Christmas at Plumhill Manor

So, Margot, a New York City architect unexpectedly inherits an English manor. Plumhill manor.

After speaking to her mother, Margot flies off to England to see the manor where she must stay for 7 days. Here she meets an interesting cast of quirky characters including a dashing man, Alfie.

It's a lovely story which you can predict what will happen at the end but its still a good watch.

Margot and Alfie had amazing chemistry right from the start of the film. A nice, festive, feel good movie to watch on a cosy afternoon in December (unless you're like me and watch Christmas movies all year round)

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.

The story seemed disjointed or perhaps what I mean is that it didn't seem to flow real well. Margot's NY life just didn't mix with her English manor life. Maria Menounos seemed to coast through her role as Margot above the fray so to speak. I could easily see this woman being the Lady of the Manor. Or I'm sure she could be a team motivator in high value real estate. What I couldn't see was Menounos fitting in down here with us mortals. Oh she tried and made some brief efforts but still seemed to be above it.

Nor did I see a lot of chemistry with Kyle Pryor.

The very first sequence in the story left me with a bad taste. I started wondering if this movie was going to push the opposite of almost any similar Christmas story - in this case, ditch the historical and replace it with empty glitz.

It takes a while to find out what the catch is in her inheritance. Meanwhile Margot is following clues left to her by Victoria. Are the clues the catch, or do they negate the catch?

This is not a bad movie by any stretch, but I didn't really enjoy it.

"Christmas at Plumhill Manor" repackages the typical Hallmark holiday formula-saving an inheritance, a hotel, or a farm-but this time it's set in an old English manor. The film maintains the usual cheerful holiday spirit, although the character Jackie was particularly annoying, and didn't quite resonate as a believable figure from England-perhaps more fitting for a remote Scottish village.

What really detracted from the film's authenticity was its disregard for local UK laws regarding historical properties. Most buildings from the 1700 to 1840 period are listed in the UK, meaning they cannot be modernized in ways that alter their historical character, such as changing windows or doors, or even repainting. The film overlooks these restrictions, which is a significant oversight given the plot revolves around preserving and potentially upgrading a manor.

Additionally, the film misrepresents UK property tax laws, UK has no property tax, just a stamp duty paid once upon the acquisition of a new property such as a VAT, there is inheritance tax exemptions for listed buildings or for non UK domiciled individuas, and the only debt possible would be by not paying the local council tax (used for garbage collection and maintenance of various local public spaces such as schools, libraries, parks, roads and more). But even this would cause the fury of the local council to summon you to court after missing two payments. Years of unpaid council tax is very unlikely.

This lack of attention to detail might not trouble everyone, but for those familiar with UK laws, it breaks the immersion.

Despite these inaccuracies, if you can look past the legal and geographical liberties, the movie does offer the quintessential cozy Christmas charm expected from a seasonal film.

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.