After her sister and brother-in-law's tragic deaths, an American woman who is the guardian for her young niece and nephew is invited to a royal European castle for Christmas by her late brother-in-law's father, the Duke of Castlebury. Feeling out of place as a commoner, she is determined to give her family a merry Christmas and surprises herself when she falls for a handsome prince.
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Reviews
To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.
One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
Yes this story is absolutely ridiculous. In fact, I thought it went even beyond most of the other stories of this type. But that doesn't mean it isn't fun to watch.Jules and her niece and nephew have had a heartbreaking struggle in the loss of her sister and their parents. But we get to see the wonder of children living the fairy tale at Christmas. Leilah de Meza is totally cute as the little girl who doesn't care that her grandpa is a duke. She even overlooks his grumpiness and just loves him.There are some silly but fun scenes as the common folk meet the stiff royalty and sometimes try to loosen them up.
An English duke (Roger Moore) for reasons unknown sends his butler to invite his two American grandkids to visit in his English castle. They are accompanied by their aunt. The Duke is an old stick in the mud at first but the three of them loosen him and the staff up after a couple of days. So much so that the Duke not only allows a Christmas tree for the first time in years but decides to have a Christmas Eve ball. The American perception of English nobility is amply shown in this movie. I have never been to England so I don't know for sure if it is true or not but I like to think it is. Anyway the Duke's second son (the life one) and Jules (the aunt) end up in love, the Duke gets a new lease on life in a joyous way. This a heartwarming Christmas time film and I really like it.
Truth be told, Christmas movies are by their nature disposable. Producers and financial backers love them. You produce them on a shoestring and the year-end demand usually provides more than enough momentum to knock you into profit straight away. If the movie actually proves to be high quality and finds an audience, well, that truly would be a XMas miracle.. wouldn't it? No miracle here. The highly photogenic Katie McGrath (who did such great work in Merlin, playing the same role in both Light and Dark hues) does a passable American accent but is otherwise lost in a script so weak you wonder how how the paper made through the printer without jamming.Not a strong performance anywhere, and Roger Moore, a man who treated an entire generation to his Ivanhoe, and yet another generation to his Saint, looks lost.Truly this makes Amanda's Bines 2003 WHAT A GIRL WANTS (actually a very entertaining film) look like Oscar material.
Even though i am a bit of a skeptic when it comes to romance movies, this one was amazing. It gave me goose bumps on every sequence and i would definitely recommend it if it were to watch it with family, loved ones or just by oneself! It has greatly rounded characters, great storyline and brilliantly built emotional charge - it makes it the perfect movie; i would easily give it 20 out of ten, because I am not into genres like this one and it definitely surpassed my previous beliefs; it deserves much, much more than the IMDb rating and even though it has "Christmas" as part of the headline, it is much more than a Christmas story, it is a love story, built with courage, grace and over-passing of obstacles and difficulties - WATCH IT!!!