In 2021, The Frontman Of This Pop-Rock Band Starred In A Hallmark Movie Inspired By His Own Album

If "Polar Express" wasn't enough to scratch your itch for train-related Christmas movies, consider turning your tracks towards "Christmas in Tahoe." This straight-to-TV movie premiered on Sunday, November 28, 2021 on the Hallmark Channel and stars Pat Monahan of the pop-rock band, Train. The movie plot is your standard Hallmark Channel fare, minus any talking animals: "To save her family hotel's Christmas show, talent booker Claire must ask for help from her ex-boyfriend Ryan, the lead guitarist of a now-famous band that fired her as their manager years ago."

Claire is played by celebrated Broadway actress Laura Osnes, Ryan is played by Kyle Selig, Pat Monahan plays Claire's best friend who is also secretly a singer, and George Lopez makes a brief appearance in a supporting role. This is Monahan's first starring role, though the singer previously appeared as a guest star on "Hawaii Five-O," "CSI:NY," and "Magnum PI." He also served as an executive producer on the film. 

The concept for the film was based on Train's 2015 Christmas album, "Christmas in Tahoe." The album was recorded at Bear Creek studio and Sunken Forest studio, both in Washington State. Aside from the title, the album has no connection or lyrics related to Lake Tahoe. The record features covers of prominent Christmas songs such as Donny Hathaway's "This Christmas," Joni Mitchell's "River," and John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," as well as several original songs, such as "Shake Up Christmas," from Train's 2009 album, "Save Me, San Francisco."

Monahan is the sole remaining original member of Train, which was formed in 1993. They scored their first hit in 1998 with the single "Meet Virginia" from their debut self-titled album, and then earned two Grammys in 2002 for the single "Drops from Jupiter" from their follow-up album of the same name. The band reached their commercial peak in 2009 with the release of "Save Me, San Francisco" which had five charting singles: "If It's Love," "Marry Me," "Save Me, San Francisco," "Shake Up Christmas," and — of course — the mega-hit, 13x platinum-selling, "Hey, Soul Sister."

According to Monahan, his management team had formed the idea to get involved with film and contacted Hallmark with the idea of turning the album into a movie. "They actually went to Hallmark right away because Hallmark rules Christmas," Monahan told PEOPLE magazine. "It's just taken a long time, but [Hallmark is] so dialed in on how to do this that it just came together ... It was four years of waiting and then six months of, 'Okay, here's the script. Let's go." 

Reviews for the film were mixed. In its only review on Rotten Tomatoes, Hilife H gave it a half star and said, "I thought this movie would be a good choice. Was I wrong, no actress could fix the stupid screen play. Watching it was like watching a 5th grade play. Friends it was awful." It holds a 2.9 rating on the movie review app Letterboxd and has a rating of 6.3/10 stars on IMDb based on 1.5k reviews. 

Amid the hundreds of Hallmark Christmas movies out there, does this one stand out for its star-power? Possibly. There are countless forgotten Christmas songs, albums, and movies out there, and only time will tell if any of Train's songs will cement themselves in the canon of Christmas culture. But, if you're one of those people who finds Train's songs like "Hey Soul Sister" annoying, maybe stay away from the Hallmark Channel, because Monahan might be back. "Maybe now I'll be in a Hallmark movie every year," he told PEOPLE magazine. "This will be, maybe, my new trend." It's up to the reader to decide if that's a promise, or a threat.