Holiday Hotline is sure to put us all in a festive mood as the story is centered around Christmas and all the festivities associated with it. Directed by Mark Jean, the romance-comedy stars efficient actors like Emily Tennant and Niall Matter. When Abby goes to Chicago, she finds herself engaged in a new activity that keeps her distracted from her past relationship traumas. She comes across Jack, who helps her forget all about her past and rekindles her interest as a chef. Will Abby and Jack be able to resolve their problems? Will they eventually fall in love? Let’s see!
Spoiler Alert
Why Does Abby Go To Chicago?
Abby has a hard time battling her way as a chef in her ex-boyfriend Jason’s restaurant. She expects a promotion as head chef but fails to get it. Her secret recipe for Yorkshire pudding has also been stolen by Jason to rank at the top of a magazine. Abby is infuriated and leaves the job to take some time off for herself. Her parents, however, offered her a ticket to Chicago as a Christmas present so that she could spend her vacation and clear her head. She decides to keep her head out of cooking for a while and takes the trip to Chicago.
How Does Abby Meet Jack?
As Abby reaches Chicago, she is told by Margaret, the owner of the hotel, that she could take up freelance work as a culinary expert for a hotline and guide people to make Thanksgiving turkeys. When Margaret presses her to join the hotline, she takes up the job and is seen to guide all the callers on making perfect turkeys. One such caller is Jack, who wants to impress his daughter by making a perfect turkey for Thanksgiving. He tells her that ever since his wife’s passing, he’s been struggling to make perfect turkeys. Abby goes by the name Peggy for the hotline, as she thought that American customers would respond better to the American name and accent. She slowly starts getting regular calls from Jack, who has introduced himself as John, and she guides him through the turkey cooking process. As time progresses, Jack starts opening up to Abby more about his personal issues and how he was unable to open his heart to anyone after his wife’s sudden demise three years ago. A spark is seen to flicker between Abby and the caller, whom she has never met!
Meanwhile, Abby gets to know Jack separately, in person, when he introduces himself as the architect of the hotel that she is living in. In the first meeting, Abby and Jack get into a mild altercation, as Abby has mistakenly broken the lock of the door. He said that she had ruined something that was very old and hampered the authenticity of the hotel. Later, as they strike off further conversations, their animosity turns into friendship. He buys a door knob for Abby’s room later and also takes her out Christmas shopping. Just when he takes her to one of his favorite spots in Burnham Walk to see the beautiful architecture, an instant spark ignites between the two. It is just then that Jack tells Abby about the hotline help that he has been taking from a lady called Peggy to make the perfect turkey. He also hints at the fact that he might be interested in her, despite not having seen her even once. Abby realizes that the caller who had introduced himself as John at the station was actually Jack. She does not tell him that she is Peggy , so that his trust in the hotline is not disrupted.
What Issues Arise Between Them?
There are many instances where Abby thinks of revealing her real identity to Jack but is dissuaded by her boss. Later, when Jack calls the hotline again, he confesses to Peggy that he felt a spark between them, but he is now interested in someone else and that it was his last call to her. He tries cutting Peggy off for the sake of the connection that he feels toward Abby! He tells Peggy that after a long time, he was able to open up his heart to someone. Just when Peggy is about to confess her real identity, she is cut short by Jack. He tells her that her identity does not matter to him and that she will always be the beautiful voice that helped him prepare the turkey to impress his daughter. Later, Jack arrives at the office of Holiday Hotline with a gift for Peggy to thank her and realizes that Abby is Peggy in reality when he sees her receiving the best newcomer award at the office. He thinks that he made a mistake in trusting a stranger and walks away from her.
What Happens In The End?
Abby is left heartbroken, and then she receives a call from her parents, who tell her that Jason has opened a new branch of his restaurant and is looking for a head chef. She then decides to go back to her hometown and pursue her career again. When she returns to her room, she sees that Jack has replaced the broken doorknob with a new one, which she guessed was a parting gift from him. On her way back, she realizes that Jason will again be using her skills to benefit himself. She then decides to stay back and make her signature dish, the Yorkshire pudding, to impress Jack. Meanwhile, Jack’s daughter asks him where Abby is, as she has not turned up for the Thanksgiving invitation. He tells his daughter that she is gone and will not turn up again. Later, he realizes that he was letting go of a person that he really liked for a petty issue, and he heads out to find her. Just as he steps out of the house, he sees Abby standing there with the dish that she had made. Abby’s interest in cooking has been restored because of Jack. The spark gets rekindled between Jack and Abby, and they decide to stay together!
Final Words
Love can fix one’s broken dreams, and it has been well proven in Holiday Hotline. While Abby had initially thought of giving up her career for the sake of her broken heart, Jack mends it later and reinstates her love for cooking. The festive vibe of Chicago had been a balm to all of Abby and Jack’s pains and a glue to their relationship. The narrative has been well-knit, portraying a complex yet sweet love story. The mere understanding and connection between the two lovebirds have helped them resolve their distances and misunderstandings. The couple had eventually fallen so deeply in love that their real identities did not matter to them. This aspect of the film is quite similar to The Santa Summit, where two people fall in love with each other’s personalities without even knowing their real identities. There were no scopes for any loopholes in the film, making it one of the most entertaining and lovey-dovey movies that I have watched in a while!
