Christmas on TV: A Boyfriend for Christmas

I'll be honest. I wasn't paying that much attention while I was watching this one. I'm usually trying to blog at the same time, and some movies become more like background noise if they don't have big name stars or a unique plot line. But I did make several personally meaningful observations about this one in the midst of my typing.

About 30 minutes in, I looked up to see the Salt Lake City skyline, complete with the temple. Having lived near SLC for a large portion of my life, I recognize it almost instantly. Plus, it only has a few skyscrapers condensed into a small area and backed by mountains--it pretty much gives itself away.

Watching movies that are filmed in Salt Lake City brings me a special kind of delight because I spend the rest of the movie trying to figure out if I've been to the various locations where scenes are being filmed. The skating rink downtown, the parks nearby Salt Lake City. (Interested viewers can also watch Everything You Want/Love Surreal, available on Netflix and starring Nick Zano, and plenty of Disney Channel Original Movies for more of Salt Lake City on the small screen.)

About halfway through A Boyfriend for Christmas, Holly and the boyfriend Santa gave her for Christmas--who calls himself Doug Firwood--are sitting on a bench overlooking the Salt Lake Valley, and I think to myself, "I've been on that date!" Sure enough, I recognize the views from a hike I went on last summer with a guy friend from high school who was attending the University of Utah.

Even weirder--that's not the first time I've had that thought while watching a movie. The same overlook is featured in My Girlfriend's Boyfriend, an independent movie available to watch on Netflix. It stars Alyssa Milano and Christopher Gorham and has a surprise twist ending that even I didn't fully see coming.

But back to A Boyfriend for Christmas. In the end, Doug Firwood reveals that his real name is actually Ryan Hughes, she decides she loves him more than her old boyfriend who's been hanging around for no apparent reason, and they share a final kiss on the same bench overlooking Salt Lake. Based on plot alone, I can't really tell you if you should watch this one. But Santa Claus is played by the great Charles Durning. And just maybe, like me, you get a kick out of seeing on screen places you've also seen in real life.