Stream It Or Skip It: ‘My Norwegian Holiday’ on Hallmark, Where A Troll Figurine Spurs A European Adventure… And Love

When you can’t spend the holiday season on vacation, sometimes the next best thing is to watch something that transports you somewhere else, and that’s what Hallmark is trying to do with My Norwegian Holiday. With a slightly creepy troll doll as its driving force, the film sends leads Rhiannon Fish and David Elsendoorn to Norway for a festive journey of self-discovery, romance, and warm socks. Let the adventure begin.

MY NORWEGIAN HOLIDAY: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Jessica “JJ” Johnson (Rhiannon Fish) is a Ph.D. student at the University of Minnesota who is trying to finish her dissertation on time in the wake of the death of her beloved grandmother, Florence. Working part-time as a substitute teacher instructing high schoolers in physics, JJ is grading tests at a Minneapolis coffee shop when she overhears what appears to be a very loud and rude breakup. To make matters worse, the woman (Hannah Brady) is also named Jessica Johnson and ends up taking and drinking JJ’s coffee by mistake.

After the other Jessica storms out, JJ is approached by the apparent dumpee, Henrik Strøm (David Elsendoorn), who apologizes for the coffee mix-up and the whole scene she just witnessed, only to end up causing another one when he knocks into her and sends her papers and coffee flying. In returning a wayward test to JJ’s school, he notices a hand-carved figurine of a Norwegian troll from his hometown of Bergen on her desk. Turns out it belonged to JJ’s late grandma, who ended up receiving it on a trip to Norway she’d never told JJ about. Henrik was going to take the other Jessica Johnson to Norway for his sister, Nora’s (Karen Connell) wedding, so he offers JJ the ticket since it’s already in her name and she seems to have a connection to the country.

Determined to know more about her grandma and get an extension on her dissertation from kindly department chair Paul Tylak (Bill Chisholm), JJ decides to throw caution to the wind and rescind her initial refusal of Henrik’s invitation, sparking an unforgettable and life-changing Norwegian holiday.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: You’ll recognize the whole “American woman going to a European man and finding love with a local injured sports star and bonds with his family” storyline is from another recent Hallmark release, Christmas in Notting Hill.

Performance Worth Watching: Rhiannon Fish is very natural, charming, and funny as JJ. She plays grounded very well and is especially relatable and believable all the times she calls out Henrik for being suspicious about his job or reacts with fear as he snuck up behind her to loom in doorways. Deirdre Monaghan is also great at Henrik’s grandmother, Astrid. I was surprised to find out she’s actually Irish because she pulled off being an adorable and sassy Norwegian grandma very convincingly.

Memorable Dialogue: “If all Norwegians express their feelings like you do, your sister’s wedding will feel more like a wake.” And that was in the FIRST MINUTE OF THE MOVIE!

A Holiday Tradition: A whole host of Norwegian things (or things we have to trust as Norwegian traditions, per this movie), like holding hands and singing around a Christmas tree à la How the Grinch Stole Christmas! or purchasing wooden troll carvings or knitting, gifting, and wearing wool socks.

Does the Title Make Any Sense?: JJ is spending her holidays in Norway, so yes, it’s very straightforward.

Our Take: It’s frankly kind of wild that the set-up rides on the movie’s assertion that “Jessica Johnson” is a very common name, so much so that two women in a city of almost half a million people just happen to be in the same place with the same time and the same name. But NOT the same coffee order! I know that Hallmark likes to use some goofy set-ups for holiday movies and that can be a part of the charm but this one was just a step too far for me.

Part of that is perhaps because Henrik, especially in the first half of the movie before we knew too much about him and his whole deal, read a bit like a serial killer or criminal. The way he shows up out of the blue at JJ’s workplace, lurking in the door of her classroom after just meeting her that day with no information about her except her name (which is evidently very common) and occupation, it’s a bit creepy. And oh how nice he returned the child’s graded test she only lost because he bumped into her and spilled her (second) coffee!

Maybe I’m just not enough of a romantic to find this charming, but Henrik showing up, menacingly looming, then inviting this total stranger to come to Norway with him simply because she has the same name as his assistant (who he’d for some reason allowed JJ to think was his girlfriend) and owns a Bergen-made troll figurine, reads as almost desperate and suspicious. I just know I’d be freaked out if I was ever in JJ’s place in this whole story, but hey, it seems to work out for her, and that’s what counts.

As far as the “Norwegian” of it all, interestingly, while My Norwegian Holiday was indeed filmed in and around Bergen, Norway, none of the main cast is from Norway. In fact, most are Irish, and even Henrik’s actor, David Elsendoorn, is Dutch. They all for the most part do a good job anyway with the accents but you also can’t help but wonder if this is all actually accurate to Norwegian culture and people (though it does explain why there weren’t more attempts at speaking these characters’ supposed native tongue).

The part of the movie that is indisputably Norwegian, however, is the city of Bergen itself, where most of My Norwegian Holiday was filmed. Our glimpses of Bergen are beautiful and full of personality that gives the city a character all its own, which definitely was one of the biggest highlights of the movie for me. I’m glad at the very least that this title exposes American audiences to a European city we may not know much about, where we soon may be inspired to have a Norwegian holiday of our own.

Our Call: SKIP IT. Unfortunately, a trip to Norway wasn’t enough to make My Norwegian Holiday go the full distance as a must-watch Christmas movie.