The Christmas Quest

This movie was so ridiculous, it's perfectly emblematic why I watch them. I was literally screaming at the screen. Who lit the candles! How did her mom know she would be there at Christmas! How did the old cave have electricity! How were the potatoes not rotten! WHY THE CAKE. Why does an archeologist travel with a ball gown! Why did the old people invite them to decorate their tree when they literally just found their cat! That movie made me feel like I was losing my mind. Seriously though the lights will haunt me.

But Iceland really is magical, that part is true. 10/10 recommend Iceland but maybe not this movie.

I had high hopes for this movie. I like both the principal actors. But this was a cheap knock off of Indiana Jones. It might have worked but the chemistry between the two was lacking. This was one of those low budget movies with lots of shots of snow covered mountains and roads punctuated with music. How much was filmed in Iceland? Not much I think. What could have done differently to have a better movie? Erin Cahill could have had more airtime. The villains could have been more clearly defined. The actors had limited human interaction during the first full 45 minutes while in Iceland. I'm not saying that this is a bad movie, I am saying it was not very good.

Hallmark's sanitised take on Indiana Jones or perhaps Lara Croft, features two big stars: the Queen of Christmas Lacey Chabert and Kristoffer Polaha, fresh off his starring role in 2023's 'A Biltmore Christmas'.

The chemistry between the two leads - who are divorced when they team up to hunt for legendary treasure in Iceland around Christmas, battling some not-really-evil bad guys along the way - is strong. They are both accomplished actors, and their banter is effortless.

But, man, the final reveal really sucked the life out of things, and left me shaking my head. Talk about a letdown! Yikes. Ninety minutes invested...for that? No bueno.

This movie is worth watching for the great shots of Iceland scenery, and just for the novelty of a film shot in Iceland, with bits of Icelandic culture thrown in for good measure.

We have a distinct Indiana Jones style flavor her, with that heroic character even mentioned out loud, as a rich sponsor convinces Lacy, and archeologist, to unravel clues and find a treasure hidden hundreds of years ago.

Polaha plays a language expert, and her ex-husband, reluctantly recruited to join her and translate the clues they will find as they follow a puzzle step by step around the island.

Forget that the clues are in places that would have been found LONG ago, the movie is fun and certainly worth your time.

I like the two leads, but I didn't like the movie.

This was marketed as an adventure/mystery, maybe even borderline suspense. I didn't find any of those things in this movie.

There was too much of a lack of urgency for this to be an adventure. It was meandering at best.

I never once felt afraid for them. Bad writing? Bad acting? Maybe a little of both.

The ending is from the moon. All of that yammering and concern about breaking a code to find this giant pot of whatever at the end of the Iceland rainbow led to this? A stale cake in an old room full of what consists of Christmas crap. The only real mystery is who lit those candles and turned on the lights?

Bizarre.