Holiday in handcuffs painting

Holiday in Handcuffs is an American crime comedy television movie that originally aired on ABC Family on December 9, 2007, as a part of the network's 25 Days of Christmas programming block. The film stars Melissa Joan Hart, Mario Lopez, Markie Post, Timothy Bottoms, June Lockhart, Kyle Howard and Vanessa Lee Evigan.

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.