Holiday Engagement (2011)

Afraid to tell her family she's been dumped, Hillary hires an actor to play her fiancé during a four-day Thanksgiving weekend at her parents' house.

Director:

Jim Fall

Writers:

Charlotte Clark-Gamache (story by) (as Charlotte Gamache), Barbara Kymlicka (story by)

Stars:

Bonnie Somerville, Shelley Long, Jordan Bridges

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bonnie Somerville	...	Hillary Burns
Shelley Long	...	Meredith Burns
Jordan Bridges	...	David
Sam McMurray	...	Roy Burns (as Sam Mcmurray)
Haylie Duff	...	Trish
Carrie Wiita	...	Joy Burns
Chris McKenna	...	Jason King (as Chris Mckenna)
Edi Patterson	...	Sophie
Christopher Goodman	...	Peter
Jennifer Elise Cox	...	Woman in Bridal Store
Sam Pancake	...	Julian
Susie Castillo	...	Lindsay
Michael Monks	...	Father Macy
Sam Horrigan	...	Surfer Dude
Roy Jenkins	...	Boring Man

Storyline

Thirty-something Hillary Burns has spent her life trying to get the approval of her parents (most specifically her judgmental mother, Meredith Burns) thus far without success. Part of that approval for Hillary is to marry the right man. That's why Hillary is so happy she is engaged to successful lawyer Jason King, whom she will bring home to meet the family for the first time at their Thanksgiving get-together weekend in a week's time; however, Hillary's life starts to fall apart when simultaneously she loses her part-time newspaper writing job (when the newspaper itself folds) and Jason dumps her to focus on his career (which is seemingly more important to him than Hillary). On the advice of her best friend Sophie, Hillary - who feels she can't go home without Jason (especially as her two sisters' lives seem to meet their mother's approval) - decides reluctantly to go to an online dating site to find someone to pose as Jason for the upcoming family weekend. She finds David, an actor ...

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Plot Keywords:

deception | actor | thanksgiving | wedding | lawyer | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 November 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Holiday Engagement

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Johnson Production Group, Tim Johnson Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bonnie Somerville and Sam Pancake appeared on Kitchen Confidential (2005).

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Goofs

The fiancé knows the words to and could play on the piano "Angels We Have Heard on High" in spite of being Jewish.

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Quotes

Meredith Burns: So what's going on with you and Jason?
Hillary Burns: Nothing.
Meredith Burns: My point exactly. For two young lovebirds, I don't see much affection. No kiss. No hug.
Hillary Burns: Mom, he's just not a touchy-feely guy. Don't worry about it.
Meredith Burns: Well, I just want to be able to see your marriage succeed, you know? Most marriages fall apart first in the bedroom. You know, your father and I make love three times a week.

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Connections

Featured in MsMojo: Top 10 Christmas Movies to Watch on Netflix (2018)

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Soundtracks

Angels We Have Heard on High
(uncredited)
Traditional Christmas tune based on a traditional French carol known as "Les Anges dans nos campagnes", composed by an unknown author.
Performed by Jordan Bridges
(Scene with David playing the piano)

User Reviews

Good concept but horrid writing

When I heard the concept it I remembered me of a blockbuster film that came out several years before this one that did very well...but this one, with the weird set up, the overly judgmental mother and lack luster acting...

This is becoming a staple of Hallmark films the past 5 years or so. For every good film there's like 10 bad ones, and this one was bad.

In the end it wasn't even worth using as background noise because every time I would hope the scene I wanted was gonna get better...it got worse. Only ONE good scene in the whole film, took near the end of the film... wasn't worth it.