A Castle for Christmas

Is it Oscar worthy? No. Is it just the right amount of cheesy for a Christmas movie? Yes. Worth at least once viewing, the rom com story is expected and heartwarming. The acting is decent enough and the leads have a surprising amount of chemistry.

Though predictable and formulaic, 'A Castle for Christmas' is entertaining nonetheless with some beautiful cinematography, appealing performances, and some lovely Scottish Christmas music and celebrations. From the snow-covered Scottish countryside, along with the beautifully decorated castle, to traditional Scottish dance and song, plus a cute dog named Hamish to boot, the film has a pleasing Christmas feel to it, which most will enjoy. The story follows Sophie Brown (played by Brooke Shields), a best-selling author whose most recent book has caused a bit of a scandal. After an on-air meltdown, she travels to Scotland partly to flee her readers' fury and partly to reconnect with her family roots. While visiting Dun Dunbar Castle, the place where he grandparents were groundskeepers, she meets Myles (played by Cary Elwes), the 12th Duke of Dunbar, who reluctantly agrees to sell the castle to her under the condition she lives with him at the castle for 90 days. And so, our story begins as we watch these two butt heads all the while embarking on a discovery that neither was expecting nor bargained for. The script is unoriginal but enjoyable. To be fair, one of the reasons why Christmas movies are so popular is because of their highly formulaic and predictable plots. We all need some comfort food from time to time. The dialogue and banter are pretty good. And though I did not have a laugh-out-loud moment, I did find myself chuckle a few times. There also were some touching movements here and there where I might even have shed a tear or two. The romance in this one centers on an older couple, as opposed to 30 somethings, which was refreshing. The script does a pretty good job of reflecting and highlighting this as well. The acting, overall, was excellent. Shields had an impressive performance as Sophie Brown. Elwes, who many will remember from the 'The Princess Bride', also had a strong performance. The chemistry between the two was great and, more importantly, convincing. Indeed, they had a nice back-and-forth (banter and comedic flirtation), which was engaging and entertaining. The knitters of Dunbar all had lovely performances too. And I can't forget Hamish, the dog who played matchmaker in this story. If you are looking for something warm and light, with a touch of Scottish holiday cheer, 'A Castle for Christmas' might be the Christmas rom-com for you.

The Scottish accents were dire, the plot predictable, some of the acting wooden and Hamish the dog could have written a better script. Yet the old eyes filled at one bit and I laughed a few times. Total cheese, wonderful nonsense and perfect for Christmas.

Nothing spectacular, your usual hallmark type Christmas holiday romantic drama. I did like the chemistry between Brooke and Cary, I would love to see them do more together in another type movie. The dog was super adorable! If you are in the mood for a hallmark easy watch I highly suggest it. Happy Holidays!

I get it - it's a Hallmark Xmas movie - yes, it's going to be predictable, potentially even cheesy - all acceptable for the genre. But why does that mean it has to be badly done? That the writing must be execrable? That it can't at least be professionally executed? Romantic and predictable doesn't HAVE to equal poor quality - "Bridgerton", anyone? When will the powers that be in TV land recognise that there IS a big market for happily-ever-after, but that doesn't mean we want to see bad acting, bad writing and overall, something which is just unnecessarily shoddy?! If you make it well, (to paraphrase) we will watch in huge numbers. If you do it on the cheap (like this) you'll get - well, what you paid for. And the poor reviews that go with it.