Holiday in Handcuffs

Plot

Trudie (Melissa Joan Hart) is an aspiring painter working as a restaurant waitress. With the pressure to please her parents (Timothy Bottoms and Markie Post) building, she misses a job interview and gets dumped by her boyfriend just before Christmas, and she has a nervous breakdown. Stressed about going home for the holidays without a boyfriend, she kidnaps David Martin (Mario Lopez), a random customer at the restaurant in which she works and introduces him to her parents as her boyfriend, Nick. Trudie's family is vacationing at a very isolated log cabin miles away from anyone else, so David is unable to escape, although he makes several attempts. He finally decides to play along until the police come, but he ultimately falls in love with Trudie and understands the family pressure that made her feel forced to kidnap him in the first place.

During Christmas dinner, the holiday comes to an abrupt end when Trudie's parents begin to fight, her brother (Kyle Howard) announces that he is gay, and her sister (Vanessa Lee Evigan) says that she has quit law school and bought a pilates studio with her parents' tuition money. The police then arrive and arrest the family during Christmas dinner, revealing that David Martin is not actually Trudie's boyfriend. Before he was kidnapped, David had a successful job and a beautiful, rich girlfriend; however, during his time with Trudie and her family, he realizes his life has developed into something he did not intend. After the family is released when David decides not to press charges, Trudie does not see or hear from David for a few months, but sees his engagement announcement in the newspaper.

Trudie is invited to show her art at a local art gallery and is stunned to see one of her pieces is sold during the show. As she is leaving the show, she is kidnapped and taken to a nearby building. Her kidnapper turns out to be David. He tells her he bought this building and is making it into an architecture/art studio. He decided to turn his life around and do something he really loves: owning his own architecture business. His business also includes an art studio, and his first art piece is Trudie's painting, which he purchased. David admits his love for Trudie and Trudie admits her feelings towards him as well. They share a kiss as the credits start to roll.

Cast

Ratings

The movie received 6.7 million viewers and a 2.4 in adults 18 to 49, making it the most watched telecast in ABC Family history.

DVD releases

Holiday in Handcuffs was released on Region 1 DVD on October 7, 2008. The movie was re-released along with the television movie Snowglobe on October 13, 2009.