A Biltmore Christmas

This Hallmark holiday romance is an enjoyable time-travel story that borrows some elements from (and honors) "Time After Time" and "Somewhere in Time".

This fantasy film features Bethany Joy Lenz as Lucy Hardgrove, a screenwriter with a shaky career who is charged with rewriting "His Merry Wife!", a film from the forties. She travels to the Biltmore Estate, to gain insight on the subject, where she encounters an hourglass among the original film's artifacts. Somehow the timepiece transports her, and she interacts with the cast and crew of the film, leading to complications.

Miss Lenz is wonderful in her role. Kristoffer Polaha, who plays the male lead, grows on you, as the role requires. The rest of the cast is quite enjoyable, especially A. K. Benninghofen, who plays Margaret, the superfan of the original film, who becomes a super sleuth and practically forces Lucy to reveal her secret. Jonathan Frakes is a pleasant surprise.

The Biltmore Estate itself is a star---worth seeing and a great setting for a romance.

Finally, the ending of the film is very satisfying. This is a feel-good film that really warms the heart.

I avoid Christmas movies like the plague. They are often dumb, tedious, and eye-rollingly boring. The whole genre went down the drain after the first year or two when Hallmark got ridiculous about them.

But I saw this one had Frakes in it.

I'm a huge TNG fan. So after thinking about it I decided to give it a shot.

I am glad I did I enjoyed it. It's a classy movie with a good script, good acting, strong characters and fine production. It goes by quickly.

I like that the main character is fully realized. My memory of these Hallmark Christmas movies is that they were cookie cutter things that had come off an assembly line.

But I did not get that sense here.

There is one character that I found annoying (the woman with the camera) but I even warmed up to her. Maybe I'm just getting old but I enjoyed this and even cried at the end.

I recommend it.

Well, credit where credit is due. Hallmark swung for the fences on this one and I'd suggest they knocked it right out of the park.

A Hallmark classic, but also - dare I say? - a Christmas movie classic full stop. No tired tropes. No small towns. No festivals. None of that. Just an inspired, brilliantly-conceived plot that hits all the marks and pulls at all the heart strings.

Casting was perfect. Kristoffer Polaha was born for this role. He is brilliant as Jack Huston, his finest moment, and One Tree Hill alum Bethany Joy Lenz shines as Lucy.

Star Trek alum Jonathan Frakes and Robert Picardo are great.

The Wes Brown and Rachel Boston cameo at the end (with a nod to one of my favourites, 'Check Inn to Christmas') was fantastic.

The Biltmore is a spectacular location, and 'A Biltmore Christmas' makes full use of the historical property.

The music, the sets, the costumes: all astounding. The recreation of Hollywood's Golden Age was perfect.

So, so good. In every way.

Kristoffer Polaha always adds his unique charm to a character, and he doesn't do the same character every time, as some of the actors and actresses in these movies do. We particularly know Bethany Joy Lenz from "A Christmas Secret", which is one of our Hallmark Christmas favorites.

This film has performances that rival old-style big-screen movies, and the plot has a classic fantasy charm with a unique twist ... an hourglass that sends our intrepid heroine to the past for an hour at a time ... unless it gets broken.

The dialogue between the leads is quick and clever, and the plot constructs great atmosphere between them. Highly recommended.

I know time travel has been done a few times in Hallmark Christmas movies but never has it been so refreshing and heartwarming! First Bethany Joy and Kristopher are two of my faves and their chemistry is such a good match. The writing of the script gets a huge A+ as the quips they exchanged and the whole storyline was all so beautiful.

The location and costumes and words all combined to give us such a modern take on the old movies including the slightly over the top acting that is reminiscent of the movie era.

They knocked it out of the park with this one. You come away with your heart filled with Christmas spirit. Great movie!