Christmas In Louisiana Review: OMG, Just KISS Already!

Is anyone else in the mood for some gumbo?

Christmas on Lifetime is all about finding love, but the best stories are usually about a second chance at love.

Christmas in Louisiana was another cute second-chance at love story. Approximately ten minutes into the movie, all one could say is: "just kiss already!"

Sarah and Luke were cute. They were both single. They both had feelings for each other. What is the deal, people?!

Sarah getting in her own way is the only reason this movie had to drag on for two hours.

Well, that and the simple fact that Christmas in Louisiana gave Percy Daggs III more screentime in less than two hours than he had in all four seasons of Veronica Mars and the movie.

Yeah, I said it.

The primary lesson to glean from this movie is always listen to Gran.

Gran has years of wisdom and no filter. She knows what's she's talking about, and everyone in the movie should've listened to her from the beginning.

Gran: Fast is good. It helps you not overthink everything.

Gran was the best, and she's a character you could appreciate because all she wanted was for people to cut through the bullcrap and be happy.

Stop overthinking things, and let life and love be!

Everyone needs a Gran in their life or someone willing to tell them this every day.

Sarah was a classic overthinker. She spent years away in Boston, and she forgot about the easygoing spirit she could only find in her small town in a Lousiana bayou.

It was a blessing in disguise that she made it home for the holidays. Although, Gran wouldn't have had it any other way, and she always gets her way.

Did I mention Gran was the best character? She was. By a landslide.

It's something special about the small-towns that are obsessed with Christmas. The whole town was losing their minds over their Christmas festival, and everything had to be perfect.

Where are these little towns where everyone has to chip in to make sure a festival goes off without a hitch? They seem like a blast.

Gran: Those two seem to be having a pretty good time all of a sudden.

Thomas: Mrs. Claus, we've talked about meddling.

It was the 50 anniversary of the Mr. and Miss. Christmas celebration and Gran pulled out all of the tricks to get Sarah back home and planning the event alongside Luke.

They won the Mr. and Miss. Christmas as teenagers, but it didn't go well when Luke's terrible teenage timing caused him to break up with his best friend and girlfriend in front of the whole town while they were getting their crowns.

In hindsight, yeah, it sucked. It was a horrible way to have your heart ripped out and stepped on, and it was humiliating to boot.

It was a little traumatizing, so Sarah's feelings about it were valid. We'll give her that.

But the love between her and Luke was still there; everyone saw it.

Have you ever known someone as meddlesome as Gran? Sarah's entire family watched Sarah's every interaction with Luke with their chins resting on their hands.

You would've thought they were the ones watching the movie themselves.

Gran made sure Sarah bumped into Luke the second she got into town, and she arranged for them to have to take a picture together to commemorate the Christmas Couples of past (and the future, let's be real).

Sarah: Thank you for not blowing my cover.

Luke: I meant what I said. I'm on your team always.

Gran's scheming knew no bounds, and she was on point about it. Anyone with eyes could see those two were meant to be together, and they had to get over themselves enough to go for it.

Gran, Thomas, and Sarah's mom Charlotte were pushing for Sarah to get her head out of her bum and succumb to her feelings for Luke.

They didn't go away in the 15 years they were away from one another, so she may as well have given into them.

Gran did what any wise matchmaker would do; she roped both of them into working and helping her with the festival, and then she paired them together.

The cookie-decorating was probably the cutest example of this out of all of them.

The icing war was nothing but cuteness. It was adorable watching Sarah try to keep a straight face on her video call. She had icing covering her face and everything.

Sarah and Luke's chemistry was the easy kind, and it made you wonder why they apart in the first place.

It seemed like neither of them could figure it out either.

They fell right back into their old and familiar routine of being best friends with sexy chemistry, and it wasn't a doubt that they both wanted more.

So it was one of those movies when you wondered what in bloody hell was keeping them from being together. What was the conflict between them that kept them apart?

