''Holiday in Handcuffs'' is a 2007 American

crime comedy Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

television film 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 for ...

that originally aired on ABC Family on December 9 as a part of the network's

25 Days of Christmas Freeform's 25 Days of Christmas is an American annual seasonal event of Christmas programming broadcast during the month of December by the U.S. cable network Freeform. The event was first held in 1996, and has been an annual fixture of the chann ...

programming block. The film stars Melissa Joan Hart,

Mario Lopez Mario Lopez (born October 10, 1973) is an American actor and television host. He has appeared on several television series, in films, and on Broadway. He is known for his portrayal of A.C. Slater on '' Saved by the Bell'', '' Saved by the Bell ...

Markie Post Marky or Markie may refer to: Nickname * Marky Cielo (1988–2008), Filipino actor and dancer * Marky Delgado (born 1995), American soccer player * Markie Mark (born 1974), BBC Radio director * Marky Markowitz (1923–1986), American jazz trumpete ...

Timothy Bottoms Timothy James Bottoms (born August 30, 1951) is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for playing the lead in ''Johnny Got His Gun'' (1971); Sonny Crawford in ''The Last Picture Show'' (1971), where he and his fellow co-stars, Cy ...

June Lockhart June Lockhart (born June 25, 1925) is an American actress, beginning a film career in 1930s & 1940s in such films at ''A Christmas Carol'' and '' Meet Me in St. Louis''. She primarily acted in 1950s and 1960s television, and with performances on ...

, Kyle Howard and

Vanessa Lee Evigan Vanessa Lee Evigan (born March 18, 1981) is an American actress. She is the daughter of actor Greg Evigan and model and actress Pamela Serpe. She is also the sister of actress Briana Evigan and singer-songwriter Jason Evigan. In 2001, Evigan a ...

Plot

Trudie is an aspiring painter working as a restaurant waitress. With the pressure to please her parents building, she misses a job interview and gets dumped by her boyfriend just before Christmas, and she has a nervous breakdown. Stressed about going home for the holidays without a boyfriend, she kidnaps David Martin, a random customer at the restaurant in which she works and introduces him to her parents as her boyfriend, Nick. Trudie's family is vacationing at a very isolated log cabin away from anyone else, so David is unable to escape, although he makes several attempts. He finally decides to play along until the police come, but ultimately falls in love with Trudie and understands the family pressure that made her feel forced to kidnap him in the first place. During Christmas dinner, the holiday comes to an abrupt end when Trudie's parents begin to fight, her brother Jake announces that he is gay, and her sister Katie says that she has quit law school and bought a

Pilates Pilates (; ) is a type of mind-body exercise developed in the early 20th century by German physical trainer Joseph Pilates, after whom it was named. Pilates called his method "Contrology". It is practiced worldwide, especially in countries suc ...

studio with her parents' tuition money. The police then arrive and arrest the family during Christmas dinner, revealing that David is not actually Trudie's boyfriend. Before he was kidnapped, David had a successful job and a beautiful, rich girlfriend; however, during his time with Trudie and her family, he realizes his life has developed into something he did not intend. After the family is released (except for Trudie's grandma Dolores for attempting to resist arrest), when David decides not to press charges, Trudie does not see or hear from David for a few months, but learns that he will be engaged. Trudie is invited to show her art at a local gallery, which her family attends and she reconciles with them, and is stunned to see one of her pieces sold during the show. As she is leaving the show, she is kidnapped by David and taken to a nearby building. He tells her he bought the building and is making it into an architecture/art studio. He decided to turn his life around and do something he really loves: owning his own architecture business. His business also includes an art studio, and his first art piece is Trudie's painting, which he purchased. David admits his love for Trudie and Trudie admits her love for him as well, before they kiss.

Cast

* Melissa Joan Hart as Gertrude "Trudie" Marie Chandler *

as David Martin *

as Katherine Chandler *

as Richard Chandler *

as Grandma Dolores * Kyle Howard as Jake Chandler *

as Katie Chandler *

Gabrielle Miller Gabrielle Sunshine Miller (born November 9, 1973) is a Canadian actress who, since the start of her career in 1993, has appeared in many television films and series episodes, including leading roles in two of Canada's most popular concurrently-r ...

as Jessica Barber * Layla Alizada as Lucy *Marty Hanenberg as Mr. Portnoy *

Ben Ayres Benjamin James Ayres (born January 19, 1983) is a Canadian actor best known for his role as Dr. Zach Miller of the CTV series '' Saving Hope''. He also recurred on the Gemini Award–winning HBO Canada series ''Less Than Kind'' for which he w ...

as (the real) Nick * Travis Milne as Ryan, Jake's boyfriend

Production notes

''Holiday in Handcuffs'' was filmed in Calgary,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

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, in 2007.

Ratings

The movie received 6.7 million viewers and a 2.4 in adults 18 to 49, making it the most watched telecast in ABC Family history.

DVD releases

''Holiday in Handcuffs'' was released on Region 1 DVD on October 7, 2008. The movie was re-released along with the television movie ''

Snowglobe A snow globe (also called a waterglobe, snowstorm, or snowdome) is a transparent sphere, traditionally made of glass, enclosing a miniaturized scene of some sort, often together with a model of a town, neighborhood, landscape or figure. The sphe ...

'' on October 13, 2009.

References

External links

''Holiday in Handcuffs''
at ABCFamily.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Holiday In Handcuffs 2007 television films 2007 films 2000s English-language films 2000s crime comedy films ABC Family original films American Christmas films American crime comedy films Christmas television films Films about kidnapping Films about dysfunctional families Films directed by Ron Underwood 2000s Christmas films American Christmas comedy films 2000s American films