

Because he finally got it out. He finally after the whole movie, he finally got it out. So that would be my tinsel top moment. Well, that's good. What about you?

SPEAKER_00:

Mine would be at the end where they took the family photo on the field. Yes. With the the um old timers. But they got to play. The old timers, they actually got to play a little football with them. And I thought that was a really, really cool scene.

SPEAKER_03:

So very, very cool scene. I agree. Totally cool. So out of five ornaments, how many would you hang on the trees?

SPEAKER_00:

This one's getting four and three-quarters for me.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, okay. Almost a five from you. That's really good. Yeah, I'm gonna give it a solid four. It was really good. I really enjoyed it. It led us to watch Holiday Touchdown, a Chiefs love story. Literally, right after we finished watching it, we're like, we have to go, because we were pleasantly surprised. And, you know, to be totally honest here, we're not Chiefs fans.

SPEAKER_01:

No.

SPEAKER_03:

I mean, I know Kansas City, I know I understand the whole Hallmark thing, but personally, you know, we're big football fans, Colts, Cowboys, Cowboys. Um, which I you may love or hate us for that, but um, but so we were kind of like but we did watch it and we really enjoyed that one also, and might have to review that at some point as well with Tyler Hines and Hunter King.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah. So is that a wrap?

SPEAKER_03:

That is a wrap. All right, so thanks for listening again, and make sure you follow us wherever you get your podcasts and on social media so you don't miss a thing. Until next time. Cheers.