Christmas at the Greenbrier

I look to only watch movies that impress me. "Leon the Professional," "Pulp Fiction," and "The Godfather" are examples of the movies I seek out. I was dragged to "Christmas at the Greenbrier" last weekend against my will, but wow was I impressed! This was an excellent film that I will continue talking about and watching every Christmas from now on. People don't believe me when I tell them that this will be one of the best movies I will ever see. The character development, the plot structure, and the emotion rival the greats.

The Greenbrier should feature as the setting to more well-written films like this. It was perfect.

Sappy, unoriginal, cliche, predictable, cringey writing and story. The wooden, robotic leading man needs more acting lessons, and I kept wishing someone would throw Grandpa and the son off the roof; they were so disgustingly chipper. Best performances were by the leading actress, her female coworker, Grandma, and The Greenbrier itself. I repeat, it would have been more tolerable without sound. Being a "Hallmark Channel" style movie, of course I didn't expect to be all that impressed. (Cough, cough - FOX NATION?! So much worse!!) But what cringey lines! - "It'll be just like old times" and "What are we waiting for?!" Plus, the main couple had ZERO chemistry. My family and I love the Greenbrier and decided to give it a watch mostly for the indoor and outdoor art direction and cinematography. At the conclusion of the film, my 70 year old dad said, "Well, I'll never get THAT hour and a half back!" 👎👎

Quite an endearing Christmas romance movie. Location is picturesque - a classic for anyone that's visited the Greenbrier American Resort. The history and charm is beautifully weaves through the movie.

The plot grows steadily in a crescendo of relationship complexity and curiosity. It's a story of young love that stays alive even after years and years. I appreciated Ben's relentless but gentle pursuit of his high school sweetheart. His internal struggle to figure out what is most important to him is palpable as he's weighing competing priorities and timelines. All in all, a wonderful romance reminding us of the power of love in the most beautiful season of all, Christmas.

The poor picture quality the stiff acting and the tired story made this an un-enjoyable movie. Fortunately I could fast forward thru it just in case I found a good part which sadly did not exist. The chat in the locker room was not bad. The Grandma needed a bit more life in her. And oh can they not "glue" her hair back so the female lead was not continually pushing it off to the side. The blond friend certainly was not a believable manager. I would say if you have a choice don't pick this movie to watch. The male lead was pretty good. He was hampered by the poor script, productrion quality and the other actors.

There is not a single thing that happens in this movie that is surprising. I'd say that the following are spoilers, but that's not possible with the number of tropes.

Young, beautiful widow works at the hotel where she and her family spent Christmas when she was growing up. And where she met her first serious boyfriend, who left to become a pro football quarterback. Now he's newly retired and he and his family are back at the hotel. She protests, but they get back together, until he's offered a new contract. What will he do? You'll have to watch to find out, but I'm certain you can guess.

But it's sweet, and the actors are pretty to look at. If you're busy wrapping gifts or baking cookies, turn it on and let it run. No foul language, nudity or other inappropriate content that you'd be embarrassed if your kids came in the room.