Christmas at Pemberley Manor

Christmas at Pemberley Manor is a shameless attempt to capitalize on the popularity of Jane-Austen based contemporary romances. Unlike Unleashing Mr. Darcy, however, the story and the characters have nothing to with Pride and Prejudice. Zip. All the writer did was tack on various names from P & P on to the main characters. Sometimes quite randomly. For example, Elizabeth's old boyfriend was named "George" and was a nice guy, the mayor of the town, and trying to win Elizabeth back. The doofus assistant to William Darcy, who wins the heart of "Jane" Elizabeth's last minute assistant, was named Travis. Why not "Charles?" It was insulting to the intelligence. If you can set that aside, however, this was not a bad Hallmark Christmas movie. At least I stayed awake. I am not usually a fan of Jessica Lowndes. Her looks are usually too jaw-droppingly glamorous for the rolls she has played. In this one, however, they were toned down somewhat, so she looked like a relatable woman. Her acting, as usual, was not the best, but at least she didn't stick out like a sore thumb. Also, I loved the actor who played the hero. He had a lot of charisma in this role. The young actress who played Jane had appeal and had a secondary romance of her own. The villain in the piece was "Elizabeth's" boss who was played by the same actress who did such a great job as the prospective evil stepmother in Linday Lohan's Parent Trap. Although the script and the director in this one did not make use of her comedy chops, it was nice to see her again.

Burning questions: Why would the board of directors of a world wide corporation want to demolish the CEO's beloved home? Surely it's but the teeniest fraction of an expense against the mega corporation's humongous assets? Why would a festival that has attracted press from all over the country and is a mainstay of the town's budget and beloved tradition, have only 20 people attend the climactic event? These questions will remain unanswered. The former is the fault of the writer the latter the fault of the director. Maybe my 6 stars is a bit too generous. Yep, down to 5. I just remembered the magic Santa Claus, the most tired Christmas cliche ever.

Which makes sense as their was not a line of believable dialogue. I mean, it's a Hallmark Christmas movie - it's got it's own genre almost. This was more boring & formulaic than most. Can there ever be one of these WITHOUT a holiday festival/fair/ball? It's been done to death. Hallmark writers, gotta change things up!

Oh dear, Jessica Lowndes, never heard of her or seen her before, but her acting skills are clearly overshadowed by obvious 'work' she's had done to her face, which is hard to look away from. Does anyone really have such feline eyes naturally ? and why do Hallmark make their lead actresses wear such awful long curl extensions ? they're a bit last season here in the UK.

Cant complain about Michael Rady, an understated actor if ever there was one. The storyline was ok, but I think its the second one with the D'Arcy /Bennet theme - the last one involved dog shows I believe.

This is not coming from somebody that hates Christmas or has a bias against Hallmark. They did make quite a number of average and less films, but also quite a number of above average and more ones. Hallmark Christmas films do have a tendency more often than not to be very predictable, cliched, very cheesy, too schmaltzy and over-scored. There have been many times where they have also been very cute, warm hearted, heartfelt, charming and appealingly acted.

As much as there was the genuine want of 'Christmas at Pemberley Manor' to be in the latter category, it sadly didn't do much for me. Which does sadden me a good deal, because clearly very formulaic the premise did sound charming. It has good points and is a long way from being one of Hallmark's worst, but sadly 'Christmas at Pemberley Manor' has nearly all the negative qualities mentioned above and came over as mediocre.

'Christmas at Pemberley Manor' is not a complete humbug. It is graced by an immensely likeable Michael Rady, who doesn't make his character too perfect or overplay his weaknesses. As well as a scene stealing Elaine Hendrix who was clearly enjoying herself (despite playing one of the most cliched types of characters in the book of cliches).

It looks pretty good, especially the manor. Which looks beautiful and is like a character of its own (exteriors and interiors). The photography is never too drab or over-saturated. There is a nice festive atmosphere at times.

Jessica Lowndes however didn't cut it for me sadly in the female lead role. The performance just felt rather affected and also lacking in expression, plus her character is dull and never goes beyond a typical Hallmark cliche that doesn't really grow all that much. She and Rady have very little chemistry together, what little there is doesn't charm or sparkle at all and the relationship itself lacks development. Didn't really buy their love and there is not much conflict or anything that leads to it, so it felt like it came out of the blue. The supporting cast try but can't do much with very sketchy typical roles, nobody is annoying but nobody is interesting enough.

When it comes to the dialogue, it is very awkward in flow and there is no heart to it. Both the cheese and sentiment go overboard, and because of disliking the characters so much there was nothing in 'Christmas at Pemberley Manor' to connect with emotionally. The story is not much of one at all for most of the length, much of the first portion is endless and pointless filler and what there is of the story is very dull, excessively predictable and at times silly. The too neat and contrived ending can be seen from miles off. The direction is routine on the whole and will agree that the music is overbearing.

Overall, lacklustre but not terrible. 4/10

I love a good Pride and Predjudice take any time, and I wanted to love this movie. Fact is, the lead was just miscast. Jessica comes off fake, over acted, and without even a shred of what the Elizabeth Bennet character is known for. Rady on the other hand, is phenomenal as the Darcy image. He is the only reason I finished the film. The storyline is your run-of-the-mill Hallmark -- heartwarming, happy ending and cheerful. But sadly, the female lead takes what could have been a winning Hallmark film down to the bottom of the list.