Faking Christmas

With a keen eye for both the wacky and the wonderful, Winfrey (Just Another Love Song) rings in the holidays with a clever comedy of errors. Laurel Grant falls into a dream job at an Ohio tourism magazine, where she writes a monthly column about her “simple, hardworking, sometimes chaotic life on the farm” with her husband and kids. There’s just one problem: it’s not her own life she’s writing about, but that of her much more together twin sister, Holly. So when her boss announces his desire to see the farm and invites himself over for the family’s annual Christmas Eve Eve feast, Laurel’s in a pickle. Luckily, Holly’s ready and willing to help Laurel pretend to be the lady of the manor, even recruiting her husband’s best friend, Max, to pose as Laurel’s husband. Complicating the charade is the fact that Laurel hates Max with a passion—and when a blizzard strands all at the farm, they have to pretend to be in love all the way through Christmas. It’s enough time, in fact, for the ice between Laurel and Max to melt and tender feelings to arise. The sweet romance blooms organically amid the chaos and Winfrey uses it as a vehicle to touch on deeper themes of loneliness and self-esteem. The results are utterly adorable. Agent: Stephen Barbara, InkWell Management. (Sept.)