“The Flight Before Christmas” is delightfully fun for a holiday film and it’s a holiday romantic comedy telefilm worth recommending!
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TITLE: The Flight Before Christmas
FILM YEAR: 2015
DURATION: 87 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition
COMPANY: Lifetime Television
RATED: TV-PG
RELEASE DATE: 2015
Directed by Peter Sullivan
Story by Jeffrey Schenck, Peter Sullivan
Screenplay by Jennifer Notas Shapiro
Executive Producer: Barry Barnholtz, Zelma Kiwi, Jeffrey Schenck
Produced by Mayim Bialik, Tiffany Kuzon
Co-Producer: Peter Sullivan
Associate Producer: Brian Nolan
Music by Matthew Janszen
Cinematography by Stuart Brereton
Edited by Randy Carter
Casting by Dean E. Fronk, Donald Paul Pemrick
Production Design by Fernando Valdes
Art Decoration by Khalif Greene, Deguie Sanabria, Tino Struckmann
Set Decoration by Tino Struckmann
Costume Design by Darragh Marmorstein
Starring:
Mayim Bialik as Stephanie Michelle Hunt
Ryan McPartlin as Michael Nolan
Reginald VelJohnson as Joe
Jo Marie Payton as Marie
Brian Doyle-Murray as Noel Nichols
Trilby Glover as Courtney Carson
Roxana Ortega as Kate
Candice Azzara as Debbie
Rob MAthes as Sean
Carol Mack as Dolores
Gib Gerard as Brian
Stephanie is originally planning to spend the holidays moving in with her boyfriend… until he breaks up with her. Faced with spending the holidays heartbroken, and homeless, she books a last minute flight home. Meanwhile, Michael is going to spend Christmas with his long-distance girlfriend. After years of being together he figures it’s time to pop the question. Stephanie and Michael find themselves on the same flight the day before Christmas Eve, and the two do not get off to a great start. Things get even worse when the pilot announces an unexpected snowstorm is crossing the country and they are being diverted to Montana. Stephanie snags the last available room at a small town bed and breakfast and in the spirit of the holidays she offers to share it with Michael. Snowed in and trying their best to get along, they discover they might not have to try that hard after all. Mayim Bialik, Ryan McPartlin, Reginald VelJohnson, Jo Marie Payton, Brian Doyle-Murray star. (2015)
The holiday film marathon continues with day 7 and this time, I’m trying the Lifetime Holiday film, “The Flight Before Christmas” which is directed by Peter Sullivan and based on a story by Jeffrey Schenck and Peter Sullivan, with a screenplay by Jennifer Notas Shapiro.
With this 2015 film, it stars Mayim Bialik (“Big Bang Theory”, “Blossom”, “MacGyver”), who also co-produced the film. The film also stars Ryan McPartlin “Chuck”, L.A.’s Finest”, “J. Edgar”), Reginald VelJohnson (“Die Hard” 1 and 2, “Family Matters”, “Ghostbusters”), Jo Marie Payton (“Family Matters”, “The Proud Family”), Brian Doyle-Murphy (“Ghostbusters II”, “JFK”, “Wayne’s World”, “Caddyshack”), Tribly Glover (“Righteous Kill”, “Crash”) and Roxana Ortega (“Miss Congeniality 2”, “The Casagrandes”, “Santa Clarita Diet”).
In this holiday film, the film focuses on two characters: Stephanie Michelle Hunt (portrayed by Mayim Bialik) and Michael Nolan (portrayed by Ryan McPartlin).
For Stephanie, she works for an advertisement agency and she’s happy to be moving in with her boyfriend, and while her parents want to see her for Christmas, she is wanting to spend time with him for the holidays.
Unfortunately, the day she moves out of her home and is to move with her boyfriend, he decided that they aren’t a good fit and breaks up with her.
Depressed, having no home, she decides to leave and visit her family for the holidays.
For Michael, he is a marketing executive who is always traveling. He has a relationship with Courtney (portrayed by Trilby Glover), whom he sees once a month and are not having the best relationship, but yet he wonders if he should buy a ring and marry her.
As the two are traveling to Connecticut for the holidays, they end up sitting with each other and they don’t necessarily get along as Stephanie (who is still emotional after the breakup) thinks Michael tried to cheat in line at the airport (in truth, he rode first class, so he got to go in the airline first).
While Michael sees a man having difficulties while on the flight, he decides to give the man, Noel Nichols his first class tickets and he would take his seat. And sure enough, the person who he will be sitting next to is Stephanie.
While the two are flying, they fly through turbulence due to a snowstorm and learn that their flight will be diverted to Montana and will have to wait in the airport until the storm subsides and flying would be safe again.
While arriving, Stephanie overhears Michael talking to his girlfriend and immediately tells him that she can sense they are in a doomed relationship.
Unfortunately, there are no hotels in a 50 mile radius and the only option is to sleep in the airport, which she doesn’t want to do.
Stephanie finds out from Noel about the kindness of Michael giving his first class tickets to him and explains how its good to pay it forward by doing good deeds, so he tells her about a hotel that she can stay at. And she calls and sure enough, there is a room available.
Heeding Noel’s advice, she books the room and invites Michael to stay in the same hotel room. Granted, she gets the bed, he gets the sofa but the option is much better than sleeping in the airport.
So, these two individuals who don’t get along, must try to find ways of getting along, especially as the snow storm means the two will be stuck in Montana for a few days. And so these two, who don’t get along, eventually start to hang out and get to know each other. And begin to have an attraction towards each other.
“The Flight Before Christmas” is an opposites attract style of storyline. And before anyone gets triggered, there is no cheating. Sure, they are staying at a hotel with each other and hanging out with each other, but its more of getting to know each other (not in a romantic kind of way). I emphasize this because I know in the past, there are similar type of films, which people get upset if someone cheats in their current relationship. And I know for a few people, for Michael to accept to stay in the hotel and also to hang out with Stephanie, is considered a bad thing.
For me, I don’t see it that way. And I travel the world, meeting other women in a non-romantic way, and by no means do I see it as cheating. As Michael tells his girlfriend, when he explains to her that he is staying with Stephanie in a hotel, but not in the same room, that she should trust him. And I know the word “trust” is subjective to the individual and it makes me think of the romantic comedy classic “When Harry Met Sally” and whether or not a man and a woman can be just friends. Of course they can, others may disagree.
Needless to say, It’s a holiday Lifetime film and what happens to the couple is easily predictable. The questions is how? And I liked seeing how this film played out.
I personally found “The Flight Before Christmas” to be delightful, fun and it was cool to see Mayim Bialik star in this romantic comedy film. Ryan McPartlin, has become one of the top holiday film actors and has appeared in numerous holiday films since 2012’s “Holly’s Holiday”.
But I think for some TV fans who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, to see the reunion of Reginald VelJohnson and Jo Marie Payton, who played the parents on the hit TV show “Family Matters”, playing the hotel owners Joe and Marie, was pretty cool!
And for ’80s and ’90s film fans, the telefilm also features the appearance of busy actor Brian Doyle-Murray, an actor well-known for many appearances in “Caddyshack”, “Wayne’s World”, “JFK”, “Ghostbusters II”, to name a few. Doyle-Murray plays Noel Nichols, may he be an angel or cupid, he magically finds a way to bring Stephanie and Michael closer together.
Overall, “The Flight Before Christmas” is delightfully fun for a holiday film and it’s a holiday romantic comedy telefilm worth recommending!
PURCHASE THIS FILM ON AMAZON PRIME
