Our Little Secret is a festive enchantment and delivers the Lindsay Lohan performance that her last few titles haven’t quite been able to facilitate. A film that rides the line between a typical holiday feature you’d see marathoned this time of year and a high concept mainstream release. While the film does have its enormous pitfalls of predictability, it’s in the fashion these narratives are delivered that make it a jolly time this holiday season. 

 

Director Stephen Herek has made some legendary pictures during his prolific career. The man behind the camera for Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead, and The Mighty Ducks to name a few. Herek delivers a not-so white Christmas and yet the Christmas spirit is in full force as hijinks occur. Scribe Hailey DeDominicis debuts with Our Little Secret and while it doesn’t break the mold, it does have fun within its presets. 

 

Lohan plays Avery, a woman that was in a healthy relationship with Logan (Ian Harding) who decides to pop “the question” right before Avery leaves abroad. Things go poorly for the pair and they go their separate ways, until fate pulls them back together. That chance of fate being they’re both unknowingly dating siblings. 

 

Kristen Chenowith is a wonderful strict, overprotective mother that adores her son at all costs. Her immediate disdain toward Lohan’s Avery amplifies this fact. The son in question dating Avery is Cameron, played by Jon Rudnitsky (Home Again, Red One) and he does a relatively fine job of playing a supportive boyfriend that easily cracks when reunited with an old fling. Logan’s girlfriend and Cameron’s sister, Cassie is used more so as just the bud of the joke for being a youthful influencer type. 

 

The largest flaw of the film is the waste of such a talent as Tim Meadows, who is forced into a major role at the final bow. Meadows plays Stan, the father of Sophie, the old fling that pulls Cameron’s affections. Coincidentally he has a large construction project that Logan, an up and coming architect is wanting to sign on to. Simultaneously without Stan’s knowledge his wife Margaret (Judy Reyes) is having an affair. Does this sound melodramatic and the plot points of a soap opera at its peak? It sure does, but Our Little Secret elevates this material. 

 

Ian Harding is incredibly charming, reminding me of an odd mix of Paul Rudd and Joel Mchale. Harding is sensational when paired with Lohan and the chaos that ensues when their characters try to avoid their past head on is familiar yet reliably hypnotic. As the saying goes it’s like Santa’s sleigh crashed and you just can’t look away. With the onslaught of generic Christmas fare coming our way over the next month leading into the new year, maybe it’s best to relax and have some fun with Lindsay Lohan and co.