Undercover Holiday Movie Review

When a pop star brings her bodyguard home for the holidays, she tells her over-protective family that he is her new boyfriend. In Undercover Holiday, does a pretend relationship develop into something more? Or, will the couple be able to keep things strictly professional? Here's a look at the movie, the cast, and my review.

About Undercover Holiday

Jaylen's (Noemi Gonzalez) life has changed a lot recently. As the winner of a singing competition, she is the hottest pop star and getting lots of attention. That includes a recent stalker, so her record label hires Matt (Stephen Huszar), a bodyguard to protect her.

When Jaylen goes home for the holidays, she lies about her relationship with Matt. As an overly protective family who thinks that Los Angeles is unsafe, Jaylen knows that her family would freak out if they knew the truth. So she introduces Matt as her boyfriend, and makes him keep up the charade during their visit.

As Jaylen visits with friends and family while home, she also has a bunch of publicity events. That puts Matt in a tough spot as he tries to do his job protecting her. As a former Navy Seal, he takes his job very seriously and it's hard for him to relax the way that Jaylen wants him to. And, it's hard to fake that they are in a relationship.

As a guy used to his solitary life, Matt appreciates the family support that Jaylen has. By staying with her family, he gets to experience Christmas surrounded by love and family. Jaylen learns a lot from him too while they are together. Matt helps her see that she needs to take control of her career and not let the label dictate the type of music she makes. She wants to release songs in both English and Spanish, but the label pushes back.

Undercover Holiday Review

Undercover Holiday starts slowly and at first I thought it was going to be a clunker, but the movie improved as it went along. Although, not enough for me to recommend it. If you are a fan of Luke on Chesapeake Shores then you may enjoy the movie since you'll get to see Stephen on screen again. And, Matt is a lot like Luke. Both characters are men who are used to going through life alone, until they meet strong women with amazing families.

The Verdict: Falls Flat. Like any movie there are bits and pieces of the movie that I didn't mind. I enjoyed watching Jaylen since she's a strong and independent woman who ultimately stands up to her family and her label. And, I enjoyed the family dynamics of the multi-generational Rodriguez family. Those special family moments, celebrating their Christmas traditions together, are usually my favorite part of a Hallmark Christmas movie.

On the flip side, Undercover Holiday isn't very original and it doesn't have any of those special moments that make a movie worth watching. When the emotion a movie evokes is, “How much longer do I have to watch this”, then something is terribly wrong with the movie. I couldn't wait to get to the end so that I could start another movie that would get me into the Christmas spirit.

This movie originally aired on December 4th, so we have another two weeks of new, original movies to watch. Where do you think this movie will end-up on my list of the best Hallmark Christmas movies for this year?

Watch Undercover Holiday on Hallmark or PeacockTV