Un castillo por Navidad

I normally HATE these types of movies, But... I Do Love Brooke Shields (and glad to see she is just as Lovely in her 50's WITHOUT having bowed to Hollywood pressure to destroy her Natural Beauty and destroy her face with fillers and botox and scary surgery) and Then I do Love Castles too! ;D

It's a cute, cheezy movie with a lot of heart and Christmas spirit and the dog helped it score an extra point from me. Just Adorable!

I get it - it's a Hallmark Xmas movie - yes, it's going to be predictable, potentially even cheesy - all acceptable for the genre. But why does that mean it has to be badly done? That the writing must be execrable? That it can't at least be professionally executed? Romantic and predictable doesn't HAVE to equal poor quality - "Bridgerton", anyone? When will the powers that be in TV land recognise that there IS a big market for happily-ever-after, but that doesn't mean we want to see bad acting, bad writing and overall, something which is just unnecessarily shoddy?! If you make it well, (to paraphrase) we will watch in huge numbers. If you do it on the cheap (like this) you'll get - well, what you paid for. And the poor reviews that go with it.

Yes it's rubbish but in the best possible way. I don't think anyone involved thought it was anything but what it is. Christmas schmaltz. It's great to see Brooke Shields and Cary Elwes as leads but there ain't an awful lot of chemistry between them I felt. It's not the worst movie but it's not the best either. It's fluff for Sunday afternoon. We'll gloss over the obvious nonsense about reality being involved in any of it, locations, accents and such like. If you're expecting anything other than a Hallmark movie you might be disappointed. It's fun, it's silly and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It's a shame that, with a population of 5.5 million people, there were no actors available to play the parts in this movie. The story line is poor enough but the pathetic attempts at Scots accents from the male cast are woeful, they land somewhere between Ireland and Whisky Galore and make me cringe listening to them. The "plot" was pretty obvious from the start but the kitch and utter nonsense presented is the worst type of portrayal of Scotland possible.

Though predictable and formulaic, 'A Castle for Christmas' is entertaining nonetheless with some beautiful cinematography, appealing performances, and some lovely Scottish Christmas music and celebrations. From the snow-covered Scottish countryside, along with the beautifully decorated castle, to traditional Scottish dance and song, plus a cute dog named Hamish to boot, the film has a pleasing Christmas feel to it, which most will enjoy. The story follows Sophie Brown (played by Brooke Shields), a best-selling author whose most recent book has caused a bit of a scandal. After an on-air meltdown, she travels to Scotland partly to flee her readers' fury and partly to reconnect with her family roots. While visiting Dun Dunbar Castle, the place where he grandparents were groundskeepers, she meets Myles (played by Cary Elwes), the 12th Duke of Dunbar, who reluctantly agrees to sell the castle to her under the condition she lives with him at the castle for 90 days. And so, our story begins as we watch these two butt heads all the while embarking on a discovery that neither was expecting nor bargained for. The script is unoriginal but enjoyable. To be fair, one of the reasons why Christmas movies are so popular is because of their highly formulaic and predictable plots. We all need some comfort food from time to time. The dialogue and banter are pretty good. And though I did not have a laugh-out-loud moment, I did find myself chuckle a few times. There also were some touching movements here and there where I might even have shed a tear or two. The romance in this one centers on an older couple, as opposed to 30 somethings, which was refreshing. The script does a pretty good job of reflecting and highlighting this as well. The acting, overall, was excellent. Shields had an impressive performance as Sophie Brown. Elwes, who many will remember from the 'The Princess Bride', also had a strong performance. The chemistry between the two was great and, more importantly, convincing. Indeed, they had a nice back-and-forth (banter and comedic flirtation), which was engaging and entertaining. The knitters of Dunbar all had lovely performances too. And I can't forget Hamish, the dog who played matchmaker in this story. If you are looking for something warm and light, with a touch of Scottish holiday cheer, 'A Castle for Christmas' might be the Christmas rom-com for you.