What was stopping them from jumping each other's bones by 20 minutes into the movie? Why weren't we getting our happy ending instantly?

Gran: Luke, Sara, you bring out the best in each other. You always have.

Nothing suggested they would have a conflict keeping them apart. [Insert Impatient Judge Judy tapping her watch gif]. What are we waiting for, dammit?!

Oh, you know how it goes.

Sarah wasn't over Luke breaking her heart back when they were too young to drink the alcohol I needed to get through two hours of them making heart-eyes at each other and not doing anything about it. No wonder Gran was so annoyed with these kids.

Luke: I was afraid everything happened so fast. I knew we weren't going to get married at 18, but it felt like our life was all mapped out.

A conversation during a cute date that wasn't a date, but was totally a date, shut up (!) filled in some things for us.

Luke broke her heart because of how intense everyone was about the two of them. In his defense, Sarah's entire family was passionate about them as a couple now, so one can only imagine how overwhelming it was for an 18-year-old boy.

He loved Sarah, and he didn't envision his life without her, but they were going too fast, their feelings were too strong for their age.

It was perfectly reasonable and fair.

The way he dumped her was sucky, but his reasoning was sound. They were young teenagers with their lives ahead of them.

It's normal for him to want to live his life a bit, establish himself more, and experience new things.

For teen Luke that made sense, so how could adult Sarah fault him for that?

Sarah: I only have one heart Luke, and I have to protect it, so I'm sorry.

Yeah, we know. Feelings aren't rational, but it still made you want to shake Sarah a bit. Stop getting in the way of your happiness and holding onto something that happened half of your life ago!

Even though he did not indicate that he would, she didn't want him to break her heart again. Oh, the drama of it all.

Thank God for Gran. She had the sage advice that Sarah had to sit with for a bit before it worked itself into her head and heart.

Luke: Hold on and don't let go.

Sarah: I don't plan on it.

Without Gran, it's doubtful Sarah and Luke would've had the happy ending they were destined for but refused.

Well, Sarah was refusing it. Luke was game from the second he saw her again.

We got our kiss, a love confession, and they made it to the festival on time. Yay!

Gran had double duty trying to talk some sense into her daughter too. Charlotte was hitting it off with the photographer who stared at her like she was the best subject he ever filmed.

Charlotte was resistant to love too. Thankfully, she caught on quicker than Sarah, pushed past her hesitation, and dove into something new and sweet with Mark.

The B-romances of these movies are often just as cute (and sometimes cuter) than the main ones, and it's especially sweet that it's often middle-aged or older people finding love again.

It not only keeps up with the lovely diversity (of all kinds) trend with these movies, but it's hopeful. You're never too old to find love again, you know?

It's not something for the teenagers or the 20-30 something-year-olds.

Shoutout to Winter Storm Megan once again making her presence known in these Christmas movies as a recurring connection linking them on.

She's the reason Mark ended up in Lousiana instead of the East coast for Christmas. She's the reason Mark and Charlotte found love.

Winter Storm Megan is out here bringing people together. They should call her Winter Storm Cupid or the Winter Storm of Love.

She's the MVP of all of these movies.

Although, outside of a few references to gumbo, it lacked the Cajun flavor.

It would've been nice to get a real feel for how one celebrates a Cajun Christmas. You don't mention Lousiana in the title unless you're willing to dig deep into what that means.

From a geographical standpoint, it was a bit dry. It could've taken place anywhere based on what we saw (and heard).

Don't tease a Cajun Christmas, give it to us!

If was generic in what distinguishes a Southern/ Louisiana Christmas from somewhere else with snow or what have you.

The location should've been its own character since it was in the title, but it wasn't, and it detracted from the movie some.

But alas, even though this movie could've been a half-hour short since it lacked enough substance to drag it out for two hours, we got our happy ending.

In the end, isn't that what matters?!

Over to you, Lifetime Movie Fanatics.

Did you enjoy this one?

Hit the comments with your thoughts, my friends.

Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You'll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.