Donna Kelce and Andy Reid are in Hallmark’s new Christmas movie, but not Taylor Swift. That’s a good thing.
Unlike its Lifetime counterpart, Hallmark’s holiday football movie has real teams and players — and steers clear of overt references to the popstar and her boyfriend, Travis Kelce.
The latest entry into the Kelce family cinematic universe, Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story, released on the Hallmark Channel on Saturday.
This is the third Kelce-adjacent Christmas movie to arrive this winter, after Hallmark’s Christmas on Call and Lifetime’s Christmas in the Spotlight, both of which we’ve reviewed by The Inquirer.
Holiday Touchdown stars Donna Kelce and a host of real-life NFL players, plus Andy Reid and several fictional Chiefs fan engagement staffers. But unlike Christmas in the Spotlight, there were hardly any Taylor Swift references. So, how was it? In case you don’t want to spend 90 minutes watching it, here’s what you missed …
What is the plot of ‘Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story?’
Alana is a Chiefs superfan, whose parents met because they had Chiefs season tickets right next to one another. Now, their family runs two businesses — a Chiefs merchandise store and a barbecue restaurant (managed by Donna Kelce) — and is up for the Chiefs’ Fan of the Year. If they win, the whole family would get sideline passes, plus they would be featured on the field prior to the game, thanks to their lucky, one-of-a-kind Christmas hat. (They superstitiously believe that someone has to wear the hat on Christmas or the Chiefs won’t make the Super Bowl.)
Derek, the Chiefs director of fan engagement, stops by the restaurant and meets Alana and her family, who immediately try to set the two of them up, but nothing comes of it at first, since he’s a nonbeliever in the hat. He later goes to their store to interview the family for the Fan of the Year contest, and after some initial sparks, he and Alana start dating.
Her family wins the contest — definitely no conflict of interest here — but Alana mysteriously loses their lucky hat at an event. During the holidays, which they conveniently celebrate early to avoid conflicts with the Chiefs’ Christmas Day game against (who else?) the Eagles, Alana’s parents gift Derek a homemade replica of the hat. Derek suggests they try to pass off the hat during the pregame feature, but Alana refuses, and they break up after he calls the hat — and their superstition — silly.
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At the game where Alana’s family is being honored, Derek tries to make amends by giving every fan a replica hat and spread the Christmas magic. It works, as he and Alana reunite at the game, with Derek even filling the empty seat in Alana’s family’s row at Arrowhead, which was left vacant after her grandmother passed away. (As Chiefs director of fan engagement, Derek simply would not have the time to ever sit down with them to watch a home game because he needs to work during the games, but I’ll let it slide.)
Are there any Taylor Swift Easter Eggs?
There aren’t many, and it’s not nearly as explicit as Christmas in the Spotlight, which hits you over the head with a Swift lyric in every sentence. But in Donna Kelce’s first scene, Alana’s mother and grandmother are trying to matchmake Derek and Alana, and Donna advises, “Don’t force it, ladies. Just let it happen. Trust me on this one.”
Could that be a subtle nod to Swift’s relationship with Travis?
Donna Kelce, Andy Reid, and more cameos
Donna Kelce headlines the celebrity cameos, but a number of famous faces showed up during Holiday Touchdown.
Donna Kelce makes three appearances in the movie, two as the meddling barbecue restaurant manager and a third where she appeared to be playing herself, which was a bit confusing. Kelce takes Derek’s order and helps Alana’s mother and grandmother interrogate him when he first comes to the restaurant to see if he’d be a good fit for Alana. Near the end of the movie, at the Christmas Day game, she wears her famous combined Eagles-Chiefs jersey — something seemingly out of character for the manager of a K.C. barbecue joint — and takes a photo with Alana’s family. She doesn’t have any lines in this scene, so she could technically still be her character from the movie and a Kelce superfan, but it definitely feels like she’s Momma Kelce. Notably, in Christmas On Call, Kelce’s character also works in a restaurant as a cashier.
Andy Reid appears at the end of the movie and has just one line, breaking up the end-of-movie kiss to get the game going. “We kind of need the field now,” Reid says. “Let’s roll!”
Chiefs receiver Mecole Hardman makes a brief appearance with a cat named “Cat-Trick Mahomes” at the Chiefs’ holiday party.
» READ MORE: Jason Kelce discusses sibling rivalries and explains why he doesn’t help friends get free Taylor Swift tickets
Chiefs offensive tackle Trey Smith also makes a brief appearance in the movie to tell Alana that he showed the lucky Christmas hat story to eid and that the team is counting on her to wear it.
Retired quarterback Trent Green, who won a Super Bowl with St. Louis and played six seasons with the Chiefs, appears at the holiday market where Derek and Alana have their first date and challenges them to a football throwing game, which Alana wins.
The mayor of Kansas City, Quinton Lucas, also appears in the holiday market scene.
Jenna Bush Hager, a cohost of Today with Hoda Kotb and daughter of former president George W. Bush, makes her acting debut as the Chiefs in-arena host in the final scene.
Is it better than ‘Christmas in the Spotlight?’
Definitely. Honestly, I really liked this movie for what it was. I thought the leads had solid chemistry and I liked the movie’s focus on sports fandom and how it connects family and community, which gave it a heartwarming core. It reminded me a bit of Set It Up, the greatest rom-com of the modern era and also a love letter to sports fandom (even if they use the Yankees as their example, which …).
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Unlike Christmas in the Spotlight, which was basically as direct a copy of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship as they could get away with, Holiday Touchdown is divorced enough from the Taylor-and-Travis storyline to be interesting and engaging without the fan-fiction ick. I did get a good laugh out of Alana asking Derek to name three facts about Len Dawson after insisting that he knows who he is.
It’s still a pretty cheesy Christmas storyline with a contrived third act breakup, but I had a great time.