[Warning: General spoilers ahead.]
Katee Sackhoff and Terry O’Quinn headlining a holiday Christmas movie probably wasn’t on your bingo card, but here we are. Sunday (yes, Halloween) night, the duo play a daughter/father pair who have to repair some old wounds over the holidays. Note that it’s Hallmark Channel and not Hallmark Movies & Mysteries so that should clue you in on the tone.
Sackoff not only stars in the film, she also executive produces alongside her husband, Robin Gadsby, who wrote the film, and Kristofer McNeeley. Stacey N. Harding directs.
Sackhoff plays Liz Darling, an event planner and single mom who’s planning a hotel holiday with her young daughter, Hannah (Emma Oliver), as they wait for insurance money to come through to repair their home after a fire. Back home in the coastal town of Portisde, her father, Dennis (O’Quinn), stays in touch with Liz’s childhood BFF, Luke (The Flash‘s Patrick Sabongui), but she’s left the town–and them–behind since the death of her mom.
When Dennis rushes in to protect a little girl from getting hurt by a falling Christmas tree, local baker and longtime family friend Joyce (Lossen Chambers) takes the opportunity to call Liz back to Portside for a forced family reunion. That’s great for Dennis and Hannah but not so great for Dennis and Liz. One upside is that the trip reconnects her with Luke, whose bachelorhood is a problem for everyone in the town but him. That might be a moot point pretty soon.
Once home, Liz finds out that Dennis is in financial straits so on a whim she decides to help by jumping into the town’s annual Christmas Eve floating parade competition in pursuit of its $25,000 grand prize. That sends her down memory lane working alongside Luke to get the long-docked family boat ready for an event that her mom was the gold standard for. And her dad is none-too-pleased, having shelved the holidays after Liz’s mom died.
The movie is as much a family love story as it is a romcom, and the scenes with Dennis, Liz, and Hannah are just as charming as the romance. It’s nice to see Sackhoff come play in this world–and bring her own project to the screen. In case you missed it, you can also catch her over on Netflix in Season 2 of Another Life. And O’Quinn is a fun watch in lighter material. The world knows him for Lost but he’s always going to be Kate’s dad from The Cutting Edge to me. I’m here for Sabongui as a romcom lead, too.
Christmas Sail premieres Sunday at 8 pm/7c on Hallmark Channel in the US and W Network in Canada. Here’s a sneak peek.
Photos and video courtesy of Crown Media,
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