Mon conte de fées de Noël

This is a Hallmark movie and follows the general formula, and is good clean entertainment with actors we enjoy seeing. It is set in Scotland but apparently was mostly filmed in Ireland, and maybe that is why in one scene a pint of Guinness is ordered at the bar.

Lacey Chabert is Dr. Lindsay Morgan with a thriving medical practice. Scott Wolf is her older brother Brad Morgan, he is a thriving tax attorney. They live in different California cities, they were very close as children growing up but had become somewhat estranged as adults. Mending that gap is part of the overall story here.

It is the Christmas holidays and their mother has requested they fit in a trip to visit her in Scotland. She was from there originally but at age 20 had left and moved to the States, married an American, and raised her family there. Both Lindsay and Brad are making the trip somewhat reluctantly, both are very busy.

But it turns out the trip is very important, their uncle, the Duke, had recently died and the disposition of the castle and the vast land holdings are at issue. Will they have it split up and sold, or will Lindsay and Brad (and his wife) decide they are Scottish enough that they can move and live there?

My wife and I found this to be a nicely entertaining movie. A big bonus for me, at exactly the half-way mark of the movie is a large group whisky tasting and, even though it is a fictional movie, brought a certain warmth to my heart.

At home, streaming.

The storyline was fun and the setting gorgeous and who doesn't love Lacy Chabert but being of Scottish descent and a Highland Dancer I wanted to love this story yet found myself throwing my ghillies at the TV. The cartoonish character of Hamish, horrible bagpiping and the abysmal representation of Scottish culture, especially the Highland dancing, was extremely off-putting. There are thousands of talented Highland dancers all over the world, videos on YouTube and images of proper costumes so you would have thought a giant like HM would have gotten it right...but they didn't. It's fine that the main characters weren't great but the "dancers" should have been and the contest should have used an actual Highland dance. What the heck is a "slip step"? A decent piper would have been nice too. This could have been a beautiful showcase of a beautiful culture but HM chose instead to make a mockery of it. There's no excuse for that.

Just as well, for the 90's Party of Five addict in me, that Scott Wolf and Lacey Chabert played siblings - even if they are estranged at the start of the film. Couldn't have handled them playing a couple.

Speaking of PO5, the bar named Salinger's, owned by a guy called Charlie? Love that nod to the show that made Wolf and Chabert famous.

A Merry Scottish Christmas is much better than the last Hallmark movie where Chabert went to a castle (2021's forgettable 'Christmas at Castle Hart').

It is a Hallmark movie that doesn't feel like one. Aside from the unique setting, there is real family drama here, serious stuff that Hallmark movies usually don't touch with a ten-foot pole. (Well, the old version of Hallmark, anyway. The Crown network seems to be going to places it never did before with storylines, casts and romantic pairings. If that's them going woke, then I'm fine with it...)

Beautiful establishing shots, good acting all around, some very un Hallmark-like storylines (refreshingly so), plenty of Scottish flavour (music, language and Christmas traditions) and, for a change, a romance that wasn't the main focus of the film.

Oh, and a cool cameo from Chabert's romantic interest in the brilliant 2020 Hallmark classic 'The Christmas Waltz' on the same weekend as a sequel to that film airs on a rival network.

There were too many things that distracted in this one. First, why did they choose Duke/Duchess as the title? It would have been far more believable if it had been Earl or a lesser title. And while it was nice to see Lacey Chabert and Scott Wolf together again, their age difference was glaring. I kept thinking, sure they played siblings in Party of Five, but it is just weird here. There are lines that reference "when we were teenagers," implying they're supposed to be, three or four years apart, maybe five? I looked up both of them, and there is a 14 year age difference in real life, Scott Wolf is in his mid-fifties. Along with that, the woman playing their mom didn't seem old enough. And there is always an expected amount of cheesiness in Hallmark movies, but it felt so forced how cheerful and friendly all the Scottish people were. It just seemed so over the top. On that note, I couldn't stand Hamish (I think that was the character's name), man was he annoying, so over-acted. On a positive note, the castle was beautiful, and shots of the scenery were lovely.

I have nothing but nice things to say about this Hallmark holiday film. I am loving these excursions into foreign locales and the sharing of other culture's holiday traditions...and this is no exception. In this film we travel to Scotland for a Christmas with siblings Brad and Lindsay.

They arrive at the fictional Glenncraig, or the lovely and very real Duns Castle which was used in the filming, at their mother's invitation. What they don't know is their mother was meant to be the Duchess there as first born and Lady Josephine. A role that she ran away from to go to America where she became Brad and Lindsay's mother. Her brother, Danny, became the Duke in her absence. Unfortunately, Duke Daniel has recently passed away, leaving the castle and estate to his absent sister and potentially Brad and Lindsay.

It was fun seeing some Scottish Christmas traditions with the bonfire to celebrate the Christmas solstice, the Shetland ponies, the banquet and ball...The dancing, the kilts, the Scotch.

"An enchanting time and place, the romance, the history, the moors, Glenncraig is straight out of a fairytale at Christmas time."-Mac

This was a story about family and home. I thought it was a beautiful touch to use Michael Buble's song "Home" at a key point towards the end. It was fun to see the reunion of two Party of Five members, reunited as siblings again. The real revelation however is the Scottish actor James Robinson, who played the castle estate manager Mac Bell. Perfect for the role of a romantic lead, he is handsome and his Scottish burr really added a note of authenticity to the film (along with the proper Scottish pronunciations!). Kellie Blaise was also a nice addition to the cast as Sarah Morgan, Brad's wife. What lovely hair she has. Gerry O'Brien, was perfect as the voice of reason Graeme Stewart. The surprise appearance by Will Kemp for a dance with Lacy Chabert, was fun especially in light of their co-starring in Hallmark's Dancing Detective series.

This is a film I would recommend to anyone who likes to armchair travel and who is a fan of Christmas and family. (Also I might recommend this to Party of Five fans who might get a kick out of the Scott Wolf-Lacey Chabert reunion.)