“A Winter Getaway” aired January 23, 2021, on Hallmark Channel and starred Nazneen Contractor and Brooks Darnell. Repeat director Steven R. Monroe took the helm, with S.W. Sessions providing the script. Sessions has written four Hallmark movies just since 2020, most notably Just My Type and Chateau Christmas.
The movie, with all its gorgeous scenery, was set in Banff and filmed in Banff, Calgary and Winnepeg, Canada. As for specifica locations, it seems that Hallmark has a deal with Fairmont Group hotels because this time around, they filmed at Fairmont Banff Springs.
Music: During the dog sledding scene, the song that played was Heaven Knows (affiliate link) by The Hunts. I tried to find the slow song playing during the confrontation over his identity, but found nothing, and the movie credits did not list that particular song. I even looked up some of the lyrics and couldn’t find it. I ALSO think this might be the same song that played near the end of Love in the Forecast, which I searched for and couldn’t find when that movie first aired.
In a nutshell
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie from beginning to end. And while I had a few minor quibbles, they did not take me out of the movie. This one was a keeper!
Plot of “A Winter Getaway”
When an average guy (Brooks) is gifted a luxury trip, he is mistaken as a millionaire. But then sparks fly with Courtney, the lovely concierge (Contractor). Will she feel the same way about him when she learns the truth?
Actors & Chemistry
We need to talk about how adorable Brooks Darnell was in this movie. Because he was ADORABLE in this movie. I also much preferred Nazneen Contractor in this movie versus her role in “The Christmas Ring” last month. I remember when I watched Brooks Darnell in 2019’s A Christmas Miracle I felt he was stiff and I couldn’t connect with his character that much. But in this movie he was present and engaged and fun to watch.
I also thought Nazneen Contractor was so charming in this movie compared to “The Christmas Ring” (which I didn’t even bother reviewing because I didn’t care for it). And the chemistry of Contractor and Darnell together? OUTSTANDING.
But it wasn’t just them. I also really liked Erik Athavale, who played the hotel butler, Gabe. He has been in Hallmark movies dating back to 2017 and was great in this movie.
Tropes
Not too many, as expected. The movie opened with a drone shot of the city. Courtney was wearing the circle necklace in the opening scene. Courtney’s parents’ house had a cute little front porch. We had a snowglobe!
The husky dogs were adorable, and we had real snow! Courtney and Joe enjoyed some pretty delicious looking hot cocoa with amazing views. We had more than a few big scarves.
Did I Hear/See That Right?
Cache – it’s pronounced “cash,” right? Because Joe pronounced it cash-ay (as in cachet, which is a completely different thing), and that’s wrong.
It’s difficult to do a “mistaken identity” movie in the Internet age, but Hallmark is going to keep trying, aren’t they?
The movie kept making reference to Joe Franklin being a Billionaire (capital B) instead of a run-of-the-mill millionaire who can still afford that kind of vacation. Him being a billionaire seemed excessive ESPECIALLY when a billionaire is easily Google-able when she did research at the beginning of the movie (including photos of said billionaire). And I get that they passed it off by having the trip be a gift paid-in-full by his entrepreneur best friend, but STILL. I had a real issue with the billionaire thing.
Feelgoods
If I was on a private plane for the first time in my life I would mess with everything too, including the seat.
Curling looks FUN. I love watching it on the Olympics.
BANFF for the win, amirite? Oh my word, I need to go there at some point in my life. And I HATE skiing. I just want to go to there.
Re-watchability
“A Winter Getaway” is definitely rewatchable thanks to fun performances and amazing scenery.
image: Hallmark Crown Media
The Ranking
“A Winter Getaway” sits solidly in 2nd place. I enjoyed this movie and I hope you did too.
- Taking a Shot at Love (air date: Jan 2) – 641 pts – weighted score: 108.9 (76.4%)
- A Winter Getaway (air date: Jan 23) – 620 pts – weighted score: 104.4 (73.3%)
- Two For The Win (air date: Jan 16) – 603 pts – weighted score: 101.8 (71.4%)
- A New Year’s Resolution (air date: Jan 9) – 516 pts – weighted score: 90.5 (63.5%)
To see where this movie lands in my overall rankings of Hallmark movies, visit my Hallmark Movie Rankings page!
What did you think of “A Winter Getaway”? Comment below and let me know!
Lilked this movie alot, but still complaining about the loud music overshadowing the dialog many times as it seems happpens in all Hallmark offerings! Too bad!
I agree on the music being too loud, Kay. However, I have a smart TV and changed the sound settings to be focused on Speech and that makes it better.
I may not have a not too smart TV or maybe operator.
I’ll give that a try.
Thanks – K
Loved a lot about this movie including both leads, the scenery, the fun & unusual activities, but it lost me when it went with the typical, mistaken identity that you know won’t end well storyline, rather than honesty & then an unexpected twist… the miracle we seldom see anymore.
I get that Joe went along with being mistaken for the billionaire (& you’re right, millionaire would have been plenty), but the moment he realized he was having feelings for her, he should have told her what happened. No one would have expected that, making the final twist even better. Perhaps unexpectedly coming up with the startup money, even though he’s just Joe.
How and where can I watch this again?
Ken, “A Winter Getaway” is re-airing on Hallmark Channel on Monday, May 10 at 2 p.m.
Thank you for your timely reply. I really enjoyed this movie.
I just figured the producer did not like the dialog so the just played the music so loud I have no way of knowing what they said. So sad.