Stream It or Skip It

In the new Hallmark Channel Countdown to Christmas movie The Christmas Cup, two neighboring towns are rivals battling for supremacy in annual holiday competition. Marine Kelly Brandt (Rhiannon Fish) has returned home for the holiday and is recruited as her town’s team captain, and along the way she falls for the local fire chief helping to train her team. When Kelly is forced to choose between a job offer that will send her to Hawai’i and staying in the town where she’s starting to reestablish her roots, she’s torn over what to do.

The Gist: Staff Sergeant Kelly Brandt is a Marine whose recent knee injury has forced her out of active duty. After receiving her medical discharge, she returns to her hometown of Longleaf for Christmas and is recruited to be the captain of the town’s Christmas Cup team. The Christmas Cup is a competition between two neighboring towns, Longleaf and Bridgeport, and Brandt’s family has a long history of participating. Her mother, who passed away, often captained the town’s team, and her father is the outgoing mayor, so Kelly’s decision to be captain is very personal.

The Longleaf team is a rag-tag bunch; there’s the disinterested jock, Duke, who’s only there because he has to be, theatre-loving Starla who loves to sing carols (badly), local trivia nerd Bree, who’s also Kelly’s bestie, and Kelly’s brother Mickey, who is a baking savant. (Each of them has been selected because they excel in the Christmas Cup categories they’re competing in). Kelly also enlists the help of local fire chief, Quinn (Ben Rosenbaum) to help the team out. Though they’ve only just met, Quinn, a former soldier himself, and Kelly bond quickly as they whip their team into shape, but when Kelly receives a call offering her a military job in Hawai’i, it stirs up mixed feelings for her — she loves her work, but she’s formed a close attachment to Quinn. Will she stay in Longleaf for the Christmas Cup, or hear the call of duty and leave her family and new relationship behind?

What Movies Will It Remind You Of? The competition aspect reminds me of last year’s The Santa Class, about two competing Santa schools engaged in a holiday tournament, although that one was much sillier and The Christmas Cup is more sentimental.

Performance Worth Watching: As Sheila Steele, the initially mean-spirited mayor of neighboring Bridgeport, Tetiana Ostapowych brings the only real energy and edge to an otherwise drab movie.

Memorable Dialogue: “Your mom would be so proud. Her whole life was dedicated to you kids and this town, she’d be overjoyed to see you leading the Christmas Cup,” Kelly’s dad tells her, kind of summing up the entire essence of the movie.

A Holiday Tradition: Two towns, both alike in dignity, engage in an annual, fierce competition, including tests of egg-nog swilling, Christmas-cookie tasting, untangling tangled strands of twinkle lights, and Christmas caroling and this year happens to be the 50th annual competition. The winner earns the prestigious Christmas Cup and bragging rights.

Does The Title Make Any Sense? The film is entirely about the competition known as the Christmas Cup, the title is apt.

Our Take: The Christmas Cup is not the first Hallmark holiday movie this year with a military theme running through it; both this film and the recently released Christmas on Duty feel like they’re actively trying to recruit people to enlist in the military, offering idealistic views of service and loyalty to the country. (Serving the country is certainly noble, but through the lens of Hallmark it’s overly sanitized and the constant references to the importance of honor and duty are a bit distracting.)

When you think of a quintessential Hallmark holiday movie and the feelings they evoke, The Christmas Cup is like the archetype of the genre: the protagonists are kind beyond measure, chivalrous, sentimental and complimentary, the competition between the two towns is fierce but friendly, everyone is as warm as the marshmallow-topped cups of cocoa they all keep sipping. (And the “villain” in the story, Bridgeport’s callous Mayor Steele, is a real jerk until she’s not. This is a movie so idealistic and pure that its wholesomeness bleeds into every aspect: the main relationship is bland and devoid of any sex appeal, every character is earnest to the point of being humorless, and its a message of kindness that hits you over the head harder than an after-school special.

Our Call: SKIP IT! Though The Christmas Cup has a few merits, its overly saccharine vibes are predictable, bordering on too ingenuous for its own good.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! (At least, that’s what Andy Williams promised.) The holidays are a time to celebrate with family, friends, food, and, let’s not forget, fun things to watch. Whether you’re huddled up with the whole family in your living room or cozying up under the covers with your tablet, let Decider be your guide to all things festive this holiday season.

Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.