A Common Theme in Christmas Movies: Characters Swap Places
Here are four favorite movies where characters got left their own home to experience something new in another person's residence far away.
Christmas movies and other movies involve a switch or swap of some kind. The concept can vary by twins switching identities to characters swapping places to live to get a new perspective on their lives. This article focuses on four favorite Christmas movies released on Hallmark and Lifetime where people swapped their residence to deal with the holiday someplace else. Three of the movies are predictable, but the fourth one is very different from the others.
1. "The Holiday"
The Holiday is a 2006 romantic comedy starring Cameron Diaz in America and Kate Winslet in Britain. The two women have broken up with their boyfriends who cheated on them. The heartbroken women participate in a house exchange program to get away from their own home for two weeks just before Christmas.
While in their new places, both women meet men who are perfect for them played by Jude Law and Jack Black.
2. "Finding Christmas"
The 2013 Hallmark movie Finding Christmas is the male equivalent of The Holiday. It is a story about Sean and Owen who have just gone through devastating breakups.
Thinking they could deal with their failed romances better if they got away from their familiar surroundings, the men decide to swap residencies for the holiday. Sean, the city boy goes to Owen's rural North Carolina residence. The country boy Owen goes to Sean's lavish New York City apartment. At first, both of the men are out of their comfort zone.
In their new environments, the two men do find romance. Owen falls for Sean’s assistant Mia while Sean falls for Owen’s sister Ryan. However, neither man knows how the relationships are intertwined until the end of their house-swapping deals. Both couples were pleasantly surprised when they met.
3. "Trading Christmas"
Trading Christmas is a 2011 Hallmark movie where Emily, a second-grade teacher in a small town in Washington state, decides to do a house swap with Charles, a Boston English professor. Emily wanted to surprise and spend Christmas with her daughter Heather. Charles wanted to be in solitude in Emily's residence so he can finish his novel.
There are a lot of unexpected surprises along the way because Emily did not tell her best friend that she was house swapping. The friend showed up for a visit and interrupted Charles' solitude. Heather lied to her mother and was not in Boston when Emily arrived. Heather and her boyfriend were away in Phoenix even though she had told her mother she was staying on campus to study.
4. "A Christmas Exchange"
A Christmas Exchange is a 2020 Lifetime holiday house swap movie. The plot and ending are refreshing because they are nothing like most house-swapping movies viewers have seen over the years.
Laura Vandervoort plays Molly Cooper who has always dreamed of going to London. When she lost her job, she decided not to spend the Christmas holiday at home alone. Therefore, she swapped her snow-covered farmhouse with Patrick Kensington who is a workaholic with a posh London apartment. While there, she wanted to enjoy just one dinner date with a British man.
While in London, Molly looked forward to every communication with Patrick. Likewise, Patrick enjoyed getting Molly's warm emails and texts. He wasn't looking for a female companion in Molly's hometown, but he enjoyed himself with Molly's friends, and they enjoyed having Patrick around.
Molly was disappointed that she didn't find an interesting British man to take her out to dinner in London. Therefore, she looked forward to communicating with Patrick who was living in her house back in America while she was living in his flat in London. They got to know each other very well, and you can guess what happened at the end of the movie. However, you will have to see the newly released movie to find out how they finally met.
About the Creator
Margaret Minnicks
Margaret Minnicks has a bachelor's degree in English. She is an ordained minister with two master's degrees in theology and Christian education. She has been an online writer for over 15 years. Thanks for reading and sending TIPS her way.
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