Noël à l'anglaise

I loved this movie for personal reasons as it reminded me of my daughter who moved with her family to live in Canada.

Knaresborough was one of my memorable highlights when I visited Yorkshire many years ago.

I enjoyed the scenery, spirit of Christmas & romantic aspects. I didn't allow the accents to spoil it. Seeing a movie without Sci-fi, violence & swearing is a refreshing change.

My only disappointment is that we never heard singing at the end.

Lily James would have been perfect in the lead role as she has musical & acting talent & more music would have been a welcome addition.

Yes, it was twee, but glad we just happened to switch on the Tele and stumbled upon this movie.

It brought a tear or two to my eyes as I saw it through the eyes of a child with happy memories of the festive season shared with family as well as my visit to Knaresborough.

G-rated, formulaic, and utterly predictable. Feel-good for the younger set. Too much soft focus and quirky music. But, the child and her gran are a delight. A respite from the felonious characters of other Christmas movies. Pretty location. Light a candle, drink a nog, and sour back with a Hallmark-style movie.

I have only one criticism regarding the story line. At the beginning, the main character, Jessica, is sitting at a small rail station in the middle of what turns out to be, Yorkshire. She was enroute to Vienna for a concert. Her flight was canceled. She ends up taking a train twenty miles away from the town where I presume the airport was. This was confusing especially since I once lived in Yorkshire. One other detail that bothered me was the endless supply of winter coats, hats and scarves. When she was at the train station she had a small to medium sized suitcase. That being said, this was a nice love story set at Christmas time. It was a British version of a Hallmark Christmas movie. No swearing, no violence and predictable. The location where it was filmed was beautiful. It's worth a watch at the end of a hectic day.

Full disclaimer, I love Hallmark Christmas movies. I now feel like I imagine Americans do when they watch them; do all small towns in America really have Christmas Tree farms and cookie factories? Probably not. For American tourists let me manage your expectations; the only airport in Yorkshire anywhere near is Leeds Bradford. If you were stranded at the airport you would get a taxi to the nearest premier inn. Never in all my time living in Leeds did a steam train with compartment pull up as part of a normal service! Don't get me started on the male lead's accent... other than that - terrible!

This film was so enjoyable, with beautiful settings. It wasn't like most of the Christmas movies that play in abundance, because of the rich characters and the actors convincing performances. I recommend this movie for a relaxing and cozy time.