Warning: Light spoilers ahead.
I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Lea Michele’s holiday-themed romantic comedy, Same Time, Next Christmas, since I watched it last night. It’s your typical, delightful rom-com: An architect, Olivia Anderson (Lea Michele), heads to Hawaii for the holidays, where her family and another family, the Williamses, travel every year for Christmas. For context: Over the years she’d formed a friendship with the Williams’ son, Jeff. But after the Williams matriarch passed away, they stopped going to Hawaii with the Andersons.
Cut to the present day: Olivia is back in Hawaii, and so is the Williams family—including a very hot, very grown-up Jeff (played by Charles Michael Davis). Sparks fly, naturally, but there’s an issue: Olivia has a boyfriend back at home, Gregg (Bryan Greenberg), who surprises her on the trip. A love triangle of sorts unfolds with—spoiler alert—Jeff winning out in the end. You’ll have to watch the movie to find out how this specifically unfolds, but in my opinion, there was no contest. Jeff is beefy and goofy and was down to go cliff-diving with Olivia. Gregg, meanwhile, would rather run laps than lie on the beach and didn’t want to pack a picnic for his hike with Olivia because he had protein bars. He was hilariously, dramatically unfun.
“On paper Gregg and Olivia are a great match, but in reality there”s something missing,” Greenberg tells Glamour. “He conflates business with love. He’s looking more for a business partner than a mate. He doesn’t really understand the difference between the two, which in a romantic comedy doesn’t go over well, as you might guess.”
Part of the reason why I couldn’t get enough of Same Time, Next Christmas was that the right choices were just so obvious. Watching Olivia toggle back and forth between Jeff and Gregg felt a lot like watching a scream queen make poor decisions in a horror movie. I shouted at my screen many times while watching Same Time, Next Christmas. It was an absolute blast.
Here are just a few things that got me riled up—in the most fun way possible—while watching this movie. If you decide to check it out yourself, I guarantee you will feel the same.
Just to reiterate. The choice for Right Man was always crystal clear. Exhibit A: Jeff, the broad-shouldered king who made flower crowns for Olivia on their lagoon date.
Exhibit B: Gregg and his protein bars. See the way Olivia is smiling her way through the pain in this photo? She could be on the beach, sitting on a lounge chair, eating a turkey club—but no! Her fiancé instead insisted on a dumb hike with his dumb healthy snacks. Thankfully it’s not too long after this that Olivia realizes Jeff is the one for her and calls things off with Gregg. (She does this, mind you, the night before their wedding. A destination wedding. In Hawaii. Where all their friends and family members have traveled to. It’s unhinged.)
Watch the movie, and you’ll see how all Olivia’s parents (played by Nia Vardalos and George Newbern) do is get drunk and make out with each other. It’s the ideal marriage. Why aren’t they at the center of this movie? Why aren’t they at the center of every movie?
Speaking of underserved characters: Let me introduce you to Olivia’s gay brother, Drew, and his insanely hot partner, whose name I forget but whose abs I definitely don’t. He should’ve been shirtless the whole movie. Where is the justice?
And last but not least, my biggest question: Do people…build snowmen…out of sand…when they're at the beach? What do you call it? A sandman? A sand snowman? This was a whole subplot in Same Time, Next Christmas, and it’s still boggling my mind.
Looks like I’ll need to watch this movie another 10 times to get my questions answered.
Christopher Rosa is the staff entertainment writer at Glamour. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrosa92.
.jpg)
