''A Boyfriend for Christmas'' is a 2004 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made fo ...

romantic Christmas film starring

Patrick Muldoon Patrick Muldoon (born September 27, 1968) is an American actor, film producer, and musician. Early life and education Muldoon was born in San Pedro, California, the son of Deanna, a homemaker, and William Patrick Muldoon II, a personal injury ...

and

Kelli Williams Kelli Renee Williams (born June 8, 1970) is an American actress and director. She is known for her roles as lawyer, Lindsay Dole on the legal drama ''The Practice'', psychologist and deception expert Dr. Gillian Foster on ''Lie to Me'', and Jac ...

. Directed by Kevin Connor and written by Roger Schroeder, it aired November 27, 2004 on the

Hallmark Channel The Hallmark Channel is an American television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., which in turn is owned by Hallmark Cards, Inc. The channel's programming is primarily targeted at families, and features a mix of television movies a ...

Plot

After helping a boy take his little sister to see Santa, 13-year-old Holly Grant tells a shopping mall Santa Claus that she would like to have a boyfriend for Christmas. Twenty years later, Holly is a romantic skeptic and is more focused on her career as a social worker. At the time, she is in court helping a mother get her children back from foster care. When the mother's lawyer, Ryan Hughes, does not show up in court, Holly is extremely angry and sends Hughes a letter via her secretary. On Christmas Day, she opens her door to a man carrying a Christmas tree and a bow on his chest. He hands her a note that says, "As promised, one boyfriend for Christmas," and introduces himself as "Douglas Firwood". She assumes he is a gag present from her friend Diane, and invites him into her home. Later that day she takes him with her to her parents' house for Christmas dinner. Hoping to keep her matchmaking family, especially her manipulative sister-in-law Carol, off her back, she tells everyone that Douglas is her long-term boyfriend, and Douglas plays along. On New Year's Eve, Holly learns from her scheming ex-boyfriend Ted that Douglas is really Ryan Hughes, who was sent to her by Santa Claus. She accuses him of lying to her and tells him to leave. After persuasion by Santa Claus and refusing Ted's marriage proposal, she follows Ryan. They meet up at a park, where they finally remember where they first met - at age 13 when she helped him take his little sister to see Santa - and they watch the New Year's fireworks together.

Cast

as Holly Grant *

as Ryan Hughes/Douglas Firwood *

Charles Durning Charles Edward Durning (February 28, 1923 – December 24, 2012) was an American actor who appeared in over 200 movies, television shows and plays.Schudel, Matt (December 26, 2012) "''In real life and on the screen, he played countless role ...

as Santa Claus *

Bruce Thomas Bruce Thomas (born 14 August 1948 in Stockton-on-Tees, England) is an English rock bass guitarist, best known as bassist for the Attractions; the band formed in 1977 to back Elvis Costello in concert and on record. In addition to his work ...

as Ted *Shannon Wilcox as Joanna Grant *

Martin Mull Martin Eugene Mull (born August 18, 1943) is an American actor, comedian and musician who has appeared in many television and film roles. He is also a painter and recording artist. As an actor, he first became known in his role on '' Mary Hartman ...

as Martin Grant *Bridget White as Carol Grant *

David Starzyk David Starzyk (born July 14, 1961) is an American actor. Career Starzyk has guest-starred in a number of notable television series, including ''Home Improvement'', '' Felicity'', ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' '' Pacific Blue'', '' NYPD Blue'', ...

as Ian Grant * Jordan Orr as Noah Grant *

Shane Baumel Shane R. Baumel (born February 12, 1997) is an American former actor. He made his film debut playing Crispin in ''Daddy Day Care''. He also had a role in ''Wild Hogs'', starring Tim Allen, and appeared on TV a few times, in shows such as ''The Em ...

as Neal Grant * Erica Gimpel as Beth *

Maeve Quinlan Maeve Quinlan (born November 16, 1964, Chicago) is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Megan Conley for 11 years in ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' and for the series ''South of Nowhere''. Raised in Northfield, a North Shore su ...

as Diane *John Dybdahl as Stu *Kenneth Danziger as Harrison Lane *

Rodger Bumpass Rodger Bumpass (born November 20, 1951) is an American actor. He is known for his long-running role as Squidward Tentacles on the American animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. He voices several other characters on the show as ...

as Russell Parker *

Laura Kirk Laura Ellen Kirk (born 1966 in Lecompton, Kansas) is an American actress and university professor. She is most known for her role in ''Lisa Picard Is Famous'' (2000). Career A graduate of the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, Kirk made ...

as Sheila Denning * Kelli King as young Holly Grant *Brent Toney as Philip

Release

Television

''A Boyfriend for Christmas'' was a made-for-TV production, which aired on the

November 27, 2004. It earned a 2.7 Nielsen Media Research household rating, placing it as the number two broadcast for its time period for ad-supported cable networks, and the number one broadcast for adults aged 25–54 and women aged 25–54.

Critical reviews

A review in ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

'' says of the film "like fruitcake, tis sweet but full of empty calories." In ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', ''A Boyfriend for Christmas'' is identified as bland, yet pleasant and harmless."

DVD

The DVD was released on November 8, 2005.

References

External links

* *
''A Boyfriend for Christmas''
at

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boyfriend for Christmas, A 2004 television films 2004 films 2000s romance films American Christmas films American romance films Hallmark Channel original films Christmas television films Larry Levinson Productions Films directed by Kevin Connor 2000s American films