My Sweet Austrian Holiday

The name of the movie implies that it's in Austria, and all the landscape shots are set in Austria. But someone had the dumb idea to edit the movie to be based in Quebec City in the Canadian version. All online reviews state that the main character moves from Cincinnati to Vienna to take over her grandparents chocolate shop. But in the version I watched here in Canada they changed it to she's from Vancouver and went to Quebec City, problem is that the outdoor scenes doesn't even come close to looking like Quebec City (except for the opening shot of chateau Frontenac). Even the overdubbed voices and the many mention of Quebec is said when that character has their back to the camera. If the Movie was supposed to be based in Quebec then why keep the Austrian name of the movie?

6.3 stars.

I worked my way through this story with much patience and low expectations. It has fairly low ratings after all, not in the five zone, but just barely in the six. This indicates, generally speaking, a hit or miss scenario. In this case, it's a big miss for achieving average status and fits securely in the take-it-or-leave-it category, but at least it's better than the could-care-less movies that are actually rare (under 6.0).

So yes, this is below average for sure, it's about as cookie-cutter as can be, and it's about chocolate and about a real estate tycoon who is buying out a building and a person who is trying to save their business. It's probably the most used plot of Hallmark films.

I used to really like Brittany Bristow in her earlier films. But for the last few years, it hasn't been the same. Will Kemp is OK, but no more than that for me. I thought he was very stiff and seemed uncomfortable with Brittany in this movie. And this is really too bad, because the plot was certainly one of the most oft repeated Hallmark templates ever. Sometimes, I can put up with that if the movie has some good dialogue or some amusing little additions, or some good acting or other charms. This was strictly by the book, including dumbness on the part of both the female and male leads. Although the foreign setting of "Austria" (Really Bulgaria) did add some interest. Will didn't tell the truth, the old lack of communication leading to the last 15 minute bust up, And Brittany taking way too long to figure out who he was and to find proof of her stores historical significance. It didn't offend me, just bored me, so a generous 5 out of 10.

Will Kemp is usually very good in the Hallmark Christmas movies, but even he can't save this mashup of over used Hallmark Christmas movie plots. My wife and I started watching the Hallmark Christmas movies during the pandemic for some light hearted enjoyment, but the repetitive plots get tired after a few years. We gave up on this one within 15 minutes. Been there. Done that! The "the building in peril from a real estate developer" and the "food competition" plots mashed into the same movie and moved to a different city or a different country doesn't make it a "new" story. It's like playing Mad Libs. They change the characters names, the location of the town or city, and combine a few different tropes and think that makes it "new".

Loved this movie. Brittney Bristow and Will Kemp were wonderful in My Sweet Austrian Holiday. The addition of Catherine Disher was icing on the cake. I always enjoyed her in the Good Witch series, she truly adds a special something to everything she's in.

All of the cast worked well together. The true star of the show was the beautiful scenery. Truly enjoyed watching them walk all around the different places. The Christmas/ Holiday festival was very engaging and festive, really got us in the holiday spirit.

The chocolates, looked amazing and it actually looked like they were eating them!!

We would definitely watch again.