Christmas Lodge

With all the sweetness and light in Christmas Lodge, just viewing it will get your teeth a rotting. The people depicted here are just too good to be true. Even the guy who dumps Erin Karplunk does it in a nice way.

I will say that the film boasts some lovely scenic photography of British Columbia in this Canadian production. Right in the middle of the forest primeval is a now rundown resort that Erin Karplunk and her family used to go to. The great grandson of the builder of Christmas Lodge is Michael Shanks and he's trying to restore the place, but it's an uphill battle for he and his little daughter.

Then in the God moves in mysterious ways category Karplunk shows up with the soon to be dumper boyfriend and she works in a foundation that gives grant money for restoration of old buildings. In this film you KNOW she's going to get it done by hook or heavenly crook. And fate has decreed that Karplunk and Shanks of course are fated to be mated.

Despite my cynicism I did enjoy Christmas Lodge and for those who are into restoration and there are many in my neck of the woods who are. Preservationists, this film is for you.

The '4' is for the scenery, which is lush, and for Erin Karpluk, who turned in her usual competent performance despite the lame dialogue, and for the cute little girl and her dog.

The title is a cheap attempt to cash in on the season. This movie has little to do with Christmas except for the obligatory family-togetherness lesson. For family togetherness to work as a plot device, there has to be a smidge of conflict beforehand. But in this movie everyone was so nice, so bland, that their 'apartness' could have been cured with an invitation to dinner or a night of board games in any month before Thanksgiving and the 'project' brought them all together anyway.

As someone else mentioned, there was utterly no chemistry between the romantic leads. Even though both Erin and Michael Shanks are competent actors, it's hard to see why they would take roles that offered so little scope for their emotional range either as individuals, romantic partners, or family members. Everybody in this film suffered from botox of the emotions. Believing in God doesn't and shouldn't equal living your whole life in emotional neutral. If you can't know pain, you can't appreciate joy.

Frankly, it wasn't the religious expressions that turned me off as much as the blatant unreality of the basic setup. Even Christian business people can't simply walk away from 3 months worth of scheduled work to satisfy their ailing grandfather without suffering consequences to their business's reputation for years to come. That kind of blatant guilt trip ought to be unthinkable for an ethical elder of the family. And any grant-funding organization that steered a huge part of their budget to the family business of an employee's dad would be in serious hot water with everyone from their private donors to the IRA.

I had to wonder, too, what message the writers/director thought they were sending, because it came across to me like 'If you're a Christian and pray a lot, you can convince total strangers to allocate millions of dollars to give your family's company money to rebuild an old lodge just because your ailing grandfather once had happy memories there.' Silly me; I thought Christianity meant more than using God like a cash machine. Especially at Christmas.

I Have Reviewed OVER 500 "Christmas Films and Specials". Please BEWARE Of films and specials with just one review! For instance When "It's a POSITIVE" chances are that the reviewer was involved with the production. "If its Negative" then they may have a grudge against the film for whatever reason. I am fare about these films.

When you watch a "Christmas theme" film you know what your in for. Now does this film break new ground? "No" but not every film maker wants to do that. Some of them want to tell stories about "Faith, hope and love" and that is what they did here and they made a film well worth watching!

Some people might be bothered by the overall religious themes in this but this a "Christmas Film" with a nice message that family traditions are important & that's is what makes "Christmas Special". You are almost not hit over the head with the message but the film is so good you won't care!

In this film Mary Tobin has wonderful memories of family gatherings at the Christmas Lodge. When she arrives for a weekend vacation, she quickly realizes that the lodge she loves has fallen into serious disrepair. With a lack of funds she is sets out to find a way to save the lodge.

I really enjoyed the film and its message about why traditions are important. Now it never tell you that outright but it shows you. The film is well paced and the leads are very charming. Michael Shanks is excellent and I hope to see him again in other films.

If your someone that grew up with large family gatherings for Christmas then you will enjoy this film. I also want to point out this film makes you want to celebrate life with your loved ones! So watch it with someone you love. If your a guy watch it with your girlfriend.

I have now watched this every Christmas for the past 3 years. The film just gets better to me.

Cut above the average Christmas movie, Michael Shanks and Erin Karpluk both do a great job, nice chemistry between them, you really want them both to find what they're looking for. The scenery is beautiful, but what really sets this movie apart is the emotional and spiritual depth, believable snd inspiring without being forced or cheesy. One star off for a somewhat rushed ending, felt like it could've used another 20 minutes. Still, one of the better Christmas movies, very enjoyable, highly recommended.

Not too bad.

It's a nice little story with a positive undercurrent.

However, the continuous invoking of religion really starts to grate towards the end. I guess it's an American/Canadian thing.

Luckily the beautiful surroundings of Vancouver and BC do compensate a bit for the "message" that's constantly rammed home. And the actors do a nice job of showing a close family, without getting too sappy.

I guess, in the end, this movie will really be loved by the very religious, yet when one looks beyond that, there's still a decent Christmas movie behind all of it for us non-believers.