Christmas at Plumhill Manor

This film made me laugh a lot! The leads both did well with their insane plot and managed to be quite charming. As soon as she gets to England the mad accents and cliches are just great - the annoying housekeeper(maybe? She seems to do everything in the village) who's insanely scottish despite this being suffolk, the pub scenes, the bell ringing, the xmas pudding class, the hero's pet lamb - all completely mental. Many things make no sense - why focus so much on the gardening when it's all wrong? The "snowdrops" that aren't (they're aquilegias) and it is clearly summer flowers everywhere, and the plastic poinsettias they plant up...plus the "norman" arch that is gothic, a hidden "castle", some really strange ideas about "residential taxes" that don't exist in the UK, no concept of planning laws for historic buildings and yet then a bizarre fantasy about the national trust saving the day (if only that was really possible!). I really enjoyed it! Well worth watching! I can see the manor exterior and gardens is the beautiful Crow's Hall in Suffolk as others have said, but none of the interior scenes look very convincingly old. Just adds to the weirdness! Enjoy!

There are lovely views of Crow's Hall in Suffolk in late Spring - cow parsley, ox-eye daisies and so on, which mysteriously morphs into winter. But so corny! And how could a supposed expert in architecture mistake a gothic arch for a Norman one? Some of it was filmed at Shrublands Park in Suffolk, bits in Ipswich and in a pub I couldn't identify. Clearly the writers know little about British planning regulations, taxes or architecture. A six-storey hotel on a moated 16th century plot? I think not! Property taxes mounting up? No. A castle lurking unsuspected behind a door? You're joking! Sadly I shan't be recommending it... a group of us watched it and managed to last to the end, but it was tough going.

Yet another Christmas movie that I had never even heard about. But then again, Christmas movies is not exactly high on my list of interests. But every now and again do I go all in during December and bingewatch far too many Christmas movies. And 2024 turned out to be one such year. And thus, I came upon the 2024 movie "Christmas at Plumhill Manor" from director Brian Herzlinger.

Truth be told, from the movie's cover alone, I figured that I would be in for a rather generic sappy Christmas movie. But I still opted to watch the movie, and let writers Daniel Levin, Megan Henry Herzlinger and Avery Henry-Bailey have the benefit of the doubt; perhaps they would surprise me with something grand here.

The storyline in the movie ultimately failed to entertain me. The contents of the storyline was just not interesting, nor were the characters particularly memorable or likable. So the movie fell short of entertaining me.

I was not familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie. Despite the fact that the storyline wasn't my cup of eggnog, then I will say that the acting performances were indeed fair.

Now, I am sure that there is an audience out there for this movie, especially those hardcore lovers of sappy Christmas movies. I just didn't enjoy the movie, and I will never return to watch it a second time.

My rating of director Brian Herzlinger's 2024 movie "Christmas at Plumhill Manor" lands on a three out of ten stars.

This is the first Christmas movie I couldn't make it through this season. I only lasted until the first pub scene.

The redubbing of Margot's lines near the beginning was painfully obvious. The words just didn't match the mouth. And she just seemed so harsh and unlikable.

What finally drove me out was the annoying character of Jackie. Her over the top cheerfulness and overacting was really grating. I couldn't understand half of what she was saying. And those giant teeth were very distracting.

I obviously can't comment on the rest of the movie but I'm sure there was some kind of misunderstanding with 20 minutes left that threatens to blow everything apart. Followed by the "follow your heart" speech and a kiss with one minute left. Just going on on a limb there.

Skip this one.

Margot Stone is a successful architect. When her Great Aunt - Lady Victoria - passes away, Margot is informed she is the sole beneficiary. The codicils stipulate she can either retain or sell the property (Plumhill Manor), but that she must stay seven nights on the property before making up her mind.

Believing it to be a joke at first, Margot's mother convinces her otherwise, and Margot accepts the offer. So, she heads off to England to stay at the manor. She meets Jackie, who is to be her liaison for the week, and I thought Caroline Colomei was just fabulous as Jackie.

She also meets the handsome Alfie, the groundkeeper's son, who off course - predictably - becomes the romance interest. Clues are left throughout the house for Margot to solve. She also learns her Aunt used to throw big Christmas parties at the manor for the townsfolk, and she decides to continue the tradition, since she will be at the Manor for Christmas.

Yeah-yeah, we can foresee the outcome a mile away, but this is a feel-good movie of note, and rather delightful, actually.